Hyper 4 Year Old - Midlothian,IL

You really can't diagonose ADHD until age 5. Both my children has ADD and ADHD, but they were diagonsed at age 6 and 7 years old. My children's school did a wonderful job helping my children get on the right track. I first went to my children's doctor to get them tested.

Normally ADHD can not be diagnosed until a child is 6 years old simply because children change as they grow up and hyperactivity typically reduces as a child grows. The key to this issue is are your children hyper in all situations or just at home? If every where, then you should keep your mind open, consider simple measures like talking to your doctor or some one who treats young children with behavior issues. If your daughter is good with other adults or at preschool, then talking to a child psychologist would be a good idea.

If she is super hyper, you just have to work harder to wear her out before she wears you out. Some days my kids are more hyper than others so I try to find activities to get some of that energy out. Parks work pretty well and so does riding the bike around the block. Is she enrolled in any sports like soccer or gymnastics? They can be a huge help.

Good luck!

It really depends on how far out of the typical development of a 4 year old this hyperactivity is, and, if you see other issues that give you a concern. It is not true, btw, that kids cannot be diagnosed early, they can, and should be, if they have an issue, and even if the official diagnosis is not given due to age, children with issues can get early intervention for the issues that they have, which is the very best thing any parent can do, if, in fact, the child is not developing in a typical way.

You would be seeing an inablity to carry out multi step directions, difficulty aplying typical dicipline applied consistently to themselves, meaning, if you are consistent with any good diciplinary technicque, and they know a concequence is coming, and they still cannot manage to change the behavior at all, then you have a behavioral concern that may be neurological. Contrary to popular myth, this issue is better if parents seek the earliest possible intervention, and not wait until the child is school aged and has internalized this missbehavior as part of thier everyday life. It is far more difficult to overcome if it festers. Neurological issues are there prior to us knowing that the behavior is not going to improve, so that sooner you get to it, the better.

Other issues you might see are the inablity to sit and do fine motor tasks, not being able to sit and listen to a book, or not being able to stay focused with any one toy or game to the end, which begins to damage thier ablity to make and keep friends.

The big one is Impusivity. If your daughter cannot stop herself from doing things, even when you have practiced, and you have workded on it, and you have applied concequences, and it is obvious to you that in a group of kids, the others are (while not free of impulsivity, because impulsive behavior is typcial for children for many years to come) better at impulse control than she is, and have many fewer impulsive behaviors, or that her impulsiveness puts her in danger and interferes with her social development, then you may have a developmental issue that is consistent with ADHD.

Since all you mentioned here is hyperactivity, I am hoping that this is just a kid who likes to be active, and you might try to give her more physical opportunities that are appropriate. Maybe a personal trampoline (like for a work out) in the family room that she can jump on that is an approved form of physical activity in the house to get the wiggles out, or put her in soccer, or have her run around the back yard in laps and race with her brother. Give her a hug if she lets him win. Something to channel the activity, and if that does not help, and you do see her in the other things I mentioned, an evaluation is always a win-win.

I mean, if you take her to see a professional (Developmental Pediatricans, psychiatrists w/a fulll neuropsycholgical eval) then you walk out the door knowing that you either have nothing to worry about, or you walk out the door with a plan to help your daughter be all that she can. Win, win, and nothing not to like about that.

Good luck
M.

My kids needed about 4 hours of outside run time at those ages. We also limited tv to 30 minutes a day. We had a loose schedule but it was there. Make sure breakfast has whole grains not a lot of sugar and snack consist of fruit and veggies and lunch is a hearty meal that is balanced no quicky sandwich with jelly or. High carb. And eliminate juice as it is pure sugar dinner a little lighter than lunch. Don't rely on sports and classes to be enough of an energy outlet at this age. If all doesn't work have the child tested for thyroid. Celiac, diabetes and allergies, some kids have a natural high energy and if put to gpod use can be used as they mature for great things

I have a 4 year old nephew quite hyper too. I would definitely look into the foods she's eating, check the sugar content, and limit it. If after doing that you still have concerns, I would schedule an appt. with her doctor & discuss things. Also, does she have structured play time? My 3 y/o is really hyper if I don't keep things structured for her. She has her own play time as well, but structure just seems to work w/her. Good luck to you!!

I would suggest getting your daughter evaluated by an occupational therapist. Many kids with sensory integration difficulties (which can be addressed by an occupational therapist) look like hyperactive/ADHD kids. Maybe check into the book The Sensory Sensitive Child and see if it rings any bells. Good luck!

As others said - I would start with a psychologist who can help determine whether or not your child may have early ADHD traits or should be referred for OT evaluation (for Sensory Processing Disorder), or perhaps to help you find a medical cause (for instance, a sleep study can be ordered - hyperactivity in children is sometimes caused by sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.) My son has both SPD and had sleep apnea. We treated the apnea with surgery (adenoid removal) and together with weekly OT sessions he has improved alot. But in general I would agree that any child with "extra energy" benefits from:
Less time in front of the TV or other electronics
More time engaged in physical activities - I highly recommend Martial Arts like Tae Kwan Do and swimming - in addition to daily exercise
Less artificial flavor, colors, preservatives. Eat more natural and organic.
Avoid eating tons of sugar esp high fructose corn syrup
Have "sensory" or "movement" breaks often - jumping jacks, wheelbarrow walks, push ups, crab walk - when child has to be seated for a while like long car rides or at school
Above all try to have patience with her as hard as that can be! And even if she does have ADHD, that is not a death sentence! There are many good books/resources out there about ADHD that for me, helped me make peace with that. ADHD can be a gift if channeled and managed appropriately. Studies have found a large number of ER Physicians have/had ADHD - a skill they need in their work environment. Michael Phelps has/had ADHD and it unquestionably helped make him a phenomenal swimmer. There are many ways to handle ADHD and other related/similar issues that do not involve medication.

Good Luck!
-A

What foods is she eating? Somone told me that thier child was allergic to the red dye in foods and once they cut that out, they were fine. So it might be something she is eating?