Aa
5 1/2 year old daughter Bipolar?
Hi, I'm a mother of a 5 year old, 6 in November. We have had a hard 3 years with her! What a roller coaster!! We started with counselors and phsyc. at 3. She has always been abnormally hyper, if we say no she has rages! She fights and hits kids at our park daily. She has scratched other kids that she doesn't even know. When we tell her time-out she will scream, yell and throw things for an hour, sometimes longer. She has thrown things at me from the top of the stairs. She has never "Played" with toys, she messes up anything in her path, she paces around our house. She plays outside as long as we let her. She is so active. My mom babysat her and couldn't handle it anymore after a week. So I had to quit my job and stay home again. She brought my mom down physically and mentally. She is doing the same to me. They always said she is too young for a diagnosis. Finally at 5 we found a doctor that cares and said she thinks she most likely has Bi-polar disorder, and maybe ADHD. They put her on respidol, what a miracle, at first, also they put her on strattara. But now 5 months later it all has gotten just as bad again. The only thing confusing me and her dad is she is perfect at school. She has been there for 2 months and she has a male teacher, which I wonder if this helps her stay good, she is scared to do anything wrong!!!! She has periods of staying up all night. She goes to bed at 8 pm but wakes up around 1am and is up all night. She gets really weird the day before, laughing about everything, hurting her sister, discipline is just funny, everything is funny to her. Her doctor said she can't be up-ed anymore on rispodol for her age but it's not working anymore. We have followed all discipline methods, she is a very sweet girl otherwise. We have been through so much, we thought we finally had some help, but now we don't know because she is doing so well in Kindergarten. We have tried a few ADHD stimulants, those made everything worse, she has even been hospitalized in physc. hospital. Please help us , we don't know if she is being naughty or if she truly has bi-polar. Thanks Desperate Mom!!!!!!!!!!
I’m glad you are getting some of this off of your chest. That’s good for ones body!
Well I’m glad that I told you about SID. I thought your daughter sounded like a child that suffered from this disorder. Years ago, this disorder was classified as autism. Have you ever watched the rain man? A very good movie, about autism it made me understand the disorder a lot better. If your daughter sees a behavior specialist you should let them know you want her tested for SID also known as SPD. If she does get diagnosed she also should receive services at school.
And yes sounds like there is way too much for her to have to deal with at the mall. I have learned that mental and physical Micah can’t handle stores I try to take him out in public weekly, Even if it’s going out to eat. I remember one day we were at Wal-Mart and he started screaming, which ended up being a full meltdown (age 3). He would walk around with his hands over his ears. We have had to leave McDonald’s over noises because he will kill over noises. Like I said smells will really make him sick. I don’t know how well she writes and does school work but there is a school program out there called “hand writing with out tears” its great! A big improvement with Micah’s had writing. With math we use counting bears, marker lids, ECT to count with.
Things you might have at home you might want to try:
Wrap here up in a blanket tightly. See how she does with it I almost could guarantee you that she will like it. Should be very calming to her.
Fill a stuffed animal or a sock up with about a pound of beans. Polly beads are the best to use cause you can wash it but beans, rice, and even sand work. Let her hold it on her lap when going out to the store put it in here backpack. If she does like it build a bear has bears you stuff, go in the store and let her pick out a animal don’t fill with fluff instead fill with Polly beads
Play dough is great for her to push on also pushing on walls give her deep pressure.
Remember don’t make her do any of this let her choose if she wants to try these things or not. Spinning her in a computer chair might calm her, as well. The feeling of rice in a bucket is calming for Micah although 5 years ago Micah wouldn’t touch rice he would describe it by saying boo boo. It hurt him. But now he loves it! Beans are a good touch with texture as well. If she likes to jump on her bed she probable is seeking deep pressure in her legs. With Micah I allow him to jump on the bed as long as I’m holding his hands, and only when I’m in the room. He loves tents, tunnels, and ball pits. Running help with their legs, pulling on their arms (an O.T tech or doctor has to show you) helps with the feeling of their arms being tight.
Well the school is calling I got to go. Hope these things help you both!
Well I’m glad that I told you about SID. I thought your daughter sounded like a child that suffered from this disorder. Years ago, this disorder was classified as autism. Have you ever watched the rain man? A very good movie, about autism it made me understand the disorder a lot better. If your daughter sees a behavior specialist you should let them know you want her tested for SID also known as SPD. If she does get diagnosed she also should receive services at school.
And yes sounds like there is way too much for her to have to deal with at the mall. I have learned that mental and physical Micah can’t handle stores I try to take him out in public weekly, Even if it’s going out to eat. I remember one day we were at Wal-Mart and he started screaming, which ended up being a full meltdown (age 3). He would walk around with his hands over his ears. We have had to leave McDonald’s over noises because he will kill over noises. Like I said smells will really make him sick. I don’t know how well she writes and does school work but there is a school program out there called “hand writing with out tears” its great! A big improvement with Micah’s had writing. With math we use counting bears, marker lids, ECT to count with.
Things you might have at home you might want to try:
Wrap here up in a blanket tightly. See how she does with it I almost could guarantee you that she will like it. Should be very calming to her.
Fill a stuffed animal or a sock up with about a pound of beans. Polly beads are the best to use cause you can wash it but beans, rice, and even sand work. Let her hold it on her lap when going out to the store put it in here backpack. If she does like it build a bear has bears you stuff, go in the store and let her pick out a animal don’t fill with fluff instead fill with Polly beads
Play dough is great for her to push on also pushing on walls give her deep pressure.
Remember don’t make her do any of this let her choose if she wants to try these things or not. Spinning her in a computer chair might calm her, as well. The feeling of rice in a bucket is calming for Micah although 5 years ago Micah wouldn’t touch rice he would describe it by saying boo boo. It hurt him. But now he loves it! Beans are a good touch with texture as well. If she likes to jump on her bed she probable is seeking deep pressure in her legs. With Micah I allow him to jump on the bed as long as I’m holding his hands, and only when I’m in the room. He loves tents, tunnels, and ball pits. Running help with their legs, pulling on their arms (an O.T tech or doctor has to show you) helps with the feeling of their arms being tight.
Well the school is calling I got to go. Hope these things help you both!
THIS IS FOR EVERYONE THAT HAS MADE COMMENTS< PLEASE READ!!!!!!
Hi it's me again. Wow have you had a hard time too! Keep your head up, your a great mom who cares deeply about your child too, and will do anything for him. It feels so good to come on this site daily (actually hourly sometimes) to view all the comments from everyone. I have been taking notes from everyones comments. I will try the advice given.
As for the SID, yes it really does seem like my daughter may have that. We have never been able to go places because of the way she acts. I can't discipline her the way I would at home because of other people being noise. Kaylee especially can't handle the mall. Oh, what a nightmare!!!! One day her dad was supposed to be keeping an eye on her while I tried some clothes on her sister and she just decided to leave the store and go to the play land. I said to my husband "Where is Kaylee?" It was so scary so I got the security guy and they found her way over there. She is such a smart little girl Our mall has lots of different turns. I can't believe she remembered how to get there on her own!!
She was 4, and she decided at about 6am to go outside, take her bike across our very busy street and ride "To Grandma's house" Which is very far away on bike. We had to call 911 and everything, this was a parents worse nightmare!! She came in our room that morning and we took her back to bed. I feel asleep again and she snuck out. She had only got across the street when the police found her, oh was I crying. We lectured her about that over and over, she did not think it was wrong.
As for how is her little sister is with all this? She is 3 now and has had a very hard life. When I put myself back to all these story's, I do realize Kaylee has gotten better. She used to hurt her sister so bad. Now she really takes care of her, she is mean sometimes but it;s a normal relationship. Mady would have scratches all over her face, people would ask us if we have a kitten. We would just say yes. Poor baby!!!! She had bruises on her from Kaylee. One day we ran in there room because Mady was screaming in pain. We got in there and Mady had blood all over. Kaylee had jumped in her crib and scratched and pinched her all over her body. We called her doctor and got her into the physc. hospital. What a sad time. That was my breaking point with all of this.
By the way we have took Kaylee off of all meds. We are going to see how she does. I hope and pray Kaylee does not go back to abusing Madyson. I will watch little Mady constantly. Again thanks all, and sorry this was so long, it feels so good to get things off my chest. Mindy
Hi it's me again. Wow have you had a hard time too! Keep your head up, your a great mom who cares deeply about your child too, and will do anything for him. It feels so good to come on this site daily (actually hourly sometimes) to view all the comments from everyone. I have been taking notes from everyones comments. I will try the advice given.
As for the SID, yes it really does seem like my daughter may have that. We have never been able to go places because of the way she acts. I can't discipline her the way I would at home because of other people being noise. Kaylee especially can't handle the mall. Oh, what a nightmare!!!! One day her dad was supposed to be keeping an eye on her while I tried some clothes on her sister and she just decided to leave the store and go to the play land. I said to my husband "Where is Kaylee?" It was so scary so I got the security guy and they found her way over there. She is such a smart little girl Our mall has lots of different turns. I can't believe she remembered how to get there on her own!!
She was 4, and she decided at about 6am to go outside, take her bike across our very busy street and ride "To Grandma's house" Which is very far away on bike. We had to call 911 and everything, this was a parents worse nightmare!! She came in our room that morning and we took her back to bed. I feel asleep again and she snuck out. She had only got across the street when the police found her, oh was I crying. We lectured her about that over and over, she did not think it was wrong.
As for how is her little sister is with all this? She is 3 now and has had a very hard life. When I put myself back to all these story's, I do realize Kaylee has gotten better. She used to hurt her sister so bad. Now she really takes care of her, she is mean sometimes but it;s a normal relationship. Mady would have scratches all over her face, people would ask us if we have a kitten. We would just say yes. Poor baby!!!! She had bruises on her from Kaylee. One day we ran in there room because Mady was screaming in pain. We got in there and Mady had blood all over. Kaylee had jumped in her crib and scratched and pinched her all over her body. We called her doctor and got her into the physc. hospital. What a sad time. That was my breaking point with all of this.
By the way we have took Kaylee off of all meds. We are going to see how she does. I hope and pray Kaylee does not go back to abusing Madyson. I will watch little Mady constantly. Again thanks all, and sorry this was so long, it feels so good to get things off my chest. Mindy
PS: I wanted to leave you with a great SID site also known as SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)
www. sensory- processing-disorder.com
Hope to hear from you soon.. I would like to know how your daughter is doing so please keep your "Story" up dated!!
** Rozanna***
www. sensory- processing-disorder.com
Hope to hear from you soon.. I would like to know how your daughter is doing so please keep your "Story" up dated!!
** Rozanna***
Hi again!
I’m going to give you a bit of advice of what I did. Clear out a room that the only purpose of the room is time out. Even if it’s a bathroom clear it out were she can’t reach anything if your going to use her bedroom clear it out only leave her bed. That’s what I did. She will figure out she can’t throw things, the fits will not last as long if she doesn’t have things to throw. That might work!
The reason I asked if your daughter seemed stronger than normal is because my son does. When he is upset its almost as if he has some kind of supper hero powers that makes him this way. SID is short for Sensory Integration Disorder. The best way I can explain this is just imagine your at work, your in a meeting, the color of the walls are a bright orange, your work assignments are written everywhere on the wall also on the wall are bright colorful art. The man giving the meeting has a loud voice and also there is a woman with a high pitch voice speaking in a different language all at the same time. People are coming in and out getting snacks, warming up food. Some had smelly food like fish others had foods like tacos. How would you feel? This is what kids with SID deal with all day longs. Smells that we might thinks smell good smell awful to them. Noises are loud or not loud enough. I will stress to you to get her checked out ASAP it won’t hurt anything to see if she does have this disorder. I know with my son it was a miracle to find out that the reason for some of his actions were because he needed deep pressure. (For example the reason he was hitting, kicking, or slapping, wasn’t because he was bad instead he needed deep pressure.) Just like pinching he should have been a crab because he loves to pinch (Hard) so bubble wrap gave him the same feel as if he was pinching someone.
Calming activities that I use with Micah are: swinging, rocking in a chair, fidget toys, bear hugs, snuggling in his body sock.
Micah also is a biter even at the age of 7 he still bites. So with that its called mouthing activities to decrease biting. Chewing appropriate things such as: straws, rubber tubing, bumble ball. (You can also use twizzlers, pretzels, and chewing gum)
I know you mentioned your daughter doesn’t sleep well. I feel you on that one since the age of 18 months Micah has been on sleep medication. Has she ever had a sleep test? Micah did he woke up 305 times in the 8 hours we were there, but nothing really showed up. Micah has been on seroquel 200 mg @ bedtime for a while he was on 400mg but I didn’t like the effect it still had on him in the morning. So I ordered a body sock (Talk to a doctor first) and the first night I put him in “the sock”, he feel asleep before I gave him his medication. But he woke up still at 1am. If your daughter is not getting enough sleep she’s going to be cranky the next day. I know with Micah he would never sleep through the night with out medication.
I guess you knew when you put your “Story” on here you would get a lot of others opinions. You’re her mom and you are the one who has to learn what works best for her I know with Micah there are many feeling I have towards him there’s times when I feel sorry for him because I have no idea how it feels to be him. And then there are times that I would like to beat him, but I know that wouldn’t help our situation plus like I said he is very sensitive to touch so even if I pop his butt it feels like I slapped him. So I don’t spank him unless it last resort. I have my own opinions on medication you half to way out how well it works, how much is she gaining with the use of medication, is she happy, is she more controllable, is she more like what you expect out of her. That’s what I did with Micah. Nothing worked well enough for me to keep him on the medication he was pretty much the same, maybe a little better but not enough for me to take the risks of what some medications cause. But that’s your decision! I have medicated there were times when I think if I didn’t medicate him he would have killed his sister. Like I said we tried a lot of medications when he was younger and when I was younger but another big one is you just can’t expect medication to fix your daughter. Your daughter must want to be fixed, you can’t fix her she must learn she has to control her and when she can’t control herself there has to be somebody that she knows can. Like I said before my son has a one on one aide who is really good with him. They took her out of the special education (behavior room) just for him. They have had to restrain him many times. It breaks my heart to know that at age 7 he’s this bad off. But I know in my heart I have tried everything I have known to do. But that’s still not enough that’s why I’m here on this site. I will say this I think you want a 100% diagnose of what’s wrong with her is she BP. I don’t know does anybody know for sure? Even with my son he has ever symptom but I have learned that no matter what the label is for my son, it’s not going to change his behavior, nor is it going to get any easier. Really think about it. Does it matter what the label is? I know that when Micah was 4 I think I needed somebody to say the reason his moods go from happy to mad in a matter of minutes are because of this. And I’ll tell you almost 6 years of dealing with this I haven’t gotten an answer like that. I have heard well his moods change because he has BP. I have heard he gets stuck on different types of food because he has OCD. But know body has told me how to make him listen and how to get him to behave. I have read and spent a lot of money on books but nothing has really worked and if they did it stopped working after a few months. Micah is way behind social; his speech isn’t that great I understand him most of the time but as far as school, And my parents they don’t always understand what he is saying. Developmentally Micah is only on a five year old level so in dealing with him I have to get on a 5 year old level. Its really important to do that if your child isn’t on a five year old level if she isn’t able to understand what you are asking of her she isn’t going to be able to do what is asked of her. Also making her repeat back to you want she is supposed to be doing or what is need to get done. Ect I know this has helped out a lot I realized that Micah wasn’t getting half of what I was saying to him. So that worked out great. I don’t know how much of your daughters life is effected by what all is going on with her, but Micah is much better by himself. He doesn’t like to be left alone and he doesn’t like for me to be out of his sight even just leaving the room he will hunt me down. Its not just behavior with him, its moods, he seems sad most of the time, he can’t dress his self completely, he doesn’t understand danger as well as most children. He will run in front of cars, he wants to play with fire, he does things that by now he should no isn’t safe to do. So I half to stay onto of him 24-7. Does your daughter have an IEP @ school. And has she had a psychological evaluation? I know this is alot of information if you need anymore info just let me know i hope this helps. Rozanna
I’m going to give you a bit of advice of what I did. Clear out a room that the only purpose of the room is time out. Even if it’s a bathroom clear it out were she can’t reach anything if your going to use her bedroom clear it out only leave her bed. That’s what I did. She will figure out she can’t throw things, the fits will not last as long if she doesn’t have things to throw. That might work!
The reason I asked if your daughter seemed stronger than normal is because my son does. When he is upset its almost as if he has some kind of supper hero powers that makes him this way. SID is short for Sensory Integration Disorder. The best way I can explain this is just imagine your at work, your in a meeting, the color of the walls are a bright orange, your work assignments are written everywhere on the wall also on the wall are bright colorful art. The man giving the meeting has a loud voice and also there is a woman with a high pitch voice speaking in a different language all at the same time. People are coming in and out getting snacks, warming up food. Some had smelly food like fish others had foods like tacos. How would you feel? This is what kids with SID deal with all day longs. Smells that we might thinks smell good smell awful to them. Noises are loud or not loud enough. I will stress to you to get her checked out ASAP it won’t hurt anything to see if she does have this disorder. I know with my son it was a miracle to find out that the reason for some of his actions were because he needed deep pressure. (For example the reason he was hitting, kicking, or slapping, wasn’t because he was bad instead he needed deep pressure.) Just like pinching he should have been a crab because he loves to pinch (Hard) so bubble wrap gave him the same feel as if he was pinching someone.
Calming activities that I use with Micah are: swinging, rocking in a chair, fidget toys, bear hugs, snuggling in his body sock.
Micah also is a biter even at the age of 7 he still bites. So with that its called mouthing activities to decrease biting. Chewing appropriate things such as: straws, rubber tubing, bumble ball. (You can also use twizzlers, pretzels, and chewing gum)
I know you mentioned your daughter doesn’t sleep well. I feel you on that one since the age of 18 months Micah has been on sleep medication. Has she ever had a sleep test? Micah did he woke up 305 times in the 8 hours we were there, but nothing really showed up. Micah has been on seroquel 200 mg @ bedtime for a while he was on 400mg but I didn’t like the effect it still had on him in the morning. So I ordered a body sock (Talk to a doctor first) and the first night I put him in “the sock”, he feel asleep before I gave him his medication. But he woke up still at 1am. If your daughter is not getting enough sleep she’s going to be cranky the next day. I know with Micah he would never sleep through the night with out medication.
I guess you knew when you put your “Story” on here you would get a lot of others opinions. You’re her mom and you are the one who has to learn what works best for her I know with Micah there are many feeling I have towards him there’s times when I feel sorry for him because I have no idea how it feels to be him. And then there are times that I would like to beat him, but I know that wouldn’t help our situation plus like I said he is very sensitive to touch so even if I pop his butt it feels like I slapped him. So I don’t spank him unless it last resort. I have my own opinions on medication you half to way out how well it works, how much is she gaining with the use of medication, is she happy, is she more controllable, is she more like what you expect out of her. That’s what I did with Micah. Nothing worked well enough for me to keep him on the medication he was pretty much the same, maybe a little better but not enough for me to take the risks of what some medications cause. But that’s your decision! I have medicated there were times when I think if I didn’t medicate him he would have killed his sister. Like I said we tried a lot of medications when he was younger and when I was younger but another big one is you just can’t expect medication to fix your daughter. Your daughter must want to be fixed, you can’t fix her she must learn she has to control her and when she can’t control herself there has to be somebody that she knows can. Like I said before my son has a one on one aide who is really good with him. They took her out of the special education (behavior room) just for him. They have had to restrain him many times. It breaks my heart to know that at age 7 he’s this bad off. But I know in my heart I have tried everything I have known to do. But that’s still not enough that’s why I’m here on this site. I will say this I think you want a 100% diagnose of what’s wrong with her is she BP. I don’t know does anybody know for sure? Even with my son he has ever symptom but I have learned that no matter what the label is for my son, it’s not going to change his behavior, nor is it going to get any easier. Really think about it. Does it matter what the label is? I know that when Micah was 4 I think I needed somebody to say the reason his moods go from happy to mad in a matter of minutes are because of this. And I’ll tell you almost 6 years of dealing with this I haven’t gotten an answer like that. I have heard well his moods change because he has BP. I have heard he gets stuck on different types of food because he has OCD. But know body has told me how to make him listen and how to get him to behave. I have read and spent a lot of money on books but nothing has really worked and if they did it stopped working after a few months. Micah is way behind social; his speech isn’t that great I understand him most of the time but as far as school, And my parents they don’t always understand what he is saying. Developmentally Micah is only on a five year old level so in dealing with him I have to get on a 5 year old level. Its really important to do that if your child isn’t on a five year old level if she isn’t able to understand what you are asking of her she isn’t going to be able to do what is asked of her. Also making her repeat back to you want she is supposed to be doing or what is need to get done. Ect I know this has helped out a lot I realized that Micah wasn’t getting half of what I was saying to him. So that worked out great. I don’t know how much of your daughters life is effected by what all is going on with her, but Micah is much better by himself. He doesn’t like to be left alone and he doesn’t like for me to be out of his sight even just leaving the room he will hunt me down. Its not just behavior with him, its moods, he seems sad most of the time, he can’t dress his self completely, he doesn’t understand danger as well as most children. He will run in front of cars, he wants to play with fire, he does things that by now he should no isn’t safe to do. So I half to stay onto of him 24-7. Does your daughter have an IEP @ school. And has she had a psychological evaluation? I know this is alot of information if you need anymore info just let me know i hope this helps. Rozanna
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