Tips for dealing with hyperactive children include setting clear rules and routines, using positive reinforcement, providing opportunities for exercise, avoiding overstimulation, and being sensitive to external factors that can affect their self-control. It is important to recognize that hyperactive children may not always be in control and blaming them for their behavior is not helpful.
Parents are often quite frustrated when dealing with hyperactive children. Even children who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and are undergoing medical treatment can still present a challenge to any caregiver or teacher. The following tips may help you respond better to hyperactive children.
1) Set clear rules, consequences and boundaries for hyperactive children and for the whole family. If necessary, write down the rules and keep them where the family can see them. Don’t be flexible, because hyperactive kids really need rules they understand clearly. When introducing the rules, be sure to speak directly to your child, using eye contact and asking him to repeat what you said to you. This doesn’t mean you can’t offer hyperactive kids choices, but certain things like hitting, spitting, or challenging should lead to predictable consequences.
2) Establishing regular routines can help any child, especially hyperactive children. Children of all types tend to have difficulty transitioning when routines aren’t clear and consistent. If a child knows that bedtime is 8:00, then he will naturally fall into the pattern of going to bed at 8:00. If bedtime is “any time” or if a child with an 8am bedtime is allowed to go to bed at 9am or 8:30am, then the child is suffering lack of routine and will act accordingly.
Routine activities can’t be emphasized enough, but some parents find this means they have little opportunity to be spontaneous. Spontaneity may not serve hyperactive children very well, but scheduling free time every day can. For very hyperactive children, these blocks of time should probably be no more than thirty minutes, unless you plan to actively supervise the child.
3) Use the free time to take a trip to the park, read a special book together, go for a walk, or just giggle and be silly with your child or children. These downtime moments can be especially helpful for bonding with hyperactive children. Except for following normal house rules, your child is not expected to do anything other than be with you naturally and freely.
4) Hyperactive children are full of energy to the brim, making concentration very difficult. Parents of hyperactive children often feel that one way to help with this extra energy is to give children plenty of opportunities for exercise.
Some parents give their kids time to run around or install a basketball hoop to let the kids burn off more steam. Others interrupt an attack by suggesting a round of jumping. While you shouldn’t let a child run until exhaustion, exercise is a very helpful way to help refocus energy. It is also helpful in improving mood function.
5) Because of the somewhat kinetic energy of the hyperactive child, punishment should not result from exercise restriction. This is likely to exacerbate a child’s problem. Earning privileges and using positive rather than negative reinforcement is likely to be more effective in the long run, although it may take some time to establish that.
6) As Dr. Phil McGraw likes to say, the best discipline is to catch your child doing something good. Babies respond to praise and are more likely to seek your attention by doing something good if they are reinforced when they do well. Hyperactive children often receive attention from their parents in negative ways, whether the parent is yelling, spanking, or punishing. Switching to positive reinforcement techniques can re-educate a child to want your positive jabs rather than your negative responses.
7) Most experts recommend avoiding overstimulation. Minimize television viewing and do not allow watching TV at night. Loud or unnecessary sounds, or the semi-trance-like state of the TV, can really get hyperactive kids excited. Pick one or two schedules a day and keep it that way. Hyperactive children benefit from doing, not sitting. So offer a lot of hands-on activities, preferring to watch hours of TV.
8) It is important to recognize that hyperactive children are not always in control that other children are. Don’t blame a child for what he can’t control. Some teachers like to say that if a child can behave appropriately once, she can always. This is not the case with hyperactive children.
Many factors can affect their ability to show self-control. Be sensitive to external factors that can make self-control more difficult, such as tension between parents, the death of a beloved pet, poor sleep the night before, or a bad day at school. Illness in children often leads to regression, so also look at the health of hyperactive children.
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