u/MKUltra16

Hi dad had ADHD, I have ADHD, and now my 4yo son is displaying the same behaviors. He is a lot of wonderful things. He is smart and funny and social and thoughtful. He is also reactive and sensitive, rigid and autonomous, anxious, inattentive or hyper focused. He emotionally floods when things are done differently than he’d like. He’s always getting in trouble at school. I had these same problems and found myself:

1. ⁠constantly masking and trying to control behavior and eventually hating myself for not meeting a standard my brain wasn’t made for

2. ⁠self-medicating with alcohol as I got older (no longer)

One thing I’ve been thinking about was that trying to meet people’s standards produces shame/self-hatred and just being myself produces social isolation /self-hatred. I’m a great adult now but it took a long time and I want the path to be easier for my son.

My question is, can anyone give advice on best practices for a 4 year old with ADHD so they can grow up to like themselves?

Hi! I have a 4yo whose nervous systems has a hard time with peaceful, silent moments (just like me). I lay with my son until he falls asleep. Increasingly he has been expressing anxieties and fears before he falls asleep. I truly believe it’s his brain filling in for stimuli in the silence.

All this to say, I have been considering having audiobooks on when my son falls asleep. A part of me is afraid he’ll stay up to listen but another part thinks this might help his anxiety. Anyone here have their kids listen to audiobooks to sleep and can share their experience?

My son’s sleep and behavior has improved with Claritin. He is 4. My question is if anyone has ever taking a daily histamine every day since childhood, and if this has in their mind produced any negatives or positives since adulthood? Thank you!

Can I get a pulse check if this behavior your kids have or no? I know no other children and I am trying to wrap my head around what’s going on.

So my son (4M) grabbed his toy triceratops and kept putting it on his face. I told him many times that he can’t touch my face with toys. I told him twice and then said if it happens again I have to take the toy for the day. It happened again and I took the toy and put it on a top shelf. He said he wants the toy and I said no. He started doing this weird laugh like he was beavis or butthead and started slamming my piano with his other toy. I told him if he uses his toy in anger on my stuff I have to take it. I went to grab the other toy and he ran away and I had to wrestle it from his hand. Then he weird laughed again. I said he needs a few minute for calm and he can either sit in his couch and look at art or go under the covers with a book. He kept weird laughing and refusing to engage with me. Then when I asked him questions he went goo goo ga ga. Then he stayed hyper for like an hour after.

This just started in the last month so I kind of don’t know what happening. Doctor suggested an immune reaction after strep (PANDAS) so considering it but just not sure if this is age-appropriate and need to know more about other kid behaviors.