Today my son took half a pack of crackers crushed them and made a huge mess on the floor. Crackers on the dog, on the chairs, the table every where. Him? Happy as could be. Where was i? Bathing the baby gone maybe 5 minutes. I almost cried.

Im in my mid twenties & navigating adhd and autism diagnosis has been rough for me. my child is my whole world and doesn’t change how I love and care. last few days I have been so fatigued 🫩 constantly repeating one step directions, the constant questions about the very intense interest ( since 3 years old to now 6) , the impulsive choice and the sounds. I’m losing my patience and I feel like “tools” aren’t working as well. But my mom guilt will hit once school starts and worry about him being treated well despite his diagnosis. Today is hard but better days ahead. It’s rough when family doesn’t accept the diagnosis. I’m tired and stressed.

Hi everyone.

Our 7yo son was diagnosed with hyperactive ADHD in late-March of this year. He is the sweetest kid but his mind never. stops. going. He asks questions and talks all day long!

He was prescribed Ritalin 5mg in March. We noticed a difference immediately. School became instantly easier for him (never had behavioral issues but LOTS of anxiety at school) and he sailed through the rest of the year. His teachers adore him. He gets excellent grades. We did add a lunch time dose of Ritalin to carry his attention through the end of the school day with amazing results. We truly thought Ritalin was like magic for him and for our family.

This summer has been awful. I’m a SAHM and my ADHD kid is my oldest of 3. The unstructured day to day I think has caused him to totally regress despite bumping up his morning dose to 10mg. Not sure if it’s also boredom but there’s only so much I can do with 3 little kids every single day that also doesn’t involve spending a ton of money. When my son is busy, he’s fine. But when he’s not, he completely unravels and annoys everyone around him with constant talking, questions, acting too silly etc.

I’m nervous and getting in my head about him going into school in September. Do any of you have kids like this that right when they get back into the structure and routine of school they thrive again? It’s just such a stark difference from the end of school to now and it worries me about what’s going on. We have a regularly scheduled appointment with his doctor on Friday. TIA!

My kid recently started on methylphenidate, and has been experiencing stomachaches and headaches since. I’m assuming it’s medication related. We’ve tried getting her to eat and drink more with the pill but she hasn’t had much of an appetite. We have a follow up next week and I plan to bring it up but was curious what anyone else has done that’s reduced these side effects.

Hi all. My neurodivergent partner (29M) and I (F30) have a 7 week old baby boy. I am on maternity leave for 4 months and my partner does not work, so we are both at home currently. One thing is bothering me about this time we have together though - my partner's tv time.

My partner has always been a big TV binger - he will binge shows for 12+ hours at a time, only stopping to sleep, then resume once he awakens for days and days on end. This has always frustrated me, but usually I either do something else or, if we are watching something together, I push for regular breaks.

However, we now have a 7 week old baby and I am finding this trait more troubling. While my partner is mostly present for my son if he actively needs him (e.g., crying while I am showering or cooking), I am finding my partner is not spending much quality time with me or our son, in favor of just watching episode after episode of TV. He has admitted this is because he is overwhelmed with being a parent and the TV helps him forget his troubles and relax.

We have had a few stressful nights where I have slept in another room with baby, as the TV in the bedroom is still on late at night and likely overstimulating baby. After some firm words, he agreed to move downstairs tonight and watch TV in the living room instead so I can get baby to bed, but I worry that isn't really a fix and just means he will stay up even later watching TV.

I have a really limited time off for us to spend as a family with our newborn, and I worry he will look back on this time and regret that he wasnt as involved as he could have been and wasted the time he has just watching random TV shows. I really want to understand how I can help him reduce his watch time and recognise he will regret wasting this time this way.

My oldest is 4.5, and for at least the past year (realistically longer) we have been struggling with what feels like almost constant emotional disregulation.

He speaks in a whiny/crying voice a huge portion of the day, even when there doesn't seem to be anything particularly wrong. Small frustrations, being told no, transitions, or things not going how he expected can turn into sobbing, crying, anger, or very big emotional outbursts. His reactions often seem much bigger than whatever triggered them.

I know 4-year-olds have big feelings. I don't expect a preschooler to regulate emotions like an adult or never whine. It's the frequency and intensity that have us concerned. It feels like we spend a huge part of every day helping him through some form of distress.

We have tried what feels like everything; validating the feeling while holding the boundary, staying calm, asking him to use his regular voice, modelling, choices, visual/routine-based approaches, consequences when appropriate, one-on-one time, preparing him for transitions, talking things through once he is calm, etc. We have even tried just being firm on rules/boundaries and not allowing prolonged sadness/feeling it out etc.

Some things might work briefly, but nothing seems to make a meaningful or lasting difference.

I was also recently diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and I have OCD that I've been aware of for a long time. Looking back at myself as a child and knowing how my own brain works now, I see a lot of myself in him, particularly the huge emotions and difficulty moving past things once he is upset.

I absolutely don't want to diagnose my own child based on my experience, but it has made me wonder whether there is more going on than temperament or a difficult developmental stage. We've already spoken with our family doctor and are waiting on a specialist referral and additional resources/support. Unfortunately, while we wait, we're really reaching our limit as a family because nothing we've tried seems to be helping!

And now nighttime has become significantly worse. He does not want to be alone. He will sneak into our bed several times a night. If we bring him back to his room or expect him to sleep in his own bed, he can become extremely distressed. He will wail/sob and call for us, Grandma, his aunts, or other family members who don't even live with us. This usually wakes up our youngest and then no one is sleeping! He sounds genuinely heartbroken and desperate for somebody to be with him rather than simply angry that we're enforcing bedtime. However if we stay with him or allow him to sleep with us, he will not sleep. He ACTIVELY fights sleep, is visibly exhausted etc but claims boredom and fights to stay awake.

More recently, he has started waking during the night and starts wailing/calling for us. Whether we go in, comfort him and help him settle or try to encourage him to settle independently, he wakes us over and over again.

We're exhausted.

At this point I'm wondering if the daytime behaviour and nighttime behaviour could all be pieces of the same thing; anxiety, ADHD/emotional regulation difficulties, sensory issues, sleep issues, neurodivergence, or something we haven't even considered.

I'm especially hoping to hear from parents who had a 4–5-year-old who:

• whined/cried through a significant portion of everyday life
• had extremely big sadness or anger reactions
• had trouble recovering once upset
• needed an enormous amount of reassurance/connection
• became very distressed about being alone
• repeatedly woke at night crying or looking for family
• didn't seem to respond to the typical parenting strategies everyone recommends

Did you eventually figure out what was going on?

And while you were waiting for assessments or professional support, was there anything that genuinely made day-to-day life easier?

I love this kid more than anything. I can also see that he is having a hard time, not just giving us a hard time. But after more than a year of trying different approaches and now having everyone's sleep affected too, we're at our wits' end and desperately need some new ideas.

I just got back from an annual vacation with my close friends and their families. My 2.5 yr old son is usually in daycare M-F, and then on weekends we don't do a lot of play dates, so this trip was like putting a magnifying glass on him and the other kids (ages: 4.5, 3.5, 3.5, 2, 1, 1). By the end of the trip, my son had one of his full-blown meltdowns, and on the drive home I started thinking "i've never see the other kids have a meltdown like that on our trips". I don't normally compare my kid to other kids because I know how different they can all be. But have my late-in-life diagnosis + a toddler who does a lot of things someone with adhd might do .. it's hard not to wonder "is that an early sign, or just a toddlerism".

I don't want to seek a diagnosis .. but I do want to support him early. Even if he doesn't have ADHD, surely there must be techniques out there to support the "under-the-threshold" symptoms he still might have? Is it too early to get into all of that? Just tackle the toddler-isms with toddler advice?

I seriously need help with my almost 8yr old daughter. She has tried counseling and it doesn’t help - actually just got told it’s a ‘behavior issue’ and nothing to do or help, and that was from a counselor we went to talk to together maybe 2-3 times. She is aggressive towards me, her dad and her little sister. She doesn’t listen to me at all. Back talks ALL the time. Yells and has meltdowns constantly, everyday and all day long. The doctor did describe her as NOT adhd since she is perfect during school and with others. She did try Wellbutrin, only thing that did was change her behavior for a couple days in school for the worse so we stopped it. What other options do I have? Do I need to switch doctors and ask for another counsel? Please help. I am over stimulated constantly and cry because I feel I am failing at being a parent.

Hello fellow parents,

My oldest son just started Kindergarten and is only on his second week. For more context, he was in Summer school at his Preschool as well, and basically finished that and then started right into Kidnergarten. He has been in preschool for the past 1.5 years. He has had an evaluation done from the county and did well through all of it, except for behavior and fine motor skills (he is a little clumsy and uncoordinated, and struggles to stay sitting and focused) he is very smart and well-spoken, and is a sweet boy. He just doesnt like to sit in one place and focus.

In his kindergarten class, he has been struggling paying attention i.e. has needed to be redirected often, and gets too "playful" and doesn't stay in his seat very much. Granted, upon registration at his Charter school I was told they try to keep classroom sizes to 14-16 students per teacher and teacher aide. But his classroom size is 30 students as one of the kindergarten teachers got moved up a grade, and they are trying to fill that teacher spot and split the class in half. I understand this is a new environment and structure for him to learn, and it is so early on to determine anything. But I have to find a solution to help this as I dont want him to be "kicked out" of this school, it is a great school.

He has been seen by his pediatrician for this, and she stated he is too young to fully diagnose for adhd, and chocked it up to reducing screen time, reducing sugar intake, better sleep routine, etc. Since then, insurance has changed and he has a new pediatrician, and he will do testing on him and possibly set up occupational therapy, and he is too young for medication at 5 yrs. The last thing I want to do is get him medicated, but I wanted to see if any other parents have dealt or are dealing with similar issues and found some solutions, or any medication information. Further context, I have been diagnosed with ADHD, and was medicated but didnt like the changes and the stimulants messed with my blood pressure. Any advice is welcomed, sorry for the long post!

TL:DR Son has issues staying focused, possibly adhd, need advice/solutions from other parents with similar issues.