Seeking Moms of High Needs Children

I am not sure of how much help i can be to you. I also have a high needs child as well he is 4 now, he seems like an energizer bunny. I think if they are in routine more it helps them alot better to focus their energy on what they are doing. My son goes to a special preschool at a public school for speech, physical, and some other kind of therapy. Which is helping,but since christmas break hasnt really been on a schedule so hes bouncy lol, good luck.

Hi D., I forgot all about that term "high needs child", but my daughter deffinately was and possibly still is. As an infant I could not put her down for even a minute. She was also very wakeful and still is. My husband and I never have alone time because she wakes up with us and goes to bed with us.
I don't cope well with her energy, I am the type who needs quiet time doing nothing every once in a while.
I guess how we get through our day, is we try to go outside in the morning to get some sunshine and exercise (to ease nap time) if the weather is bad, I have resorted to fast food restaurants with indoor play areas. I live in a small town so there arent many options.
Also what I think helps is my daughter has no electronic toys, so she has to use her imagination a lot which keeps her entertained for a lot longer that pushing buttons.
We also try to go to playgroup when we can. Here is a link for you to try.
http://www.momsclub.org/links.html
Just click on New Mexico where you see the cluster of little blue links.

Feel free to send me a private message if you want to chat more about our kids.

Hi D.,

You should be able get help from the state through DES at no-cost to you. They will send some one periodically throughout the week to help you with their needs as well as watch them to give you a break. The amount of hours you will receive for each depends on an evaluation that your high needs child goes through - it is not harmful in any way, more like an interview and some developmental tests.

I worked in the for the state here in AZ working with special needs kids to help them build their skills and get caught up developmentally. That is why I have a little bit of knowledge regarding the matter. I do not know who to contact in NM though. If you do a search on the state's website, you should be able to find DES and then anybody in that department should be able to direct you to the right person.

Hope that helps!!

Hi D.,

I am also a Mom of 2 high needs boys. I would say schedule, schedule schedule! Also, find time for yourself. I am like the other Mom who needs quiet time, and I have a really hard time with the level of energy they have. I am an OT student, so if you have a sensory kid, like my 2, we should talk...I have lots of ideas. For example, we bought a grounding mat for sleep time. This mat has really helped my 2 devils sleep longer for 3 hours at a time. We also joined a play group. This helps a lot. E-mail me if you want to talk more. Maybe you have some good ideas for me as well! Take care, and deep breaths. J.

High Needs what a nice way to put that. I am a mother of 4. My oldest daughter is 7, nice well behaved girl. My oldest son is 5, he has SID and is in spectrum for Autism, but over all very layed back. Our baby is 18 months, sweet as can be. Then there is our 4 1/2 year old daughter.... She is SOOOO HYPER ACTIVE!!! She has the attention span of a fly! She is into EVERY THING!!! I have magnetic tot locks on all my cubbords. (THEY ARE EXPENSIVE $20 a lock) I have 8 baby gates (which no longer keep her in, but, most of the time I can hear her climbing them). Alarms on every door in the house. We had to cut her bedroom door in half and lock her in from the out side. She can now climb that, so ther are 2 gates stacked on one another to the celing to keep her in at night. I can not take my eyes off her for a second! Friends even say, oh it cant be that bad. Let me tell you any one who has spent an afternoon with us tells me how sorry they were that they thought it really wasnt that bad. I finally had to bypass her Primary Dr. and call the insurance to go see some one to help me. Her Primary Dr. must have thought I was exaggerating about some of the stuff she has done. We have been testing out different ADHD meds. on her. She is on ritalin now... WHAT A BLESSING!!! She is still her self, just not amped up like shes on CRACK. She can sit down for dinner, watch a cartoon, drive to the store and not climb out of her car seat, color a page out of a coloring book. She can actually relax!! It is AMAZING!!! Your not alone!!!

I too have a very high needs child. He turns 5 this week and it has gotten much easier. My husband and I both commented when we went to family's house for Christmas this year, we didn't have to follow him around everywhere. It was really relaxing. A year ago we would have had to follow him to keep him from openning all the cupboards and closets and trying to go outside to explore. His mind is so very active that his energy is really un-nerving to me. My husband's mind is the same way. He has a hard time sleeping and has been told he is "hyper-vigilant". In fact, we have 3 kids younger than him and when my husband took him on errands the other day and I just had the other 3, it was easier to have the 3 of them than it is to have just my high needs son.
The only thing that helps me to deal fairly with him is to have a break from him. He does not nap most days anymore, but he has to stay in his room for 1.5 hours during nap time. If this doesn't happen, I find myself really being unfairly hard on him late in the day. I don't want him to feel my frustration with him,but I fear that he does sometimes. It's hard to talk to other Moms about it because I fear they won't understand, but he is "that annoying kid at the park". I am sometimes embarassed by it. He is really outgoing and I am an introvert.
I just wanted to offer words of encouragement and let you know that it will get easier as he gets older. My son will now focus on one thing (legos or transformers) for more than an hour at a time. He is also learning more self control. The two keys to my sanity are playtime outside twice a day, preferrably at a park with other kids, and nap time so I can be alone. Best Wishes!