Dealing with a 7yr. POKING | ADHD Information

Setting a timer helped our son when he was little, and sticking to a strict routine.  Also lowering your expectations of him, in the morning is a good idea.  Expect the basics-get dressed, have breakfast, and out the door.  If its easier to put his clothes out the night before, then do that.  Getting eye contact and giving only one instruction at a time is a good idea.  Good luck-nothing works over night.The only thing that I can think of is schedule the morning very strictly and never deviate.  I mean he has somuch time to get dressed so much time to eat.  Try to get as much as possible done the night before like picking out clothes and getting the book bag together and what not to try to keep these things from being a problem.  I am not the best at the schedules but I try and it seems to help if they know that they only have so long before they need to move on.We have the same difficulties with our daughter.  She will get out of bed quite easily, no matter how late she has been awake.  She immediately gets breakfast eaten.  Then she proceeds to piddle with getting dressed, changes into 2 or 3 outfits, and gets distracted, stopping to play.  About the only thing that I have had success with is using a timer with her.  I also have her lay out her clothes and whatever else she needs for school the night before, as kristyolk suggested. 

My daughter does this also. We have a routine but I have to constantly remind her to prompt her to get on to the next thing on the agenda. I have been trying extra hard to keep things calm in the morning because I feel that if she under stress before she gets on the bus it carries thru the day with her. Her clothes are ready the night before, homework in her bag and vitamins set out the night before.

Good luck.

NoTellin, I will do a search on the marble system thanks.

Oh my gosh, my son used to drive me crazy with the dawdling!! Completey nuts! However, ogram's marble system made that vanish. He gets 10 marbles for getting dressed in 10 minutes, and two for putting the dirty PJs in the hamper. And, of course, he comes up with the list of rewards. At present he is working to earn the Treasure Planet DVD for 100 marbles with great anticipation. Search under "marble." I have a routine with no deviations as well. He must go from the bedroom to the dining room table to begin breakfast. There is no  TV watching deviations, etc.

Also, make sure he is getting 11 hrs of sleep. I give my son melatonin to make this happen. If he gets to bed late, then that time gets added on in the morning and I get to work late.

My son does this too, on school days. He is of the non-hyper ADD variety. I swear I'm going to send him to drama school some mornings! Just getting him out of his bed is 20min to half hour usually, if you can actually find him under his many blankets. Then the breakfast dance of what he does or doesn't feel like eating. And somehow between eating and then going to brush/wash up, he has to roll around on the floor, hug the dog, change his socks, play his drums, etc. It's hard to remain calm when I'm going to be late for work!
BTW, he's 12... and he is starting to get better with it, since he started meds last year.

What I find REALLY interesting though is when we are going fishing or skiing, he is up in a flash (at say 4 or 5am), focused, dressed and in the car with no prodding whatsoever. Oy.
On school days, he's obviously stalling cuz he just doesn't want to be there. Oh I wish I could home-school...
PB
Welcome!  How old is he?  Is he on any meds now?My son was diagnosised with ADHD about a year ago. He's been on about every medication. They work and then they don't. My biggest problem is getting him out the door in the morning. He POKES and it drives me insane!!!!! I try soooo hard not to get aggravated with him because I know it's not his fault, but I don't know how I can help him. Any suggestions?

This web site is sooooo great! I honestly thought I was just a horrible mother because how frustrated I get with him. Thank you all very much for all of your suggestions. I think he would REALLY benefit from the marble system.

He's 7 and he is now on Ritalin LR or XR - something like that. He's been through adderall and concerta. He also has a seizure disorder so now he's on 45 mg. of Trileptal in the am and the pm.

I will definitly be taking everyones advice. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH

What about giving him meds first thing in the morning? I did all of the suggestions above, but ended up giving my son his medication before he needed to get out of bed.  That seemed to be the only thing that really helped.  He  was much happier (so was I) and able to function.  He is now 17 and takes meds after a morning shower.  I do remember that at 8 years old I used to lean against the doorway of his room to refocus his attention as he got dressed.  It really was one step at a time.  "Look at your sock." (wait) "Pick it up" wait "Put it on."   There were many days that I was in tears by the time I got him on the bus.  Fortunately, he is past that.  Tonight he needs to pack for a State DECA competition.  Yes, he is very bright, but getting the right clothes neatly into  a suitcase can still be a challenge.  Hang in there!

I used to dress my son the night before so he was ready to go.