10 Parenting Tips For Raising Kids With ADHD
Managing hyperactive children and their activities are both taxing and tiresome. This is especially difficult in the case of children who can’t sit still, are always inattentive and can’t follow instructions despite unprecedented explanations. It takes no time to label them as mischief mongers or lazy bums.
But has it ever crossed your mind that these children may have ADHD?
ADHD And Its Symptoms:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex mental disorder that affects a child’s spontaneous responses like speech and attentiveness. It drastically affects his or her success in school and interpersonal relationships. It is commonly known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
The signs and symptoms appear in children before the age of seven. These children:
- Are in constant motion
- Are easily distracted
- Squirm and fidget
- Hardly pay any attention
- Have trouble playing quietly
- Often talk excessively
- Leave tasks incomplete
Once these frequently occurring symptoms and causes are noticed and understood, parents ought to come together to find creative solutions for their children and nurture their strengths.
[ Read: How To Make Kids Smart ]
10 Parenting Tips For Kids With ADHD:
Here’s what parents need to do while parenting adhd children:
1. Be The Executive:
A child with ADHD lacks in the ability to plan and organize and complete tasks.
- Play the role of an executive planner and organizer for the child.
- Offer extra guidance as he or she gradually acquires these skills of their own.
2. Patience And Compassion Is The Key:
Master yourself and other family members in compassion and consistency.
- Respond to the afflicted child in positively supportive and constructive ways.
- It would make things a lot easier and the child would enjoy being in a stable and happy home.
[ Read: How To Control Anger With Kids ]
3. Keep Up Your Health:
Eat right, sleep well and exercise to keep stress at bay.
- Seek help from doctors, teachers and family members whenever you need.
- Give and receive advice from parents of children with ADHD.
4. Stay Positive:
A cheerful sense of humor and willingness to compromise would help the child develop his or her behavior.
- A perfectionist attitude would create impossible expectations eventually leading to disappointments.
- Take breaks by welcoming family and friends who offer to babysit.
5. Create And Sustain A Structure At Home:
Children’s chances to succeed in tasks are more likely when they do them in a fashion of predictable patterns and places.
- Establish simple and predictable routines for homework, play and bed.
- Use clocks and timers to notify the child to switch to the next task.
- Create a quiet, private space for the child like a porch or a bedroom.
- Always be neat and organized.
[ Read: How To Deal With Emotional Child ]
6. Set Clear Rules And Consequences:
Children effectively respond to an organized pattern of rules and rewards. This is one of the effective tips for parents with adhd children.
- Write down rules and hang them at a place visible to the child.
- Explain him or her consequences of obeying and disobeying rules.
- Praise him or her often at the positive outcome of any task. Praises are important and lead to positive enforcement.
- Refrain from criticizing and give appropriate feedback for negative results or performances.
- Small rewards would increase the child’s attention, concentration and impulse control.
7. Encourage Sports And Sleep:
Organized sports and physical activities would channelize their energies in healthy ways and lead to better sleep.
- Choose a sport that the child would enjoy and suits his or her strengths.
- Team sports like basketball and football that require constant motion are better options.
- Practicing yoga and martial arts enhances mental control.
- Encourage an early bedtime to combat problems like over stimulation and difficulty in sleeping due to attention problems.
- Reading bedtime stories, cuddling and playing nice music for them to sleep are good strategies.
[ Read: How To Deal With Kids Bullying Your Child ]
8. Monitor Meals:
Though food is not the direct cause of ADHD, it plays a vital role in the child’s mental state and decreases symptoms.
- Encourage regular meal times with fresh food. Avoid junk food.
- Feed the child with meals or snacks after every three hours.
9. Pets Are Wonderful:
More than being a pain in the neck, a pet is a blessing in disguise.
- They teach children with ADHD to be responsible and outgoing.
- They add some much needed fun to the atmosphere at home.
10. Help To Improve Social Skills And Interactions:
It is difficult but not impossible for children with ADHD to learn social skills and rules.
- Speak gently and honestly with the child about challenges and how to overcome them.
- Role-play fun filled scenarios with the child and swap roles often.
- Carefully select playmates with similar language and physical skills.
- Keep an eye while the child is playing with just one or two friends at a time. Do not tolerate gestures like hitting, pushing and yelling while playing.
- Incorporate suitable time and space for the child to play.
- Reward praises for good behavior and performance.
[ Read: How To Motivate Children ]
Remember:
- Confronting children with ADHD could be frustrating and overwhelming. However, the above efforts would help such children overcome daily challenges. These will help direct their energies towards positive aspects that would bring a sea of constructive changes in them.
- Living in a home that provides love and structure is the medicine that these children need. Be it a warm hug or a gift or a regular routine that perfectly balances work and play, it would do wonders in the child’s recovery.
- Parents should always remember that the actions of children with ADHD are not exhibited intentionally or willfully. It is just that they don’t know how to make it happen correctly.
- Have faith in children with ADHD. Believe that they can learn, change, mature and succeed. What’s embarrassing today could turn out to be an inspiring family story 10 years from now.
Hope you like our parenting tips for kids with ADHD. We would love to hear from you. Please share your inputs in the comment section below.
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