my kid has adhd hes a nightmare

my kid woke up this morning and his bedtimes at 8 but i found out that he has been playing game till midnight what do i do to get him to sleep at night

[LisethHIS]

Hi, Hidden,

Thank you for contacting CHADD National Resource Center ADHD. I would allow your kid to play 2 hours before bedtime for 30-45 minutes and be constantly with his morning and night routine. Here are some resources you can read about sleep and ADHD. d393uh8gb46l22.cloudfront.n...

chadd.org/adhd-weekly/new-d... and chadd.org/adhd-news/adhd-ne...

Hopefully these are helpful.

If there is anything else you need, please let me know.

Best Regards,

Liseth

Health Information Specialist

CHADD’s National Resource Center on ADHD

chadd.org

[Sebastian1234]

He should not have access to screens once he goes to bed. Use melatonin 45 minutes before bed time. Good luck.

[Parentingishardwork]

Hi there,

There’s probably no way to sugar coat this - you may need to put some drastic measures in place which will probably make your life hell initially - but will pay off in the long term.

You didn’t provide much context - what’s the gaming device? Is it in his bedroom? How old is he? Do you have gaming restrictions in place already? How much of a problem is his gaming causing - is it all he obsesses about?

Based upon not much information I’d say you may need to remove the device from his room, or failing that if it’s something smaller (Nintendo switch), have him hand it over at a certain time each night. Get a strict routine in place and don’t budge. If he’s young it’s only going to get harder as he gets older.

My 8 year old boy would be playing PlayStation, Nintendo or on his iPad constantly if he was allowed. When he is not playing he wants to watch youtube videos of other people playing. He’s obsessed.

We have a rule that there is no gaming and/or YouTube at all during the school week and he can only have a certain amount of time on a Friday afternoon and over the weekend.

EVERY SINGLE DAY during the week we battle with him as he tries to coax us into letting him play on something. But we know if we let him do it once it’s going to snowball into a real problem and will be hard to wind back.

Every kid is different, and every household is different in regards to parenting style. What works for me may not work for you - but I do think kids spending too much time gaming provides peace and quiet short term for us as parents , but much bigger issues long term. This has been echoed by my son’s child Psychologist.

Maybe it’s as simple a fix as giving your child some melatonin as someone has already mentioned to put the little guy to sleep.

Good luck!

Greg

[L26vb]

Don't make it a battle! Our little one rarely sleeps before 10.30pm. Up again 8am. Yes there is a tv in her room, she has learned to settle herself when tired. We do give prescription melatonin 6mg if necessary. Her Dad , also ADHD, explained it like this - after struggling with demands on their hot wired brain, e.g. school or work, they need down time- tv, gaming whatever to relax their brain and also the darkness helps too. In addition our little one does not eat well during the day (due to stimulant meds) but needs a day's worth of food and drink around 8pm. Our Dr told us this is normal and we follow that routine. Once she is asleep she stays asleep all night so that's a bonus! Do what suits your kid, it will work out better for them in the end.

[Mamamichl]

This summer I was noticing my 10yo sleeping until dinner time. I was able to look on my parental locks and her screen time said she was on her apps through the night. I got her to tell me that she figured out our password. I had to take the overhead/ceiling light bulb out, had her phone playing sleep stories using a Bluetooth speaker with timer on it, got her a Bluetooth speaker night light to replace her lamp so I could adjust lighting if I noticed she was awake. She also would take the switch to her room to play all night. I started charging it in my room at night.

Other electronics, you can put a tiny padlock through the outlet hole on the cord or just take the cord and put it in your room. If he is online, you can change your WiFi password each night and he won’t be able to get on.

If kid has trouble staying in his room, there are things you can get for the bedroom door that make loud noises that will wake you up if he’s leaving the room at night too.

[penn_adhd]

I bought a plastic lockbox with a combination dial on Amazon and have used that to lock devices away when it gets bad enough. Then there's the Google Family Link app to lock Android devices and set times they're automatically available and locked based on a clock and/or time limits. You can control iPhones as well through other methods.

[SurvivorFan]

It sounds like you need to get rid of the gaming station or switch. We found that anytime our son (9) played on the Playstation he would become dysregulated (even if it was just on the weekends.)

We sold the Playstation so it's no longer even an option. His switch isant even around for him to see or charged. We use it only for very rare occasions such as long flights.

Our son gets 1 hr of I pad use in the evenings IF he earned it. In order to earn it he needs to have done his chores, any homework, and be kind and respectful to everyone in the family. Our home life is now a million times better for this.

Taking away the games WILL make behavior worse at first. Push through it, ignore the "noise" he will make. I think of it like this..if you keep feeding the machine with a coin, it will keep making noise. Be clear with your child what will be expectations from now on and stick to it. We realized my son had forgotten how to play. Not only was he dysregulated more often on the screens, but when he was off, he would wonder saying he didn't know what to do. Now, his imagination is awesome and I know longer hear "I'm bored." Learning how to just be/be bored is such an important skill for kids to learn! No more watching cartoons while waiting for doctors, ect.

Check out Adhd dude and grow now adhd on Instagram. They also have a great podcast. Really great parent training that has made our life and my sons life so much better.

[Mommywarrior4LC]

my son is 6, and I’ve been giving him the 1mg melatonin at night, but now he’s getting up at 5am almost everyday. I hope someone has some advice besides melatonin

[Aloysia]

Many WiFi companies have apps that let you set up controls so that you can shut off wifi access at certain times and for certain devices (TV, XBox, computer, switch, etc). For example, AT&T has an app called Smart Home Manager. This has worked great for me in combination with Family Link (an app to control Android phone usage).

[WYMom]

I mean, I password everything. My son wishes he could get on and play. Also, it's in the living room so he'd wake me up.

Just remove the game station until the lessons learned. He'll freak. Be strong.

Also, not really an ADHD thing. My daughter has ADHD. My son doesn't. Daughter doesn't love video games as much as son.

[KevanG]

If you're tech savvy, I'd set your router if you have one to deny Internet access after a certain time to his devices. If you're handy or have the financial means to do so, you could switch out the outlets in their room and the light switch with smart ones that you can control or put on timers on an app on your phone. My 6 year old always likes to mess with the lights so I put smart switches in and now I can control when the stay on or off myself. He can mess with it all he wants and if I have it locked to the off position it won't turn on without my intervention.