ADHD Question

[AnaKhouri]

I don't know much about ADD or ADHD. I have a question.

My husband's Aunt is only 7 years older than us. She has two small boys, aged 5 and 2. The 5 year old has been diagnosed with ADHD.

My mother-in-law was babysitting the kids at their house overnight. Aunt told her to leave the TV in Older Boy's room on all night, on some cartoon channel. She said the doctor told her to, because ADHD kids need constant stimulation and he needed it on to sleep (MIL turned the TV off as soon as OB went to bed).

I think Aunt may be confused, because it seems like ADHD kids would need less stimulation to relax, not more. OB already has the attention span of a goldfish; the Cartoon Network all night is probably not going to help him sleep. It seems like Aunt's version can't possibly be right.

But, as I said, I don't know anything about ADHD. Is Aunt correct? (another aunt who babysat the boys overnight told me OB woke up constantly, every couple hours, with the TV on. MIL said he slept all night with it off).

[technical.angel]

I can't point to any specific articles, as it's been awhile since I researched this, but it's been proved that people with ADD and ADHD do better with several sources of stimulation. Kinda like, why, in college, I would have a stereo playing and the TV on while I studied. IMHO, having the multiple sources of stimulation that I can control keep my mind busy enough where I can focus on what I'm supposed to. Thus, I'm less likely to get pulled off in another direction by something else I can't control.

[Kara]

My oldest son doesn't "fit" the profile for ADHD, autism, or asberger's, but he has some sensory kind of things that bug him. When he was a baby, we got a "white noise" machine and works wonders for helping him to go to sleep and stay asleep for the night. He likes the nature sounds the most, and hates the thunderstorm. Honestly, this was a product made for children, who in their right mind really thought "Thunderstorm" would be soothing to a kid?

[zombiequeen]

Hubby and I both sleep better with the fan on and the stereo playing something at night, but it's classical music, not cartoons.
I agree on needing stimuli to sleep, but television is a bad source of it because of the light.

[Elspeth]

Both hubby and I have to the TV on when we sleep. Drowns out the brain. Neither of us could study in a quiet room, would drive us nuts. Of course his mom never believed him at the time. If I am reading I have the tv going or music something. I have a show going when i am playing WoW.

[technical.angel]

I do that, too! It might look weird having two TVs in the bedroom, but I have a small one on my desk so I can watch TV and WoW at the same time!

[MaggieTheCat]

I've never been diagnosed with ADHD but I've always suspected I might have it. I NEED some kind of background noise to sleep, be it a fan, or an air filter, or even the hum of a computer. I absolutely can't sleep if it's dead quiet. I like steady noise, though, not shifting noise like from music or the TV (I'm a very light sleeper, so any shift in the volume, such as a crescendo in music, will wake me up.) I also always have to have the TV or music on when I work from home, I tend to get more done when I have something going on in the background that I can listen to.

[Aethian]

the Cartoon Network all night is probably not going to help him sleep.

Cartoon network turns into Adult Swim and some of the stuff (almost all depending on the night) isn't that great for a five year old. So I would suggest something else like a radio or ling long on loop DVD.

[blas]

Bf is ADHD and unless I'm sleeping over, he has to have music on or television on to sleep. Too bad Pandora cuts you off at 40 hours per week.

[Amethyst Hunter]

Having the TV (or other stimulus) going is a pretty common thing for many ADDers, myself included. But like anything else, a balance is necessary - too much background noise, we feel overwhelmed; too much quiet and we go nuts from the inner 'brain-noise'.

I use the TV quite a bit to help me go to sleep, particularly if I'm upset/anxious...hearing the muted sounds of other people talking is a kind of weird comfort, if that makes any sense.

[Squeaksmyalias]

Having the TV (or other stimulus) going is a pretty common thing for many ADDers, myself included. But like anything else, a balance is necessary - too much background noise, we feel overwhelmed; too much quiet and we go nuts from the inner 'brain-noise'.

Yep I get anxious if there is too much of either. I didn't do well with how quiet there was at the last job, I was practically bouncing off the walls and drove my supervisors crazy. I just honestly couldn't help myself I needed to move around.

When I was a kid my parents used to put the tv or radio on a timer to help me fall asleep. They taught me how to use it too so that way if I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep I could reset it.
Now I just have a routine to help me fall asleep that I started when I was a teenager. That way I can get my brain settled and into sleep mode.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

people with ADD and ADHD do better with several sources of stimulation.
.

This right here. If they didn't let me run YouTube or Hulu in the corner of my screen at my last job, I would have never gotten anything done.

I explain it this way: Picture your attention span as being a team of five guys. If the task at hand only takes two or three of those guys, the rest of them will go out and find something else to do. If you assign the leftover guys a task, they will stay out of trouble and everyone stays busy. If you don't, they will get into trouble. And worse, they will call the guys you gave the original task to over and get them into trouble, too.

[AnaKhouri]

Wow, thanks everyone. I'm glad I asked! Personally I need it really quiet and dark to sleep, so I had a hard time imagining anyone would need noise. Now I know better!

[42_42_42]

My oldest nephew (13) is ADHD and if the tv were on all night, he'd be up all night watching it.

I agree w/ the PP's that a white noise machine or a radio tuned to classical music or a CD looped to play nature sounds, classical music or similar would be MUCH better. The light produced by the TV is the kind most likely to keep you awake.

Wow, thanks everyone. I'm glad I asked! Personally I need it really quiet and dark to sleep, so I had a hard time imagining anyone would need noise. Now I know better!

You and me both. I can't even have the light from a DVD player, cell phone or alarm clock, unless it's the red kind of light. Any blue or green lights on electronics bug the heck out of me. I even have my red lit alarm clock dimmed. The only sound I can tolerate is that of my hubby breathing and his CPAP.

[Eisa]

Cartoon network turns into Adult Swim and some of the stuff (almost all depending on the night) isn't that great for a five year old. So I would suggest something else like a radio or ling long on loop DVD.

That's what I was thinking! Even "just" Family Guy is definitely not appropriate for a 5-year-old!

But some kind of stimulation going on sounds like a good idea.