ADHD and prematurity | ADHD Information

Interestingly enough both of my AD/HD kids were LATE!!!  Jonna, the oldest (26 yrs) was 1 week late, and Chase (10yrs) was 10 days late!  I have 2 other children who have no problems.  Both basically born on time.

All of my kids are good-sized when born, then for some reason are the smallest for their age while growing up.  My smallest baby was 8 pounds 10 ounces, and my 13 year old was 10 pounds 4 ounces!  And no I did not have the gestational diabetes. And I am 5'3", and at the time of the pregnancy weighed only 110 and only gained 33 pounds! And he was exactly on time.  I was doing the basal thermometer thing and tracking my ovulation, so I know.

Those were the days...I only wish that I weighed 110 now...or even close to it...it really sucks to have your metabolism slow at 40....oh well...

My daughter who is 7 now, was born 7 1/2 weeks early, weighed in at 4 lbs, has asthma & was just diagnosed with ADHD.  My daughter is adopted, but I was there during the whole labor & delivery.  The birth mother was given 2 shots of some type of drug (don't remember the name) that the doctors said was to make the baby's lungs develop quicker.It's a fact that girls do better with health issues when born preterm and boys dont usually do to good, race also plays a part, black boys do much better than white boys, Funny how a skin color would matter...My son who was born at 29 weeks and only 2Lbs 2 oz and 12inches long Was alos on oxygen for a full year and  breathing treatments and no one ever discused add/adhd I really think alot of doctors are guessing to give parents an answer.

My eldest was born at 37 weeks at 5 lb. 6 oz. stayed in the NICU for 3 days and has no issues whatsoever.

My twins were born at 34.5 weeks at 4 lbs. 2 oz. and 4 lbs. 5.5 oz.  They stayed in NICU for two weeks.  "A" was the smaller of the two and was on a low dose of caffiene for her first 10 months due to an immature central nervous system.  "G" was under an oxygen tent overnight then room air.  They are both ADHD-Inattentive, though "G" seems to be a little worse off.

Nothing about ADHD was ever mentioned to me, though I have heard that there is some sort of a connection.  Interesting.

ten years ago FDA released for use a drug called surfactin (sp) my grandson at 30 weeks gestation received it as the first preemie in our county. he now is adhd severe.  saw a news report on his 8th birthday about a study conducted in Taiwan that showed preemies given surfactin were more likely to have adhd.  something like 78% for boys and a slightly lower percent for girls.  talk about mad.  i cried the whole time i was making his birthday cake.  this was not a flash in the pan study it had something like a 1000 participants.  no one told us of any of the side effects only it was what he needed to mature his lungs. so now we do meds, behavior modification, and press forward.

 

My ds was a little early but a little underweight for his length.  He is also an IVF baby which I read somewhere some think leads to a higher ADHD risk.

I am right there with you. Nate was a 36 weeker and weighed 4lb 3oz, he was an IUGR baby.. was is nicu for 5 days. He has ADHD.. His brother who was born two days before Nate turned 1, was 32 weeks and weigherd 3lb 4oz, he was in NICU for three weeks.. came home at 3lbs 11 oz.. very small, but had no "issues" insurance kicked him out of NICU no medical problems to keep him in.. Lucas did the premmie clinic till he was two and discharged.. Lucas does not have add or adhd, but, does copy some of his brothers behavior.. We use the marble system with both... Plus other individual things with both boys... From, day one Nate was a demanded a lot of attention etc... When he was a baby he had a nick name of "needy Nate" needed to be doing something...

My son was born at 35 week @ 8 lbs 5 oz (No, that is not a typo).  He was referred to as "the big boy" in the NICU.

I am a diabetic, high stress during the pregnancy (divorcing his dad) but everything went fine until 32 weeks wihen the pre-eclampsia set in.  Made it to 35 weeks... but I had severe complications.  He was a forcep baby, as I wasn't allowed to push, and don't really remember the rest.  NICU for 7 days, initial heart concerns, jaundice, but only remaining thing is he has a bi-cuspid aortic valve, and now the ADHD.

We have no history of it in our family, so I strongly suspect the stress level and complicated delivery are related.

my daughter was born at 34 weeks from oligohydramnios (not enough amniotic fluid) I remember the docs saying 'she'll be just fine', but since none of my other kids have it nor anyone else in our family, I always tend to think that being a premie was the cause--she was 4 lbs 13 oz and on the vent on and off for about 4 weeks.

I also delivered both of my kids at 36 weeks, one has ADHD and the other does not.  But both my kids still weighed 7lbs. so I don't really call that premature.  Interesting thought though.My son was born at 36 weeks, weighed 6lbs, 11 0z, 19 inches long.  Preterm labor and bedrest for about three months before, with off-label asthma meds to stop the contractions and steroid shots to aid in lung development.  The nurses were amazed at how well he nursed right from the beginning, although he had a huge hematoma on his scalp that overloaded his liver and caused jaundice. Never any developmental delays, spoke early and A LOT.

 my daughter was born at 36 weeks after i was on bedrest for a month with severe pre-eclampsia.  i went into HEELP syndrome before i delivered her.  my OB warned us of ADHD and the like in the hospital...and yesterday i read the tidbit on prematurity and ADHD on this site/blog topic, second one down i believe.  

i'm just curious as to how many other people here have children with ADHD that were premature or had stressful pregnancies. prematurity and ADD/ADHD is covered in some books, but not many that i've read.

my daughter was 4 pounds when she was born.

shelley

    

prematurity should qualify her for school services by it self. Daniel tryed to come in the 2nd trimester. Mine was 3 weeks early but the delivery itself was fine.I definitly think there is a link - my son was born 2 weeks after my due date - was of normal weight 7 -12 but the cord was around his neck for about 12 hours of labor. (Sounds implausible I know but true) His apgars were great but I still think this had some bearing on his outcome. But it would be hard to tell as he has relatives with it too. Also, I know many preemies who don't have it. My son (who's now 7) was born at 30 weeks and weighed 3lbs., 8ozs., diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years ago. my sons were born at 30 weeks as well, Z weighed 3 lbs 11 oz, V weighed 3 lbs, 13 oz--one has ADHD  (dx was by CST and school psych)one is  a bit slower in the learning area- both were in NICU for 5 weeks, on oxygen etc. Niether has been "officially" diagnosed with anythng

my daughter was full term, uncomplicated pregnancy or birth, in fact she was my only one who was so easy and uncomplicated...   but she is ADHD and it does run in the family. 

 

Hi Shelley,

My son has not yet been diagnosed, but after years of differing therapies for SPD which helped with some but not most issues, I'm almost positive that's where we're headed.  (I see the ped for an eval referral on Monday.)

He was born at 28 weeks, also due to preeclampsia (only mine went eclampsic, rather than the HELLP direction).  He weighed 1 lb 10.5 oz. at birth, which is about 750 grams.  (I think this qualifies as EBL.)  Since we have no genetic history of AD(H)D, I'm pretty sure that his low birthweight and premature appearance is what caused it.  As for the SPD...I suspect my mother and I both have that to an extent, and the prematurity simply intensified his.

On an aside...I can't tell you how helpful this board has been in the past three days.  I've gotten nothing done around the house, but I've multiplied my knowledge of ADHD by a factor of at least 100!