Hello, I am writing to you as I have noticed a few changes in my little girl who is just after turning 3 last month. I am only just after turning 23 myself last month and I have another little girl who also turned 4 last month. But with my 3 year old I have always kind of noticed that she is hyperactive that she always has to be on the go! And that her concentration was not that good and her tantrums I noticed this about a year ago and I just put it down to the terrible twos but I'm not sure she three now and she is a very picky when it comes to food if I gave her a dinner the only thing she would eat would be meat but not chicken keeves or any thing like that as she thinks its dirty! As they have the green herbs in side. She plays with her sister very well and my friend's kids they get on grate but sometimes she would lash out on them by hitting, bulling hair and biting at times. But one thing I have noticed is that if I brought her to a party she wouldn't really mix well she would be playing by herself or if she really knows a child well like her sister or my friend's children she would kind of stick to them. Her eye contact is OK but she wouldn't consist look in your eyes especially if I was telling her not to do something she will keep dong it so I would put her in the naughty corner and I would explain to her why she was there and she will not look at me she would look on the ground or turn her head away. (This could be what kids do I know my other girl doesn't like the eye contact really with me if I'm telling her watt she did wrong. But she doesn't care if she in the naughty corner she will spit at me and hit me. She does get tantrums from a young age. She would just throw herself on the ground sometimes even hurting herself. But I have read some other comments on your page and I have notched that some children have a thing about being clean but she does not if any thing I can't keep her clean! I she is so messy. Also her new thing is that she does not like ketchup and she used to love it but she stopped liking it there about a month ago. Could you please contact me back and let me know if you think these are signs. Also my brother has ADHD is this genetic? But she is a really loving child and some times she can act babyish that might sound strange as she is only 3.She does not have trouble sleeping and I no this is a sign nut she sleeps good only sometimes she wouldn't but most of the time she sleeps good she would not wake up in during the night but it can be hard getting her asleep. Also she can be scared at times like she will not go on a bouncy castle trampoline even if her friends are on it. It is hard for me to bring her to town with me, I had her out of buggy about a year go waiting for taxi and she had tantrum and I was with my sister and 3 people came over to me asking me was the child OK ! I was embarrassed I just let like people was looking at me as a young mother thinking I didn't no what I was doing! It was horrible. Please get back to me and let me no what your opinion. Thank you what's the difference from ADHD child and a child that's acting up?

Admin note: Split from old thread.

Kelly, when you have a question, please don't add it to someone else's question. Thanks.

Stay tuned for responses to your question.

what's the difference from ADHD child and a child that's acting up?

That is a very good question. Like all problems founded in human behavior and interpreted in psychologic or psychiatric terms it is a matter of degree and duration. In childhood it is further related to age, developmental level and a myriad of other factors from diet to environment. When children in the very young age group "act up" it must always be considered that they have very limited ability to express their emotions, concerns. Their distress becomes manifest in untoward behavior that is too often viewed as symptomatic of one disorder or another.

ADHD is often misdiagnosed. Many children are labeled and treated for the disorder unnecessarily. The other side of the issue is that it is often times missed.

It requires a very meticulous evaluation by a specially trained and experienced practitioner in childhood behavior to differentiate between ADHD and bad behavior. At her age, you as the mother, will contribute 90-95% of the information used to make the determination. So it is wise to read up on the behavioral characteristics of ADHD and interpret what you read with an open mind. That is not selecting out features that support or negate.

There seems to be a familial association with ADHD. In plain terms that means we don't know if it's genetically influenced or not. So that is a neutral factor. At age 3 ADHD would be a difficult call. The mixed behaviors you describe don't fit well with ADHD. But you need to look further.

Following is a link to some reliable info from NIH. A place to start:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - PubMed Health (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/)

If you need further assistance or referral I'm sure I can locate more extensive articles, descriptions, etc. on line.

My son has ADHD, and it wasn't diagnosed until a few years ago. He's now 12.

It took years of psychiatric evaluation, the school evaluating him, and our doctor evaluating him, until we found a diagnosis.

None of the things you are describing sound like ADHD to me. It sounds like your child is just a very hyperactive 3 year old with discipline issues.

Have you talked to a doctor about this?

To me it sounds like she is a very normal 3 year old. She's not going to be anything like your 4 year old, they are two different people with two different personalities.