Drug exposed as a baby now toddler questions

hoping4more · August 2012

I dont write here often but I certainly belong here. :

Anyway, my B will be 2 in a few weeks. She has been acting out lately and been more demanding, etc. The health nurses had warned us this could occur as an effect of her drugexposure but I am not so sure its entirely that.

Back story She was born term but very low birth weight 4lbs, 4oz and addicted to various drugs including cocaine, meth, etc. She then went on to go in out of foster care and came to me at 9 months with attachment issues and malnourished. She is attached and well fed now and although she has some random fits she seems pretty "normal".

She also has been through a few big changes lately. She has gone from being alone with Nana babysitting everyday to a day home with other kids and transitioned to a big girl's bed. She loves both the day home her bed but I am thinking the changes along with her being at such a sensitive age may be key factors in this undesirable behaviour?

So we are trying to keep routine, not reward negatives, encourage positives with positive feedback and increase one on one time. I am looking for any other feedback, suggestions, stories of others with drugexposed now toddlers or older who can share their insights?

hoping4more · August 2012

Sorry on phone so my punctuaions commas and such are not appearing.

sbhWImom · August 2012

If she is not yet 2, and you're trying to get her in a big girl bed, she may be not getting enough sleep and this may be why she's acting up. We tried to transition DD1 into a big girl bed at 18 months, in preparation for DD2's arrival... (they are 21 months apart). She turned from a sweet easy kid into a crazy tantrum throwing tornado! I read a few books on toddlers, and getting enough sleep was the number one recommendation for this behavior. So back into the crib, better sleep, back to normal kiddo. We just bought a second crib for DD2, and DD1 was in her crib until she asked to get out. Might work, might not... but when I saw your bed transition and the age of your kiddo, that was the first thing that came to mind for me!

mommytoconnor · August 2012

Wow I could have written your post myself. I also adopted a child thru foster care who was born substance exposed to cocaine. He came to me at 4 months old from another foster home, I then adopted him about 8 months later. When he came to me he had some sleep problems as a result of his exposure. I was also told by a case worker for early intervention that he poss. has some sensory stuff to attribute to his sleep issues. We worked on these things and now they are no prob. So at around 18 months, LO wasn't really speaking and having lots of tantrums. At first I attributed them to terrible twos early. His tantrums don't last long, never have, but he screams louder than any kid I have ever heard, so they sound so much worse than they really are. I then pushed to get eval thru OT,ST. Speech of course said the obvious, he was speech delayed and recommended therapy. Then OT said he had sensory processing disorder, which I knew a little about but not much. So I got educated, very educated about it. I have learned so much about this disorder. Many kids who have substance exposure have sensory problems. They can't regulate how their bodies interpret different things, which leads to outburst and other things. 2 is a hard age, cause they are tantruming, they are frustrated and then if they have sensory problems, it's magnified. I have learned numerous things to help, you can PM me if you want specifics. I would recommend that you have an OT evaluate her, one that is familiar with sensory problems. Also you can get eval from developmental peds, although this can be hard as there are not a lot of them around and they take a long time to get into see. I would start with OT and go from there. Good luck.

Want a personalized experience?

Drug exposed as a baby now toddler questions

Re: Drug exposed as a baby now toddler questions

Choose Another Board

Search Boards