She comes by it honestly. I have it, though I am not hyperactive. I have the inattentive type. I think she might have the hyperactivity as well. If your child has ADHD, what was your first clue? And did you suspect it when your child was a toddler or later on?
She is a very sweet child, and we are consistent with discipline, so we aren't seeing a lot of specific behavior issues (thank goodness), just characteristics. And I'm so tired. LOL! She just turned two, and she's trying to give up her nap, for example. And she takes about 2 bites of food before she's ready to get down and play. She has always done that. Even as an infant, she was impossible to feed because something might be going on somewhere that she might miss. She is a party waiting to happen. LOL And she NEVER slows down unless she's sick. And sometimes not even then. I'm talking way beyond "normal" toddler energy here. She has plenty of peers who are active, but not like she is.
And please don't accuse me of labeling her or anything else negative like that. She may very well not have it. She could just be active. I will certainly keep an eye on her, but being very familiar with this particular issue, I am suspicious. :-) And, since I am a SAHM and 7 months pregnant (with accompanying insomnia), she is extra exhausting right now. LOL
My boys were this way at that age. Neither napped past the age of two. (I'm the same way as well.) Neither have been diagnosed ADHD.
Everything you described just reminds me of all 2 year olds. She may grow up to have it or not..but nothing you said sounds out of the ordinary.
Sounds like a regular active two year old to me....every child is different so "normal" has a very wide span. With you being pregnant, that is adding to your exhaustion.
My son was like that too and was never a napper. He's fine now...he was just all toddler boy back then.
There are lots of kids that would be misdiagnosed if they were evaluated this early because the ages between 1-5 is a busy time for kids minds and bodies. They are exploring, they are active, and learning boundaries and normal is such a wide span that sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between normal and ADHD.
Keep doing what you are doing (being consistant, enforcing your rules and boundaries) and maybe get some help right now until at least after the baby comes.
**Just read another response that mentioned the "energizer bunny" when referring to her son. I have often made that comparison for my daughter...I have told people she's like "The Energizer Bunny on Crack". She just keeps going and going. She is active and can be over the top but she is a kid and kids can be hyper without having ADHD. She's never been a napper...we left at 6 am Saturday, took a 2.5 hr road trip to see her brother at college. She didn't even nap on the way home.
The early warning signs were there at two. Our son was FAR more active than any other toddler we saw. He was the Energizer Bunny. Other kids would konk out after a busy trip to the park or other high energy activities but not our son. He literally couldn't sit still and getting him to eat meant run-by eating. He couldn't sit to eat a meal ... instead, we'd feed him a bite of something as he ran by. He would climb the kitchen counter the second I'd go to the bathroom and jump off the stairs five stairs up before I could stop him. He had zero impulse control and that only got worse over time. He was smart enough to figure out babyproofing products and would unlatch, unhook, whatever.
People would give me the old "sounds like a normal toddler to me" line online, too. They were very wrong. Until you've witnessed our son in action, people had no clue. Other toddlers looked like they were on sedatives compared to our son. I would often fall asleep the second our son would finally get to bed, I was so wiped out.
By three, we were getting incident reports at preschool and he was ultimately kicked out. We were already seeking medical help at that time. I had brought up concerns about our son's behavior to the pediatrician and he immediately referred me to specialists. We did it all -- consistent discipline, parenting classes, rewards and on and on. Nothing changed his behavior. That was the ultimate red flag. Normal kids respond to parenting techniques but not kids with ADHD.
It's not about labeling a child -- what parent wants that? -- but rather helping your child. My best advice is to write down all you're seeing now. At three, you can start getting help if the issues persist. The specialists did want to know what we saw when our son was very young, so it's useful to record your experiences.
Best of luck!
ETA: Our son's first pediatrician noted our son's behavior during a medical appt. at age two and said she would keep an eye on his development because she had some concerns about potential ADHD. I thought that was extreme at the time and figured, like everyone online says, we had an active boy. That woman proved to be right on. We're knee-deep into ADHD now that our son's nine.
The fact that you have ADHD-inattentive type means your daughter is at high risk of having ADHD. It's genetic.
It's almost impossible to say at that age. Kids can range from "Oh my god, do you ever stop?" to "He/she is such an easy toddler".
Trust me, with 8 kids I have had and seen it all. Oddly enough my son with ADD wasn't my most hyper or easily distractable. It kinda creeped up slowly with age. By about kinder/first grade it became obvious, but before that he was rather 'normal' for his age.
As for naps...none of mine napped past the age of two. they just didn't need the same amount of sleep as other kids.
She sounds like my now 4 YO. I have mentioned ADHD to the doctor a few times over the years and she has waved it off. But now she is doing great in preschool, and when I asked her teacher if she got up out of her seat all the time she said "No" and looked like I was crazy. (Apparently she will sit still for the teacher, but not for me.) So I know it's hard now - I once had to run out of a store after her 6 times just while I was trying to pay with a credit card and had forgotten the stroller - but give it some time and see how it goes once she's in preschool/school. I'm feeling better about it since she does okay in school. Oh - some people are opposed to those harnesses (ours looks like a monkey) for kids but GET ONE - it's how we have kept her save in crowds and on busy streets when strollers weren't an option for some reason.
First SIGN was Go-go-go-go-go!!!
He started of (from 3months after learning to walk, so about 18 mo) running 3-6 miles every day (I walked, he ran in front/behind/infront). 20 minutes in the car, later and he was ready for a other 2-3 hours of constant activity. After another 5-10 minute break, it was time for gymnastics or soccer... And then he'd REALLY start going.
I finally got ONE hour per day where he was SAFE, bum to chair, by intentionally plugging him in (www.starfall.com). Downside was 2nd sign: reading by age 3. Fluently Chapterbooks.
The ting is... People talk about 'active' kids.... And there are 2 groups, I've noticed. Normal active (but their parents are going nuts), and SUPER active... Only stop moving when sleeping (and sometimes not even then.
Super active kids parents tend to introduce tv/gaming ON PURPOSE. Tend to turn living rooms into jungle gyms, encourage running in the house, etc.... Just as COPING mechanisms.
Upside: Superactivr kids tend to be very fit. With ADHD hyperfocus on physicality, though, you have to be very careful they don't run their feet bloody.
Yeah. First sign go-go-go
2nd= ungodly concentration (what's this 15 minutes for toddlers thing? 2+ hours). Which means "hyperfocus". Whether on something physical like running 3 - 6 miles as a toddler, or mental (must. Learn. To. Read.)... We're talking Hours, or whether its emotional (tantrums are one example amongst many. ADHD toddler tantrums typicall start at an hour)... It's NOT 15 minutes of concentration... It's hours.
This was all normal in my family, though. At least 1/3 of us are ADHD.
I had no clue, to be honest. You could be describing my eldest daughter in very generic terms, but if I look back in hindsight over the past 12 years since she was bouncing around in utero it seems so obvious that she has ADHD. It never crossed my mind until a year ago. It wasn't on my radar until then because I had another daughter with special needs and so the usual child-to-child comparisons were skewed and I didn't realize it.
Trust your instincts. You can get her a neuro-psych eval with a pediatric neurologist that specializes in behavioral disorders and neurological disorders such as ADHD, ADD, Autism, and others.
Way to early to diagnose ADHD....definitely sounds like a normal "active" two year old. My son just turned 3 and I was having those sames thoughts after he started exhibiting certain behaviors. But it seems like kids are really just wired differently. Some are calm and some have very active minds that never shut off. So the key is to keep them busy and entertained. More so than you would a calmer child. At that age they naturally have a short attention span, so you can't just label them ADHD. Does she stay home with you all day? Cuz if that's the case, she might just need more activities and things to keep her busy. Or maybe consider daycare or mom's day out for a day or two a week. There are alot of home days cares around that would accomodate once or twice a week. That would be great for her to be able to play with other kids and be active and out of the house. Being 7 months pregnant probably makes it hard for you to do alot with her right now. So even if you can hire a teenage neighbor to maybe come over for an hour or two each day to take her outside to play. If she is that active she HAS to have outlets! Otherwise she'll start to act out and it will become harder to discipline and then you'll really feel overwhelmed. Good luck.
She sounds like a typical two year old.
my son is 3 and i am pretty sure he will either have ADD or ADHD too. I have taken him to the PED twice and right now due to his age they will not do anything about it. he sounds the same as your daugther. the kids goes and goes and goes and goes.... he has a really hard time sleeping at night. His attention span is about 2 min, he doesn't listen.... i mean the list goes on and on. we just try and do the best we can. it is hard, i know. i know that once he starts school they will figure out if he does have it so right now... its a waiting game. good luck!
My grandchildren have been diagnosed with ADHD after having seen several professionals, all of whom said that it is too early for that diagnosis before school age.
Your description sounds like the behavior of an average child. My youngest granddaughter is 18 mos and sounds similar to yours. I would not be concerned at this point.
Our first clue, both my ex an I have it. :p
I really saw little difference behavior wise from my kids and normal kids until they got into the structured enviorment like preschool and school. Now my Andy, number three, was different but then he was different from all my kids since he also has PDD.
I think in your case your exhaustion is making her look like she has more energy than she does.
On one hand, the behavior you have described is totally normal for a two year old. On the other hand, YOU know your child. I have three girls and the middle one (4) has always been different. I knew from nine months on that there was something wrong/different about her. It was only when I was trying to teach her at age three that ADHD started to come to mind. My husband has it and it is hereditary.
They won't do anything for her at this age even if she does have it, but you can google for parenting tips for ADHD and try some of those methods with her. I've definitely had to parent my middle one differently from my other two. Good luck!
The reason they do not diagnose this in 2-year-olds is because there is no such thing as a 2-year-old with a long attention span (except selectively, or staring at shows maybe) but you'd need to diagnose 100% of 2-year-olds if you were "looking for tendencies" in them. All three of my kids did the "two bites then getting down" and spazzy non-stop thing at that age. My middle one was mega HYPER, and my third was a rager. None of them have any disorder.
She sounds exactly like my youngest, who is yes, ADHD.
I didn't know it at the time of course, but she was always high maintenance: getting up and down from the table, would hardly sit in a stroller or high chair, didn't want to sleep, hard time doing any one thing for long, was always ready to go, go, go!
I just thought she was high energy, because my older two were not nearly as active. I mean they were as active as any typical two year old, but my youngest was definitely supercharged.
I hope for your sake she's NOT ADHD because it makes school VERY challenging :( If she still seems to have the signs when she's around 8 or 9 get her tested. My girl wasn't diagnosed until she was 11 and I wish I'd had her tested sooner, it would have made those last few years of elementary school easier on all of us.
Okay first to help with the pregnancy and entertaining her, this list is of activities is gold!:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_40-ways-to-entertain-your-kid...
Both my kids also stopped napping at a very young age, and they were very, very active, and destructive. I was in tears by the end of the day! But, they did level out somewhat (they are 4 and 6 now). I think 2 is just too early to really tell. I'm thinking my 6 year old may have it, b/c he has a hard time at school with impulse control issues, but it's kind of a waiting game with him.
Some helpful hints:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htm
Honestly, I would go with your gut feeling. You see things that we can't see from reading your post.
The food thing is pretty normal, from the description. It took me FOREVER to get my daughter (now 4) to sit and eat more than a few bites before she wanted to get up and run into another room to see what was going on, even though there was nothing in the other room. My 2 year old son still does it. We are working on that one.
Some of it also might be the upcoming sibling. I recall my daughter getting a little overly active when I was expecting my son. She understood that there was a big change coming, but didn't know how to deal with it except to be a super active toddler. She calmed down after he was born.
But again, I haven't seen your daughter in action, she may well be hyper active.
Sounds like she would really benefit with Vemma Next, which tastes so great our granddaughters ask for it each day. It is part of the Children's Miracle Network, and they are trying to get it in all the hospitals as it does such wonders for the health of children. Read about it at
http://annnoblehealth.com My number is on website and you can text or call if want more information.
Hi L.,
I still think that your little one is like most of the children of her age:
Little kids are so busy and playful; they made us tired because they DO have so much energy, and when we are pregnant we feel it more because we are going through some many changes!
Little children don't want to eat or nap because they want to PLAY, explore and have fun. Do not worry, all you have said H. are characteristics pretty common in a child of two.....she is 2 right? Keep consistence, enroll her in some activity like music, tumbling, ask for help (husband, relatives, close friend)to let her go out and visit a playground, etc...Feed her lots of veggies and fruits, healthy snacks, etc. At this age...she will never slow down..she is discovering the world and people around it!!!! Be patient, put a nice TV show, kid friendly and have a nap with her in your room.
Good luck!
