Evening Time hyperactivity

Of all the challenges we've faced (and I know we're just starting) one of the most difficult is 6pm-8pm hyperactivity. We started this road with trouble distinguishing over-tired hyperactivity from not-enough-exercise hyperactivity. I think we can safely make that call now.

Question is - when your kid is showing exhaustion hyperactivty at 630pm, what do you do? We can't actually put him to bed then, because he'll wake up at 4am. It still seems better to do regular bedtime at 730-8pm.

We have struggled with afternoon sports and such because they seem to create more exhaustion in the 6-8pm zone. I know that his stamina will increase and we'll be able to do swim or something (ANYTHING) at some point.

Is this just the 9th circle of h*ll and we have to wait it out or are there any techniques that have worked for you?

[Onthemove1971]

Does you child take medication? If so there are booster doses ( same medication- but short acting)that many children need in the afternoon to carry through into the evening. Our son does homework and sports most nights of the week ( he is in middle school) there is no way he would be functional without this second dose. His Am dose is long acting. We give it early enough that it wears off before bed.

Our son must have sports in the afternoon and evening to wear off the the energy.

Good luck!

[Hidden in reply to Onthemove1971]

He is not on medicine yet. I agree that sports and physical fatigue are the best controllers for the hyperactivity in the long run. Not there yet. I actually wonder if being on some meds would help him tolerate the sports during the afternoon in order to then be TIRED at the end of the day....

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Hidden]

Yes! For those who can tolerate medication it would try make life easier for him. Just know he doesn't want to act that way.

Medication can be short acting and they are out of there system.

[Pennywink]

Yes! We are definitely prone to the evening frenzies! That’s usually the only time my son shows his hyperactivity.

Like Onthemove said, we also do an evening dose of short acting medication, usually on nights he has an activity (primarily Cub Scouts.) That helps more than anything else, especially if we can get him to bed during the window where the medication is wearing off but isn’t completely out of his system yet.

Physical activity can definitely have long term benefits. But for us we have some short term consequences, as he wears out his self control long before he wears out his energy. A few things that can help a bit:

1. Consistent bedtime, lean to the early side. Don’t mess with the bedtime too much, even if he’s tired - we typically don’t bump it up more than 30 mins if he’s tired.

2. Reduce stimulation. Keep things quiet, dim, calm. If possible, keep it to just one parent with him. If the family is all together, we sit between he & his sister, as they will slur each other on.

3. Unwinding activities. If we can survive dinner, we let him unwind a bit afterwords with one of us while the other puts his sister to bed. It usually involves some tv, then a book &/or conversation & bedtime routine.

4. Calming techniques. We sometimes do some free activities from the Calm app or website. I also still whip out the Daniel Tiger jingles “Give a squeeze, nice & slow. Take a deep breath, and let it go.”

5. Finally, we use consequences. When you can behave at the dinner table, then you may sit at the dinner table. Otherwise, they get sent to eat in the kitchen for @ 5 mins (longer if it’s a recurring offense.)

Hopefully something here helps!

[CoffeeTalk]

Look up body mapping as a calming non medicated technique. Our old OT introduced it. They have you tube videos.

[DAnurse]

My son also has those periods but it usually starts at 4ish. He takes a long acting Adderall in the am and a short acting in the afternoon. If he does not, he becomes very defiant and it turns into a big battle.

[jam1959]

Make sure he is not hungry. You may have to provide him space to have some alone time (not punishment) during this time period.

[Nats2005]

We're having trouble with the evenings too. Part of the problem is my current work schedule (which is driven by child care needs) means we don't get to dinner until almost 7pm, and our son's bedtime is 8pm, which doesn't give much time for post-dinner calm down before diving into the bedtime routine.

If we could get a current nanny situation sorted out, finding an afternoon sports activity might be possible for us, or being in a position to shift my work schedule so I get home earlier.

Anyway, can't help much, but at least I can be supportive and show you're far from the only one with evening struggles.