Dealing with ADHD
When your toddler has the syndrome of ADHD, what to help in minimizing the effects of his out of control behavior on himself, his family, and his environment. Preventive management today may help parents dealing with ADHD kid. These suggestions will help with any particularly wild toddler, not just those who are destined for diagnosis of ADHD:
- Examine what is going on in the family to be sure that stress or the illness of a family member is not triggering his symptoms.
- mphasize the routine, such as schedule meals, naps, outings, snacks, bath at the same time each day. These will help your child feels secure since he knows what will happen next.
- Do not set your toddler up to failure by putting him in impossibly demanding situations, such as a long movie or live performance, a formal dinner in a fancy restaurant, tea in antiqued filled living room, etc
- Avoid using physical punishment or physical restraint. Your careful controls will help him begin to develop his own. Discipline should be consistent and firm, but loving.
- Help your toddler to gradually improve his attention span. One way is to set short-term goals and help him meet them. For examples, sitting at one task for two minutes.
- Praise quiet play. If your toddler spends a few minutes looking at a book or playing with a puzzle, give him the applause he deserves.
- Help your toddler improve his basic skills. Frustration often leads to wildness. Learning how to dress himself, ride a tricycle, or catch a ball, for example, will help reduce his frustration with not being able to do it by himself.
- Give your toddler methods to cope with his feelings. When he is sad, or angry, scared, or frustrated, assure him that it is okay to have strong feelings, and help him find ways he can help himself feel better.
- Stress safety. Make sure your toddler has a safe space. Be sure to keep a sharp eye on him when you go on outings away from home. Dress him with bright colored clothing so you can spot him easily in the crowd
- When travelling, bring along a plentiful collection of distractions and take frequent activity breaks. Just stopping occasionally for a snack is not enough. Make some opportunity at each stop for him to run around.
- Recognize that your toddler may not need as much sleep as the typical toddler as his age, and do not try to force him to sleep longer than is natural for him.
- Take charge of his diet. The issue is still controversial, but some parents and experts believe that sugar an additive has very close relation with hyperactivity.
- Watch for possible environment contributors to the problem, including carbon monoxide, polluted and poisoned air
- Take care of your self. Parents of very active children often find themselves run ragged, especially if they are at home all day with their highly charged charge.
- Love your child as he is, and do not label him. Help your child to channel his excess energy constructively and chances are that he will be able to use it to accomplish a lot in life
