You might want to go to CHADD.org or CARD.org for more information.
I knew my 11 year was different from birth. I had him evaluated at 4 and was told he was just a difficult child. He was diagnosed at 7 and has been meds since then.
Mine was walking before he was 8 months and only walked about 1 week. He learned how to run and climb and that was it. We had 3 locks on each screen door. I watched him take a broom and open the newest lock that was 3 feet over his head about a week after we installed it, he was 2.
Around 18-20 months he stopped talking ( he would only use 3 words) and we wound up in speech therapy for a year. There was no medication reason, it was called "Expressive Speech Delay". I knew he could talk, he was just being stubborn. 6 months into therapy he just started talking and has not shut up since. One interesting thing happened during this time, they had me teach his two signs (more and all done). After we taught him that, he stopped verbalizing completely and developed about 15 signs to communicate. The speech therapist was shocked when I told her NOT TO USE signing with him. she had never heard of it of what had happened. These kids are very smart, even at 2.
Mine never slept well until he was 4 and the doctor figured out he had allergies to dust and mold like Mom. (We watched the Goofy movie 7 times one day because we couldn't sleep.) He started taking Zyrtex and slept like a dead person the first night (scared the crap out of me). The doctor told me allergy testing wasn't very accurate at that age, so we tried the zyrtex for a month to see if it would help.
Best advice--read everything your can. Do research online and reach out to some of these groups. Life is easier when you find out that there are others going through the same thing. You are not alone, you have found others like you now.
On a humourous note, get a notebook or journal to record some of the funnier events. There will be plenty! I regret not doing that. These children are so qucik and so full of life. I can't imagine life without my son, even on the bad days.
You might see if there is a child developement team in your area. They are often associated with children's hospitals and universities. They usually have the full line of speciallists to help with early cases and difficult cases. Good luck.
the Early Intervention advice is a good one. You can request an evaluation yourself as the parent if your docotr will not do it for you. Early Intervention is WONDERFUL!!thank you guy's . i appreciate your advice very much .
i want to have a closer relationship with my son. we had such a great bond when he was a younger infant . he is a great kid . very cute and funny . it is just so hard to connect with him when i am so frustrated. i am sure it is hard for him ,too. he feels bad because he is in trouble,alot .the other day he tried to steal a plate from the dishwasher (after running around like a banshee and knocking other things over around the house , and smearing the poop from his diaper all over his bedroom walls for the hundredth time )and when my best friend tried to wrestle it away from him he threw it as hard as he could . it broke in pieces all over the kitchen floor . he screamed and cried in fear and shame . i knew in my heart that he knew he had gone to far . i felt bad for him , but i still took him to his room and told him how upset i was . then i walked away for a little while , until we both could calm down . then i read him his story and got him ready for bed . i love him so much . i have seen how devastating to a persons self esteem adhd can be and the problems the lack of impulse control can have . i am going to talk to his doc and keep the childrens hospital advice in mind .
This reminds me so much of my son. Hang in there and make sure you get some help. As he is so small have you thought about doing a diet to see if particular foods set him off. With my son it was milk. When we finally worked this out when he was 6 it made a huge difference to some behaviours. When I have talked to our son's psychiatrist telling him his toddler antics he has put this down to sensory overload/autism. An early intervention team would be great.I also believe a toddler can HAVE ADHD the thing is you cant know 100%. You wont be able to get a diagnosis this young as it's hard to know what is the far end of "typical". I would still talk to your doctor about any behavior concerns. There are lots of discipline techniques that you can learn whether there is ADHD or not.
Good luck, I am sorry you are going through this, hang in there.
hi everyone ,
i am new here . i came on the internet this morning to find out more about very young children having adhd and if it was possible . i was led here . some of the stories i have read sound EXTREMELY similar to what we are going through .
my husband has adhd and has had it since he was young . his seven year old daughter has it also . my now ,almost two year old , has been getting progressively worse . he has become a danger to himself and to those around him . he cannot sleep throught the night and wakes up several times . he has a hard time getting back to sleep . he moves constantly and has a hard time sitting still . he is constantly getting into trouble or doing something extemely dangerous , even when we have used several kinds of discipline techniques . he dosn't seem to learn from some of the hurtful things he does . for example : he wil throw himself on the floor and bang his head , screaming at the top of his lungs . one time he threw himself down and split his head open . within a few hours he had forgotten how much it hurt and was doing it again . he also, seems to have a high pain tolerance which makes it hard to know if he is hurt . he will slap , bite , pinch,head butt, and throw and all around fit if you have to disengage him from a behavior that is inappropriate or try to make him sit still . he will take a nap in the afternoon ,o that is helpful . it just seems that when dealing with him it has become a war . he is allways in the "ON" mode and trying to keep up with him is wearing me down . i have two older children that went tthrought the terrible twos and it was nothing like this . yes two is frustrating but this is beyond what i went through with them . i also have a 7month old baby that is special needs . i had originally thought that maybe the baby taking up alot of the attention might be part of the problem . i am sure it contributes to the problem , or at least aggravates it , but this is even beyond what sibling rivalry looks like . this is a problem that he is going through .
has anyone on here noticed a problem this young with any of their children . is it possible for a toddler to have adhd .
Hi I also have a 20 month old who is doing exactly the same as your son.
I have two other children one of 11years and one of 7 years, they both have got ADHD/TOURETTES. I sometimes wonder if he is just copying their behaviour?
I had the same with them at this young age and put it down to the terrible twos it wasn't until it was turning into the terrrible threes and fours that we realised there was a real problem.
I have spoken to our Dr about the chance of our 20mth son having the same problems as his siblings and were told that he is too young to tell, so for us it is a waiting game for any sort of diagnosis.
I think your intuition as a parent will tell you if you feel there is a real problem there, the problem is the waiting game and trying to cope with the behaviour, whilst being told it is just the 'terrible twos'
I really do understand what you are going through and know that it is not easy being a parent especially to special needs children.
In answer to your question, yes I do believe that a toddler can have ADHD.