Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
Hyperactive at 10 Months | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Needlman,
We have a very active 10-month-old boy who never sleeps (day or night) and never stops moving! Could our child be hyperactive? How do you tell in a child this young? When I say he never sleeps, I truly mean it. What can we do? Help!— Alison in Cardinal, Ontario Canada | | | ANSWER |
May 23, 2001 | | | Dear Alison,
It's next to impossible to make a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a 10-month-old child, since so many are extremely active. However, in older children who do have the diagnosis, parents often remember that they were extremely active as babies and toddlers, like your son.
For the time being, there isn't anything to be gained from labeling your child with a diagnosis, which may or may not turn out to be correct. It's probably best just to describe your son's behavior (that is, super high activity), and try to deal with it constructively. Certainly, making plenty of time for outside running around (even on cold days) is a good plan. Hiring a very energetic but responsible high-school student to look after your son for a couple of hours would give you some quiet time to build up your own energy stores.
As for the sleeping: it is impossible for a child to not sleep at all. But very active children sometimes sleep rather little. A good approach is to keep a sleep diary for a week or so (writing down when your child is asleep and awake), then bring it to your child's doctor. There are also child sleep specialists (sometimes neurologists or behavioral-developmental pediatricians) who can be very helpful. You can get more information from the Sleep: Specific Problems section on our site.— by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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