my 4 year old..

[Einar1983]

i have a 4 year old daughter... she a very defiant and stubborn child... she is very agresive towards me, my fiance, friends and there kids.. she talks back when i tell her to do something. she tries to hit, kick and bit people, she fights with other kids, she destroys things when she is mad, she has tried to kick my fiance in the belly while she was pregnant, she steals, takes, hides, and destroys things that are not hers.. these are just a few of the behavior issues we have been dealing with.. no matter what we have tried it has not worked.. we have done the 123 magic.. we have tried putting her in the corner.. most times when we spank her she laughs at us.. we have taken her toys away.. right now we are doing a combination of the above.. she is still pushing the limits and being over all a defiant and stubern and thick headed child.. within the most recent months she has begun sleeping on her floor, prettending to be asleep, which she has gotten very good at almost to the point we cant tell if she is asleep or awake, she waits sometimes till 2 or 3 in the morning for us to go to sleep and then she gets up she turns the lights on in the house, she gets into the fridge, plays in the water which is her favorit activity, and she plays with her toys for hours.. when we catch her we put her back to bed.. but the cycle continues the next night..

we are going to have her tested for adhd as well..

Now i have noticed a few things.. she does have a condition called vertigo.. but the doctures are questioning that.. it could be migrains that are causing the dizzy spells.. her mother was diagnosed with bipolar and later that became became bipolar schitsoeffective disorder.. her mother probably had adhd but was never diagnosed with it.. im wondering if my daughter might have similar mental problems that might play into her behavioral issues..

Im at my wits end and im out of ideas how to deal with her... im prepared to do whatever it takes to get her under control. what would you suggest i do?? i need ideas and advice to build a effective plan of action thaqt she will respond to.

[irishred795]

Your daughter definitely needs to be evaluated. I'm assuming she will be starting school within the next year or so. It would be best to get these issues dealt with before that. My son is 4 y/o and has Oppositional Defiant Disorder and is still being evaluated. We just had his third appointment last week.

[Gina04]

In many ways, this sounds like my three and a half year old son.  He was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) as well as Semantic Pragmatic disorder in June of last year.  I wanted to try to keep him off meds but now I feel like we have to try them in order to keep my four (almost five) year old safe.  I am considering Risperdal and Vyvance.  He has an appointment later this month to be evaluated by another physician.  (We have moved out of state since he was diagnosed last year.)  I plan to discuss the medication issue with this doctor.  Sometimes it seems that he is bipolar so I will probably address that issue at the appointment as well.  With your daughter, I would make sure the doctor knows about your daughter's mother's history.  As much as I hate to say it, you may want to discuss some medication with the doctor as well.