4 year old son diagnosed bipolar on meds but need help

[lgnaden]

My son was diagnosed at age 3 with bipolar and severe adhd. he has been on resperidol and focalin xr also on clonodine to help him sleep at night due to the fact all he was sleeping was about 3 to 4 hours a night if i was lucky. Now he is on the highest dose they are capable of giving him but I am having problems with him being very uncontrollable. I cant get him to listen to calm down or anything. He is starting to punch walls and anything close to him again including his sister. I have tried spanking, time outs and all other types of discipline i have read or heard about that is not a saftey issue for my son. Also I have a daughter thats almost 4 she has been diagnosed with adhd but is not able to be on meds due to a new law passed after my son had already been placed on meds. and Her behaviour has worsened as well. She is starting to hit her brother with toys and not soft ones either. choking him pinching scratching and just about everything else. Bipolar disorder runs super strong in the family so i am starting to think she is developing it as well. What can I do to get them under more control. I cant even go to my college classes without worrying they are goin to hurt someone again. My son hurt my mother tonight due to his lack of care when told to stop doing something.

[LongislandRN23]

This is a very hard situation! I know friends who have children with adhd and some freinds who have bipolar disorder. They were all diagnosed, and their symptoms were more evident when they were older. Being young is almost a double wammy, bc kids that age already have extra energy. They need something to get thier energy out and put it to good use. If they were older I would say sign your son up for football, wrestling, soccer constantly doing sports to get that energy out and be part of a team and learn teamwork. Maybe there are some physical sports/activities at his age that he could do?

I know that its hard for your kids to control their high levels of energy, but that does not mean they are not capable of learning obeidence! You have to control your kids not them control you. When I was young and did something bad my mother would put Cayene/Red pepper in my mouth!! Let me tell you that did the trick! I think theres a difference between physical abuse and bringing out the Belt/wooden spoon. A few spanks with the belt here and there is not bad I got it when I was a kid and let me tell you it does not tickle! It put me into place but then again I dont have Adhd. I'm sure there are support groups out there maybe they have some tricks?

[ukstudent]

You need to learn how to control them and they need to learn self-control. They, you and anyone else around them need to be safe. If they are hitting with hard toys then all the hard toys need to be taken away (not for punishment but for safety). Can you make a safe time out room with only soft stuff in it such as blankets, pillows, soft toys.

One of my sons, now a productive working member of society had terrible temper tantrums as a child. I would pick him up, put him on my bed and wrap myself around him. My legs around his legs and my arms around his body and arms. This way he could not hit or kick me. I would hold on and tell him that I loved him but he had to calm down. I would not let go until he calmed down. Sometimes it took a hour, sometimes, in fact a lot of time it took him several hours to become calm. Over time he did learn how to calm himself down when getting angry and gained self control.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

this is something that we can not answer here on allnurses. you really need to talk to your pcp or another healthcare professional that is aware of the situation and can give you the help you really need.

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