How was your ADHD child as an infant? | ADHD Information

I'm very curious about this because from the moment my daughter came home I felt like she was going to be handful, she didn't sleep though the night until she was  1.5 years old, she woke up every 1.5-3 hours CONSISTENTLY!?!$! She was a very light sleeper, even flushing the toilet down the hall or unzipping my purse would have her waking up screaming, very irritable/colicky, she always needed to be held but wasn't "cuddly" even now at 3 years old she pushes people away but will hug you instead.   Because I was severely sleep deprived, living in Europe at the time with my then husband and having hardly any english speaking friends, I was not the joyful happy mother I thought I would be, my friends and family thought I was being unrealistic and negative, some thought it might be baby blues, but I am now sure it wasn't.  My daughter is still a handful, I had to put one of those harnesses/leashes, when she started walking because she won't hold anyones hand.  I'm just wondering are there early signs of future ADHD children, or is this just normal?  I'm confused as to what is normal anymore, I guess I should mention she got chronic ear infections almost everymonth.  I'd like to know if your ADHD child showed early signs or did it just come out of the blue?
Thanks.

I would also like to add that I believe I have the non hyper version of Adult ADD, but was described as a easy sleeper, quiet, calm child.  What gives?!?

My child never slept through the night until she was 2 1/2 years old and people I worked with could not understand and I am a Social Worker keeping myself together is always harder.  She was a happy baby always smiled at strangers when she was a toddler always on the go could never visti a friends house without her tearing it apart.  I noticed it was not right when that stage never seemed to end.  When I see other moms at a store with their kids staying by their side and listening I can  honestly say I have no clue what that is like.  I stopped at one, I love her dearly do not get me wrong but I am grateful for only one.  She has her good days and bad days on good days she snuggles with me and is loving and the bad days like today christmas eve spitful and mean.

As for the ear infections I cannot count how many times she has had them and she is now 7.  When she takes her meds I feel like something is off because then she is the child who stays by my side and I am not used to it.

I agree with you Jillette, I look at other moms with kids that stay by their side, hold their hands, in awe, I just don't know what it's like.  I also wanted more children, in fact I wanted a large family because I didn't like being an only child and didn't want my child to feel the way I did, but there is just NO WAY I could deal with TWO of my "angel". lol!?!?

This is all so interesting.  My ds is not one to stay by my side either and this christmas break has been hell at some moments.  1-because he is here all the time and 2-he is on med break.   When he is on meds he is sooooo calm it almost scares me, he is quiet and mindful.  It is still weird four years later. 

When he was a baby he was always sweet and quiet.  He slept well other than the fact that he always banged his head or his leg (or both) on his mattress when he was falling asleep.  As a toddler, he was constantly moving and hyper and already VERY disobedient, sometimes like he did not care.  And as he got older this got worse and the whining came on like a ferocious tornado that has never quite gone away.

Hey, Ladies!  Been a long time since I've posted!

DS slept through the night at about 4 months.  I had a little help from my Mom on that score.  She had been told by her doctor, as a new mom at 19, that a teaspoon of cereal in the last bottle of the night would help fill the tummy without causing tummy problems.  She did this with all three of us, and I did it with DS.  It worked.  Most doctors would flip their wigs over this, as did DS's pediatrician, but I never faltered because DS was so skinny, he never had "baby fat."  He was 21 1/4 inches long and only 6lbs 12oz when he was born, two weeks late.  He's been long and skinny all his life.  At his last checkup, he measured 4'4" and finally hit 60lbs!  He's 8, by the way.

As a baby, Megan was generally good, but it was a bugger to get her to sleep.  We tried EVERY position, in the car seat, etc....

Although she was born with a cleft, she never really had any ear infections.  Actually, she's had fewer than my non-cleft older daughter!  She's also generally, been less sick overall than any of us and she's 6.  Of course, you always KNEW when she was sick as she would get quiet.  A COMPLETE opposite of how she normally is.  

But from the beginning, she was a mover.  From the time she could walk, she would climb.  She had the daycare workers going grey from watching her!  Of course, this is partly why I work....it's RELAXING at work!

Though Megan didn't sleep through the night till she was almost 6.  Guaranteed, every single night (I could probably count one month during a year when she DIDN'T wake up), she would wake up and come in our room.  Imagine my thrill when I noticed that I was sleeping through the night more last year!!!

 

My daughter was born 7 1/2 weeks early.  She was a super good baby.  She slept all night long from the time she was 1 1/2 months.  She was always happy & very rarely cried.....shoot, she didn't even spit up very often !  Even during those "terrible twos" she was a good baby.  Then the age of 3 & 4 hit & she started getting very hyper & not listening, & hasn't stopped since!

My ds as a baby, he was great. He was always sick but he never was really crancky. He did have alot of ear infections, he also has asthma. He slept thur the night, took naps. I didnt really have a problem with him up until about 3yrs old when he was in preschool. Then all heck broke lose. He was always naughty at school. He didnt listen, was very hyper. Wouldnt sit still. Now that he's 11 yrs old i just still have the school problems pretty much. Taps his pencil, dosent apply himself, won't sit still, does very sloppy work, does homework but forgets to turn it in.. All i can hope for is it will get better.

Mine, now 4, was a fussy baby.   Not collicky, but a lot of work to soothe.   He still is a lot of work.  No meds yet,  when do we consider?    It's really not gettin better.My son was pretty good as a baby... he didn't sleep well during the night for the first few weeks( I often wonder if this was because I was so new to being a parent and always checking on him) but slept through the night except for normal nightly feedings once I began back to  work.  We  began noticing a difference around 2 years old and he was around other kids his age more.  It progressively became worse. Except for allergies he has been pretty healthy.  One earache in his life and a virus a couple of times. In March/April of last year (during his 4th year) he was diagnosed and started a low dosage of foaclin xr and a better diet per doctors recommendation. I also left his father and I feel that in some ways this has been part of his progress as well.  I never thought that I would be the one to leave a marriage but I found it to be extremely unhealthy for me and my son.   He is doing so much better now.  He still has some flare ups but usually only at home or when he is overly tired.  He turned the big 5 today and I can honestly say he is a blessing to be around.  I know things can change but for now I only see a bright future.   He's the best Christmas present I've ever received.  I thank the Good Lord above for this precious child.  4myson39076.6623958333Interesting!  There seems to not really be a pattern, I thought I would hear more nightmare infant stories, so I guess there really isn't any early signs.  Please keep your stories coming and the ages of your kids.
THANKS for the feedback!
I forgot to mention that my son had many ear infections. He had tubes in his ears twice. He also has always gone to bed late. He doesn't really sleep in. Chase is my youngest and as a baby he didn't sleep through the night as young as the others did, but by 9 months or so he did.  I nursed him and from the time he was born, he would only nurse on one side at a time...and then want to nurse again 1 hour later...if I "convinced" him to nurse from the second side, he would throw it up within 15 minutes....we did this for 9 months because he would have starved to death before taking a bottle...I tried to switch him and he literally took nothing for almost 10 hours, no matter how hungry he was..so I gave up and bought one of those slings and "wore" him for months almost all day long...we could not go in the car w/o him screaming, and the only thing to quiet him was nursing, which is impossible when you are the one driving....we pulled over a LOT!!!  If I let him "cry it out" as my oh so helpful BIL suggested he would puke all over himself and the car seat...I tried it once.  Only once.  It was much more efficient to pull over and nurse him to sleep, then make a run for it to get as far as possible before he woke up. 

He has always been obedient in stores however...and in public, I often get compliments on my kids' behavior...the only one of mine who has ever run off on me is a non ADHD child..I had to put a hand holder leash on her.

My son is now 11. He will stay with me if we are walking down the street and chatting. He goes off on his own in the stores and looks at things he likes. He has never liked staying with me in the stores. I used to have a wristband on him when he was young.

He was quiet as a baby. He slept fairly well. As a toddler he was always on the go.

my son is 4 years old and when he was a infant he was totally a sweet heart . he slept through the night at just a week old except for 3 hr feedings. just as friendly as could be. wanted everyone's attention . at about 2 he didn't want to hold my hand when walking and was hard to keep up with in public but i just kept warning him of the dangers especially in parking lots and kept telling him if he didn't stay close to me he would have to get back in the buggy so its improved but i have to remind him a few times not to get out of my sight. but he was a little colicky as a infant till i switched his formula. from what i've read on adhd the sypmtoms have to be for 6 months and they don't start showing till after 3 yrs of age. my son started showing signs a 31/2 but he always went from one toy to another even at 2 .

Handfull child since the thay she was born:

- nursed for half an hour every 90 minutes

- colicky

- didnt sleep throught the night until she was 4 year old

- allways on the run, never wanted to hold my hand

- lot of ear infection

- often in the ER

- started to talk when she was 6 months old and never stopped again

- never played with toy longer than 5 min.

She is sweet and friendly, allways laughing and hugging, child

WOW!!!!  This sounds so familiar.  My ds wanted to be held but was NOT cuddly.  He also NEVER wanted to hold hands when crossing the street etc.  He did not sleep through the night until over 8 months old.  He always has gone to bed late and up early.  As a young child, he could not sit and play with a toy longer than 5 minutes and he would be bored and moving on. I never really knew what was normal or not.  Now, second child will go into toy room and disappear for 2 hours entertaining self, loves to be held and snuggled, VERY BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!My son was a good baby, slept great, ate everything, always happy... but
never cuddled, never stopped moving, never played with toys. He knew
about 300 words by 18 months old (obvious first-time mom; I counted)
but did not have a word for me. He never responded when he was called,
yet his hearing tested fine (MANY ear infections and finally tubes). I
carried him everywhere until he weighed 36# and I just couldn't
anymore... walking with him was like walking a cat. He just didn't get that
he was supposed to walk the same as I did, and he would impulsively
dash under my feet across my path, or twist hard to get away from me all
the time. I ended up with bad tendonitis & carpel tunnel that just cleared
up after 1 1/2 years. Like a few others said, I stopped at one also... I
cannot imagine trying to deal with two like him!

I remember  my ds never slept through the night. It got to the point where I had to put him to sleep we us; at that time we both worked (now I don't) and we were extremely tired from the lack of sleep. It was very hard work to put him to sleep in his bed again, but we finally did (at four). I also remember that he was a nightmare to go out with since he never wanted to be in his stroller; the stroller was useless for him; I guess this was really what bothered me the most; if I went to the shopping mall, I had to carry him in one hand and take the stroller with the other; The stroller became the shopping cart. He had also problems to eat, everything seemed to cause him to throw up. Once I was told that his tonsils were kind of large and probably this is why he got stuck with everything he ate (he still does sometimes, he doesn't like to eat things that take more work to chew as meat). They idea of removing tonsils always crossed my mind, but I haven't done it because he rarely gets tonsilitis.

I can conclude that he was a difficult baby. My dd (who is one) seems to be quieter at least in the stroller, she sleeps better although I have had problems with teething. The only thing that is trouble is that couriosity kills her. I should have about ten eyes around my head; she already had an accident with a hot iron that happened in a fraction of a second ( I wanted to die); I really need to be extremely cautious with her; I don't remember my son being that courious and touching everything at hand. I had to remove all decorative objects from tables, I don't want to cause her harm again.

My daughter hardly ever stopped moving in the womb from the moment I first felt her move!  She would kick and squirm so much, she would make me ill.  The doctors commented on how alert she was when she was a new born.  She was an active, squirmy baby from birth.  She did cry quite a bit during the first few months.  She never got the hang of nursing, but would take a bottle instead.  She was bothered with reflux quite a bit.  She started sleeping through the night at about two months, but was very inconsistent with this.  She started teething at 3 months, and I think that this may have been part of the problem with not sleeping.  She did have quite a few ear infections (and still occasionally has one), but no tubes.  She also had a number of sinus and throat infections, and had to have her tonsils removed at age 5.  She crawled at 7 months, walked at 91/2 months, and then went directly to running and climbing.  From the time that she could crawl, we had to use 2 baby gates because she would always find a way to push them out at the bottom or go over the top.  She would always bother the stereo and entertainment center, and we could not seem to deter her from this.  We finally just had to take off the glass doors and put them away because she had removed them a number of times.  When she was about a year and a half old, she flipped on a small plastic rocking horse because she was rocking so hard.  She hit the wall, and gashed herself under the eye, which required several stitches.  I was always worried about her hurting herself, as she was very wild.  She was always covered with bruises from her mishaps.  When she was very young, she did not seem to react much to pain.  She would hit her head, appear stunned for a second, and then just move on!  She has always been a skinny child with a high metabolic rate, and medications of course have not helped much with this.  At 9 years old, she now weighs about 64 lbs. 

I was diagnosed earlier this year with the inattentive form of ADHD.  My mother claims that I never slept at night until about the age of 2.  I can remember being plagued with insomnia throughout my childhood.  This lasted until about the age of 18.  Since that time, there have seldom been any problems with going to sleep.  There just never seems to be enough!

Dillon moved ALOT in the womb, and has not stopped since. He was a "grazer" when nursing, fo rthe first few weeks it was hell. He would nurse, fall asleep, nurse fall asleep every hour...he cried alot, had fits of crying that would last hours, very colicy, lots of ear infections, was not cuddly and still isn't, never liked to hold hands. He is very independant and always has been. Very defiant and has to have the last word. Talked early, walked early. Demanding. He does have good traits.......but I can't think of any at this moment! LOLMy son never liked to be rocked to sleep, it only kept him awake. We had to sit still and hold him facing away from us to get him to fall asleep. He spoke early, talked early, walked at a normal age, began reading at a normal age and excelled quickly. He hated to burp and as a result had lots of those anti-gas drops. I wonder about those...He has always slept well, about 10 hours a night, but gave up the daytime naps early.  

My 6 year old son was recently diagnoised with ADD/ADHD.  As a baby he was the best, only cried when he was hungery.  Loved being held and was very social to strangers.  He was the best baby, but that changed when he got about 2 years old.  It was very hard to take him shopping because he was always into things.  When we went to the park he played very mean with other children.  I had no friends because of his behaviors.  Other moms would say that they did not want their child around my son, because he didn't play nice with their son.

His behavior didn't change when he got into pre-school at 4 years old.  I had many discussions with the teacher about his behaviors and skills at play time.  He struggled in kindergarten and in most of first grade, until I got him on medication.  It has helped him so much, he has attention so he can sit through the class and learn and his study habits have improved.

I was afraid to put him on medication, but now that I have I can't emagine not having him on it.  He would of failed in school because of the lack of attention,which was a cause of lack of knowledge from not learning thru his other grades.