My son is 7 years old. I have suspected he may have ADHD for years. ADHD runs in some of my family and we could see similar behaviors over time.

I have not yet had him evaluated. I spoke with the doctor once but it went no where since it did not come from his school as a recommendation for evaluation.

Every year going to a new grade is extremely difficult. But we have been figuring out ways to manage. I speak with teachers and stay in communication. However, last year was a disaster with a new first year teacher. So I moved him to a new school this year where academics and expectations are consistent.

We are experiencing some of the same issues. Things have been calm for a while. But now that homework is coming home it’s flaring up again. He’s not writing down his homework, or not bringing home the workbooks. Whatever he can do to get out of homework he’s doing it. Edited to add that the meltdowns and big emotions are what we are struggling with the most. Sometimes my regulation tools aren’t working. I’m exhausted.

I’m struggling and feel like I am totally out of my depth. My family has substance abuse issues very badly so I am hesitant to medicate him and make him reliant on a medication at such a young age.

In the beginning stages with your child what worked and what did you do to help them?

Does anyone have any reccs for video or computer games that encourage reading and/or math? ADHD daughter refuses any school related activities once she’s home. Hoping to disguise it with something she’d want to do when she got home.

My 15yr old daughter has ADHD combined (per the paperwork) she was diagnosed 2yrs ago although, I had assumed for much longer.

She struggles with executive function, such as switching tasks, staying on task, procrastination. She’s really struggling in school. We’re on week 3 and she already has a few Fs and a D due to missing assignments. She has an 504 plan, her teachers check in on her, they shorten the assignments, chunk them, etc.

At this point, I’m questioning my own sanity. I can’t want this more than her and I feel like I’m fighting a brick wall. I’m only asking for Cs nothing crazy, but every single night it’s a fight. A fight to keep her room clean, a fight to get her to shower, a fight to get her to do her homework; to even turn in the homework I watched her complete is a fight.

I’m at my wits end.

Her dad is against medicine because “it’ll change who she is.” “It will make her worse” (this one I believe is concerns about the negative side effects). But he’s pretty adamant he’s not down with it.

Me on the other hand, while yes I am concerned about the negative side effects… I’m like she’s already dealing with negative side effects without the medication. Surely it can’t get worse, right?

Sometimes I fear she has no drive, no goals, nothing. Like she’s just existing at this point. She does see a therapist, but at this point I question if it’s even helping.

I really need help with boundary setting and getting my 8 yo to comply with the rules. For example, when he wakes up before us the rules are that (1) there are certain things it is ok to eat, (2) be quiet so you don’t wake up others, (3) no screens of any kind and only play with your own things, (4) no leaving your bedroom before 7am.

We are really struggling here because he will take/eat any sweets he can find and if he can figure out access he will use any ipads/phones left out or tv. My SO won’t change the pwd on his ipad or make it inaccessible on principle. Everything else is hidden or pwd changed.

I told my son this morning that anytime he takes or uses something that isnt his, then I will take something of his. Is this a good consequence? What else can/should I do? Are there specific books or trainings that you recommend? I really need help.

He says he understands and knows that he shouldn’t do these things but he does anyhow. He is on methylphenidate er and guanficine in the morning with an immediate release methylphenidate in early afternoon.

My soon to be step kid just turned 5. She’s still having out of control meltdowns daily, sometimes 3 or more a day. Over everything, doesn’t want to be in a room alone but you need to leave to pee, melt down while banging the door down. Wants a snack after brushing teeth and already laying in bed, melt down, kicking screaming, will make herself puke to the level she loses it. Look you dead in your face and does the exact thing you said not to do, gets corrected, melt down of epic proportion. Im sure the neighbors think we live in a crazy house cause her screaming can be heard down the block.

Our 9 year old was diagnosed at 6, his early signs were more violent and energy level based. Curious as we suspect ADHD, and also already has an anxiety diagnosis, but if this is a presentation you’ve seen, experienced, grown through, etc. I need support on this cause I was not around for the early stages of our 9 year old. He’s currently medicated and 99% of the time is coping pretty well now.

Hi all, I’ve never posted here but I need some advice or even “it gets better”. My 4 year old has had difficulty in school/daycare since he was almost 3. The psychologist thought he might have adhd or anxiety but he was too young to really say. He changed schools due to a move and the new school was a disaster. Biting, hitting, complete boredom, meltdowns. It ended with preschool expulsion. His pediatrician made the referral for psychiatry and we got a diagnosis. We held off on meds to see if a new school would help. He initially started off great! We had warned the new school we were going through this, too and they were so happy he was so good. Well… recently my son has reverted back to biting, hitting, violent outbursts. The school is doing a great job but we decided to start medication. It’s just not sustainable for anyone. His first day at home with it was great. His first day at school was awful.

We’ll adjust the dosage of course with our doctor. But this is so disheartening. Please someone tells me it gets better. Quillivant for the record.

We have two adopted kids who both have ADHD, ten and 14. They both have different needs and are extremely challenging. They both fly off the handle constantly. We have noticed recently that they are hitting us and others more. I'm struggling to cope with this and my partner is at her wits end. Looking for advice or strategies to deal with this.

Hi everyone. We live in a townhouse and my son with ADHD (age 9) recently started refusing to come inside from playing in the yard. This is very new as of a couple weeks ago. He is playing with a neighbor kid who we feel is being a negative influence. Consequences do not work as he says he does not care and certain consequences such as no video games on the weekends just means he runs outside to play when he would normally be playing videos games and his siblings are (feels counterproductive when the issue is him playing outside). He will straight up refuse to come inside and if we eventually coax him inside, he will immediately run out the back door. He is only coming inside once the neighbor kid goes inside. Talking to the neighbor kid's mom does not help as she has now decided to change her child's curfew to come inside from 8pm to 9pm after hearing our issues. The neighbor kid is literally outside all day long. If we tell our son he cannot go outside, he just says he doesn't care and goes out anyway. He has started swearing (including at us when we are telling him it's time to come inside) since this started happening. On days we can stay busy away from the house or the neighbors are gone, he is his usual self with listening and not swearing. Outside of moving, away, we are stumped on how to address this and prevent this from getting worse. My son has always had a great relationship with my husband, myself, and his siblings and this is starting to negatively impact all those relationships. I'm so worried this will snowball into a bigger issue. He is on meds for depression only currently and just starting therapy.

Does that sound right? I took my 4 year old to the doctor to see if we can get a referral for an evaluation for ADHD. When they called they said that the doctor does not do in person evaluations and only does them over the phone. They will prescribe meds if they think we need it. How is this possible? We have Tricare if that makes any difference. My son is only 4 so I thought they’d recommend therapy first.

Hi, my 6 & half year old son is about to start school and I wanted to collect advice / watch outs / tips to make the transition easier for him. We live in Germany so any German schooling system specific advice with regards to kids with ADHD would be helpful too.

Some context: my son is not officially diagnosed but we see all the signs (incredible memory, 4pm meltdowns, unable to get rest, some meltdowns that feel like he’s having an out of body experience, etc) and have gone through a journey with him over the years. He’s just finished 3 years at kindergarten and managed quite well overall. We have a doctor’s appointment in the next week to talk to them about this too.

Thanks - appreciate any insights.

Hi there. I’m hoping that someone might be able to help point us in a direction to get to the root cause of our daughter’s abdominal pain (she’s 7, with inattentive ADHD as well as some anxiety, though the latter isn’t diagnosed).

Starting in July, she began saying that she wasn’t hungry often and would sometimes complain after eating of being very full. Around this time, I did have a noticeable virus of some sort myself - intestinal discomfort and burping. I assumed her body was fighting something and she had been dealing with constipation for years to boot (for which we use MiraLAX, as per her pediatrician’s guidance).

However, the issue never resolved. Instead, it became worse, and she began having abdominal pain (cramping + gas).

We had an appointment with a pediatric GI doc who was concerned since she had lost some weight as a result of the early fullness. We did a MiraLAX clean out and the subsequent x-ray showed no blockages or backups, but the fullness, cramps, and pain persisted.

We have had the following tests run / things checked:
CBC
Thyroid
Metabolic Panel
Magnesium. + Phosphorus Levels
IgA
Celiac Screen
Sed Rate, Westergren
Strep A
Gastric Emptying (“accelerated” but her test was only with 2oz of Ensure + 2oz of water, which isn’t standard)
Abdominal Ultrasound (upper quadrant + spleen)

Everything looks normal with the exception of the accelerated emptying (still waiting to hear back on what the pediatric GI makes of it considering the fact that the radiologist changed the protocol).

She has been put on Cyproheptadine. We have seen some improvements. Her pain level went from 4-5 after eating to 2-3, and she has gained some weight back.

However, we still haven’t solved the issue. I’m wondering what else to ask about. Perhaps a stool test to look for inflammation (even if her blood hasn’t shown markers for that), stool test to look for parasites (seems unlikely), SIBO test, and perhaps a CT scan of her abdomen, though I’m hesitant since they have done both an x-ray and an ultrasound.

Has anyone else’s child been through this? If so, I’d very much appreciate any guidance you have about tests to ask for or things to look into. Could it be that her microbiome is severely messed up?

No family history of food allergies or sensitivities on either side other than one relative with Celiac, but this is something we can look into as well. Apologies that this isn’t related to ADHD specifically, except that I do know that ND children tend to have some more digestive issues on the whole when compared to NT children (she has never been very good at listening to her body’s signals).

For the past little bit, my little one, who is 6 and has ADHD/ODD, has been having what I wouldn’t even really call “troubles,” but more like anxiety around bedtime.

When I go to put him to bed, he gets really anxious and starts asking me what time I’m going to wake him up in the morning, if I’m going to wake him up, don’t forget to wake him up in the morning, etc. I’ll answer all his questions and reassure him, but as soon as I leave close his door, he’ll yell through the door asking me the same questions again. Sometimes he’ll even come into my room and ask me all over again.

Sometimes also been waking up throughout the night sometimes just to check if I’m home.
Is this something that’s normal or common with kids who have ADHD? Or could this be more related to anxiety?

For those who have an adhd partner and young child (mines 4) do you find they butt-heads alot? Also when our child is having a meltdown, my partner does not handle it very well. Hes newly diagnosed because his mother didnt want him labeled as a kid so even though she knew it was there she never got him any coping skills. How can I help support both my partner and child during a high conflict moment? Child having meltdown partner basically triggered by meltdown....gosh this sounds awful when written out.

I swear I started wondering if my son had ADHD around 18 months/2 years old.

Did anyone else notice this young or have I misremembered?

What were some of the first signs you noticed in your child?

My son just started high school and we’re discussing later bedtimes. On weekdays it’s 9:30 and 10 on weekends. On weekdays he needs to be up at 6:30 to get ready for school. He’s complaining that it’s not late enough, and that his friends don’t have bedtimes. I found a Reddit post basically with most people saying they don’t have a bedtime for their 14 year olds.

The problem is I suspect those kids are neurotypical and can self regulate better. He wants to be up until basically whenever he wants playing video games with his friends. He’s also very short for his age and I feel like he can’t really be missing out on sleep.

I know I’m the parent and we set the rules but I’m curious if we’re unreasonable.

I have a 7 year old girl in second grade. She was diagnosed with adhd. She has a lot of trouble focusing at school and we ended up having to start her on Focalin last year which helps some and she was able to actually pass the 1st grade. Her grades are a little better so far this year but she is still struggling and I don’t know what else to do to help her. By the time she gets home the medicine is already worn off and increasing it isn’t an option bc her weight. Any tips or tricks that may help???

Sometimes I think that my daughter, with ADHD, autism, and ODD, is a monster. Every second that she spends with someone, she wants to do something bad to someone, so that the person gets hurt and bursts into tears.I am so incredibly sad. At the moment, she is being completely antisocial. I can never imagine her having friends.

My 6 year old was recently diagnosed ADHD. I pushed for the diagnosis because it was very obvious to me. I honestly only stumbled upon this group hunting for seamless socks because the sock battle is one of many I would like to end. Now that I’m scrolling, I’m seeing the reality of my situation.

My dad is in town visiting and we don’t see him that often. We went shopping today and my daughter ended up having the most extreme meltdown she has had in a long time. I know it shocked my dad. He wanted to help but I just needed to get through it so I could safely get everyone home. 30 minutes in 100 degree heat of smashing, thrashing, screaming/screeching at the top of her lungs while I held her in a parking lot. I felt so defeated and drained. He’s strongly opposed to all meds and has made that very clear. After the meltdown I looked at him and said “do you understand now why we are talking about meds?” and he said yes, he now understands.

I’ve been one of those people who wants to try counseling instead of meds. I don’t want her to burn out on meds by starting them too young and I’m worried it will subdue all her fun along with the difficult. Today broke me and reading everyone’s life changing experience by giving their kids meds is really hitting home. I need to face the reality that she cannot regulate her emotions and has no impulse control. It’s not fair for her, it’s not fair for my son, it’s not fair for any of us.

This is mostly just a rant because I needed to get it out. Today was the day I realized she needs to be medicated.

And if you’ve made it this far, please share any sock recommendations. I’ve bought 4 new packs of socks this month (including Jefferies) and none of them are working.

Hi! Question for those whose child takes an SSRI and stimulant...

in our case, our pre-teen has been taking a low dose of Zoloft + methylphenidate for a long time. She is and always has been very irritable, difficult to get along with and anxious. Anxiety at this dose was never fully neutralized but going higher or switching anxiety meds led to risk seeking and almost manic like behavior. Our psychiatrist does not suspect bipolar. We are happy with the focus and attention from the stimulant and don't want to change that.

I guess my question is... my child NEVER seems happy. Every day is a behavioral struggle. She says she hates people, curses and is just mean to friends and family, on a regular basis. I don't see any laughter or joy. We do many things to support her and her school is wonderful to her (small and meets her where she is, lots of support and positive interaction).

At this point I don't feel like Zoloft is it for us. I have a call scheduled with the doctor but does anyone else have thoughts on this? Has anyone dropped the SSRI and actually seen more happiness? Can it cause depression?

Thanks!

My almost 13 year old son has severe hyperactive ADHD and was recently diagnosed (at age 12) with very high functioning autism. He has significant challenges with emotional regulation and peer relationships, and struggles to integrate with peers and anyone close to his age. He acts very aggressively toward his 10.5 year old brother and is especially antagonistic to him in the mornings, completely unprovoked, and we are all at wits end having to deal with it daily.

As soon as my ADHD son wakes up most mornings, he runs to his brother and antagonizes him, immediately putting our entire house into a state of dysregulation because we are constantly on edge around him. We’ve tried asking him to calm down on a different room or different floor, asked him to go outside until he can treat his brother civilly, I’ve offered to take him outside for grounding exercises, and many additional things, but unless we hover in the same room with his brother after he wakes up, there is almost always instant conflict, including hitting, snatching the remote out of his brother’s hands, slapping his breakfast out of his hands, throwing things at him, making noises at him, and similar toddler-like behavior.

His behavior typically gets better when his stimulant kicks in, but often devolves later in the day, and we see similar antagonizing behavior that goes well beyond sibling rivalry. I know that ADHD kids are several years behind their peers with emotional regulation and maturity, but this is not 9-10 year old behavior, this is 5 year old behavior (and it’s been going on pretty consistently since he was 5). We’ve also noticed that this antagonistic and often abusive behavior occurs regardless of what kind of day or week he’s having - it’s like groundhog day every morning no matter how balanced his day was before.

We see a pediatric neurologist for medication management who has prescribed a stimulant in addition to low dose Zoloft and very low dose Abilify (these did help with some challenges at school), he’s in therapy, we’ve tried implementing consequences like separating the kids, taking away screens and other privileges, having frank discussions about what this is doing to our mental health, and sadly a lot of yelling and some tears on my part when I’m pushed over the edge. Anything that you‘ve read about on the internet or seen posted on social media, we’ve very likely tried.

Does anyone have any suggestions for things that might help us all have peaceful mornings? My son will not participate in grounding or breathing exercises when he’s dysregulated and will not accompany me outside to give his medication time to kick in so he can control his behavior. He comes down at 60 mph every single day, and we just can’t take much more of it. My husband has some mental health issues of his own and a deep family history of widow-maker heart attacks in men, and I’m terrified this is going to impact his physical health as much as it’s bringing us all down mentally and emotionally.

Has anyone had positive experiences with Atomoxetine (Strattera)? I am only finding negatives on this sub. My child was prescribed Atomoxetine only, not in combination with other meds as I’ve seen others use. TYIA.

Curious as to how many of your young ADHD kids are also on an SSRI?

Our 7yo was diagnosed with ADHD back in March of this year. We had suspicions for awhile but he first presented with anxiety/OCD symptoms in 2025 that masked a lot of the ADHD.

He is now on

Sertraline 37.5mg
Methylphenidate IR 3x daily
Clonidine at bedtime

Is this a “normal” regimen for a 7yo? He is very high functioning and doing amazing but needs help with impulse control and just slowing his very hyperactive mind down. Has never had any behavioral issues or struggles. We did try to wean off the Sertraline in the beginning of summer but his anxiety came right back 😩 I hate the thought of my young kid on SSRI medication but I also have to come to terms that he needs it. It just makes me nervous for his developing brain!

Any feedback appreciated ❤️

My son just started high school. He has to be up at 6am and we’ve been going back and forth about what a reasonable bedtime is. He swears he actually has MORE energy when he gets less sleep, and I can see why he thinks that. He’ll go to a sleepover, barely sleep, and somehow be totally fine the next day. It’s the day after that (and sometimes the next couple of days) when he’s a disaster.

I keep trying to explain that just because he feels fine the next day doesn’t mean he actually functions better on less sleep. It seems like he can run on adrenaline or whatever for a day and then the lack of sleep catches up with him.

His other argument is that all of his friends stay up late on school nights. And maybe they do, but that’s between them and their parents. Of course, from his perspective, that just means I’m being unfair and treating him like a little kid by telling him when he needs to go to bed.

The other thing is that when I do “make” him go to bed at a reasonable time, he falls asleep pretty easily. It’s not like he’s lying there awake for hours because his body genuinely isn’t ready to sleep. If that were happening, I’d feel differently. It’s more like he doesn’t want to go to bed yet than that he actually can’t sleep.

I know he’s a teenager and I don’t want to spend every school night fighting about bedtime or micromanaging when he goes to sleep. But 6am comes whether he goes to sleep at 10:30 or 1am, and I also know what he’s like when he’s been running on too little sleep for several days.

So I’m curious what other families are actually doing. What time does your teen have to get up, what time do they realistically go to sleep, and how many hours seem to work best for them? Do you still have a set bedtime, or have you mostly handed that responsibility over to them?

My almost 6 year old is on guanfacine, which has helped calm down some outbursts but he is still very impulsive with keeping his hands to himself (not maliciously, he literally can't help it)..

Does anyone regret started the stimulants? Do you have any positives of starting them early around 6? Thank you