6yr Old Son may Have Bipolar HELP!

Like so many other parents, my 6yr old sons ped dr says he is Bi-polar and advised us to go to psycholgist and ETC. Ever since he was born he has always thrown fits and rages, he didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 5, He is always hitting my 11 year old son for no reason, he kicks me, cusses at me, bites himself when he is mad, bites on a pillow or whatever is near him. If I tell him to no to anything He screams, hollers, throws thing, slams doors. Now before you all say a good butt beating, let me tell you, I have done that many many times, and still do, it does not fazz him at all, I have done time outs, taken everything away you can imagine. The funny thing is, in school, he is a role model student, this year he is in 1st grade and has done really good, the past 2 weeks though he is starting to act out, and I dont want him to be bad in school, any suggestions???Thanks

[wickedwanderer]

hi,

there seems to be a lot of other parents on here that are dealing with the same issues.  you might want to read some of those posts.  this sounds more like a rage/temper issue than bipolar...i'm not sure...

[camirose]

[luvmyravens]

Yeah, i have read those comments, and everyone seems to be in the same boat as me, it really makes you wonder whats going on. Im 31 and i would never ever think about doing these things to my parents, b/c when i got out of hand, my mother would bust my butt, i just knew better. My father says kids today are getting too much sugar, and too much hormones in the milk, the food is an issure, i guess it could be one factor, but thanks for the comment.

[mindersmomof2]

Hi, I have a post, same issues, It has been so hard!!!! Sometimes you just need someone to vent to. I would personally, go to a physc. just to see what they say. My daughter is seeing a counsler, which helps ME too. They give good advice on how to handle certain situation. Please, read my post too. 5 1/2 year old Bi-polar? mindersmomof2, keep in contact!!!

[mindersmomof2]

Oh I have one under child behavior one too!

[wickedwanderer]

it just sounds so weird that so many kids have "problems."  i know what you mean - if my brother or i acted out we would be punished and the acting out would stop.  my daughter is 5, but i haven't noticed anything such as anger, rage, ect.  i know it has to be extremely hard to deal with this; i wish i had the answer for you.  i would get a second opinion from a doc about him being bipolar.  try a psychologist - primary care docs don't know much about mental health - as it's not their main focus.

[needsreaders]

My son had the same behavior and was good at school in 1st grade but he could not focus on anything that was happening and had to bring everything home so we had to spend all night doing homework.  And the anger and the frustration and the fighting to get it done!  And he could not learn to read.  I took him to a psychiatrist and he diagnosed ADD.  I gave him Ritalin the next day and I hate to say it about a drug but it was like a miracle.  Even his handwriting changed.  It had been a terrible scribble but it turned nice and neat.  He was diagnosed as bipolar at age 17 because he did always keep quite a temper and I would say had more problems both at home and at school then most.  But at least he was able to learn and function with people and we could be a family and most of all I felt like he was in there.  And moms with children like that will know what I mean.  
needsreaders

[wellsbell]

Hi I am another mother of a 6 year old child in first grade. We are having horrible anger issues. This has only happened within the last 4 months or so (nothing tragic ect... has happened???) But... at school and around people she does not know she acts fine. Bi -polar has come up but the Psychiatrist says people who are bi-polar cannot turn it on and off. Have you heard this?

[angelinamarina]

I wish i knew why so many kids are acting out like this.  I would have never acted anything like my 4 year old acts....soo angry....etc..

I read that some people are thinking it is related to all of the vaccines....?

-angi

[Rozanna]

Bipolar kids are not bad kids they don’t necessarily try to get in trouble. Our kids are still so young I promise they will not act like this soon. I believe some doctor will find out (all these problems we are having with are children is a form of autism or something like that! Has anyone heard of Intermittent Explosive Disorder???  I believe they are just now starting to us that label, my sons doctor was talking about how soon a lot of people diagnosed with BP with behavior problems will have this as a new label.   Who knows!!

Anyway I want to let you know my opinion on this subject. Kids with BP I believe are misunderstood I don’t think they like to get into trouble I don’t think they enjoy being like this no more than we enjoy dealing with it 24-7.  I’ll tell you right now is hell for real my son is going through a faze that I’m praying wont put him back in the hospital. But anyways I think our children try so hard in school and a lot of the crape they go through just by having to deal with everything around them is so stressful to them, that’s why when they get home its like they crash and can’t handle there behaviors anymore. I don’t know I think if they are mildly BP or have extreme BP they will eventually have behaviors anywhere and at anytime.  My son has no pattern I never know what might make him upset or make him feel scared whatever it is that triggers his behaviors. His fits can be at school, church, target, anywhere. I have a lot of my own beliefs about this disorder. And this week has been very tuff to watch. I hate this roller coaster that I feel like I have been on for so long and when I’m feeling overwhelmed and frustrated it reminds me of what my son must be feeling and really makes me feel sick.  

Our children’s generation has changed big time. I was shocked to hear that my daughter told me she was to fat to wear a dress to school. She is 6 years old and in a size 6. I’m like what did you just say. I mean we expect so much more out of our kids. After there 5th birthday they are reading, writing, using computer, our school system has them learning Spanish, and what we did at 5 was a lot different, most of us took naps, and kindergarten we learned how to get along and share, ect.. Kids now day feel as overwhelmed as we do. Everyone is just so busy.

Suggestions:

As far as him beating up on his brother do you know 100% that your other son isn’t looking at him or doing something to annoy your son, I fount out this summer that my daughter are the one’s who started most of the fighting at my house by looking at him smiling or doing something else that I didn’t even notice.. I know it doesn’t really matter who starts the fight he should hit or do any behaviors which he knows is wrong but I realized that a lot of time I assumed that it was my son and started fussing at him before I even knew what really happen. BAD MISTAKE> But now I put them all in time out until I can find out the truth also I do this a lot when they are all driving me crazy…


Timeout has to be consistent
I know that this sucks and sometimes we don’t have it us to put our kids in time out I know with Micah sometimes it is calmer just not making him go to time out but I have learned to make sure when he has done something wrong give him some time out.  
If it takes all night for me to get him to sit in time out, well so be it, but I will make sure he does his time. This is really important some children don’t believe it till they see this done.   My son does know that whenever he does something wrong he ends up in timeout. It might not be that second but I continue to take him back to his time out room without talking to him.  This can sometimes turn into a big fight but I want him to learn that no matter if he runs and hides his behaviors will always catch up to him. I have also made up a safety plan for my girls to follow so I will have the time that it takes to get him calmed down with out them asking me questions and wanting something out of me.

Behavior problems at school:

Does your children have a safety plan set up with an I.E.P at school if not they should have one I could post one if you would like to see it. I have ran into so many teachers that don’t really do anything to our kids that act out because they are afraid of what might happen, that is why sometimes they do better at school than at home. Also keep in mind at school they are on a tight schedule that is more consistent than in “home life”.  Also it can be really tuff dealing with a school system (trust me it is very hard at times it will make you feel as if your all alone in the world, and that when you feel like running with your child and pulling him out of school. I know I’m so there) it is a hard road to come down but your school system should be informed about the behaviors and things that come along with having a child with BP. If they’re not informed inform them.  Also they have strict rules that your son is entitled to having.  I wouldn’t recommend changing his placement until having him work with a one on one aide at school or when his behaviors seem to be worse. Behavior classrooms are great for some kids but remember the kids in this classroom has behavior issues so you only want to use the behavior classroom as last resort..

Rozanna