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Question by sizesmith: For AP’s who’ve adopted meth addicted children, when did evidence show up?
We adopted our son at birth, and the first mom did meth just in the early part of the pregnancy (when she found out she quit), and the day he was born. Now, at the age of 29 months, he’s showing signs of being very hyper. We constantly do things, and he’s very, very smart, spelling and writing his name already, counting to 20, and recognizing his alphabet, but he will literally run around the flower bed, and is on the go much more than my biological son. We keep processed foods and candy to a minimum already, but from those who’ve adopted addicted children, is this normal, and what else to expect? Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by ą®Sillyą® TD THIS Sucka
Just because one child is different from another…doesn’t mean that it’s a side affect of a possible condition.
My son was not “meth addicted” and he runs around like a little spaz too.
Some kids are just more active than others….
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My adopted foster daughters were both born addicted to crack/cocaine. My younger one (almost 3) has almost no signs of anything odd. However, my oldest is 4 and she is being looked at for early onset bi-polar and other behavioral issues. However, bi-polar, ADHD, ODD, etc all run in her family. She isn’t more hyper than any other child her age, but she has severe tantrums and outbursts where she completely looses control and they can last for 2 hours. We have never spoiled her and there is no logical reason for the severity of her actions. It’s very sad, scary and infuriating (not because of her but because of what the mother did). She is also SOOO smart. She has had developmental tests and is a year or 2 above the norm. That tends to be the case with most children with behavioral issues, though- so they say.
We do not want her on medication but are looking at what therapy or techniques we can use to help her get through this.
Good luck!!!
— I can get as many thumbs down as people want- but the fact is that when someone has drugged and damaged a child and has a very severe mental issue history, you have to look into everything to make the childs life better.
We noticed a difference at 6 months with the intensity that he did things. We called it ‘more child’ He was like a little power saw on a gyroscope. He crawled so fast, he almost blurred.
By two, he had figured out how to climb the locked gate, (6 ft) and go through the keys that he had stolen from me to try one at a time on the pad locked gate to open it. Hanging on with one hand to the fence and the other one trying out keys. Locked cabinets were a cinch.
He was impossible to redirect by offering another toy, he achieved object permanence earlier than any child I had ever seen. Omg, he was so crafty and clever. He learned things on the first try, never stumbled. Just up and walked. He mowed children down as if they were invisible, leaped over them physically to get to toys in play groups. We belonged to every Y in our city, so we could stop and burn off energy wherever we were.
Maybe the behavioral differences are due to your A-child not bonding with you in the same way as your Natural child did.
Just a thought.
Walter: Do you know what bonding (attachment) even looks or feels like? Would you know the symptoms of not attachment when you see it?
Yes but you’re not going to like my answer. I feel a bond with my natural family despite being asked to suppress it. I feel a bond with my friends and their families….I feel more connected to them then my adoptive american parents. If my adoptive american parents dropped dead today……..honestly speaking, I would feel relieved.
You do know that the ‘bonding’ that meth and cocaine babies go through is a toxic one that leaves them in pain and distress, right?
No but I wouldn’t be dumb enough to try to diagnose the symptoms of it just because I have read an article or two like the person who posted the question is doing. Both the Ap and the child should be evaluated individually…..just to make sure the underlying issue isn’t the “environment” the child is currently living in. Too many kids today are being medicated just because some parents can’t handle parenting.
I think Walter should spend the night with a severely drug-affected infant. Just for funsies.
My son didn’t come to us until he was 16 months old, but he was born SEVERELY addicted to methamphetamines. According to his foster parents, worker and doctors, he was in and out of the hospital, had open lesions, severe pain, shook constantly, had seizures, “ticks”, and serious sensitivities to light, sound, chemicals and certain foods (soy and dairy being the two most notable sensitivities that he had early on, obviously detected from formula).
He still has SOME sleep issues, and has pretty serious food and chemical sensitivites. Behaviorally, he is doing very well, so far, but we have to be VERY careful what we expose him to.
He gets NO sugar, *DEFINITELY* no artificial garbage (like artificial sweeteners or colors) and is sensitive to wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, egg, and anything red (including tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, etc.). These things cause his skin to become wildly inflamed, and cause serious disruptions in his mood that are almost immediately detectable. He also has some tummy issues that are pretty typical of drug-affected kids, but my guess is that they will clear themselves up by the time he is 2 (at least, that’s what we hope!).
Now, as Rosie said about her little guy, he tends to be a bit on the precocious side. He has no trouble figuring anything out, and is always “on the go”. It’s almost nervous energy; we have been spending the last 3 (BEAUTIFUL!!!
) spring days outside enjoying the fresh air. He can be out there for hours and not slow down for a minute. We basically come in for lunch and naptime, and then it’s back at it again, and he doesn’t seem to fatigue at all.
I realize that “high energy” is also a toddler thing, but most people who have met my son will agree that he is quite a bit “bouncier” than the average toddler. Which is fine.
He keeps me moving, but he is definitely a kid who needs very active parenting. Also, something else Rosie mentioned struck me…Distraction really doesn’t work that well with him. We do what we can, but once he has something on his mind, it’s full steam ahead, and no distraction will work! 
Baby proofing is key here.
I’m not sure how this will affect him in his later years, but I am being as diligent as I can, being as active a parent as possible, coupled with a pretty solid nutritional regimen. I also am religious about routine. Things in this house happen at virtually the same time every day, and I think that brings him a lot of comfort.
I would think their would be physiological/neurological symptoms before now. This is just starting to show? Your son has just been through the trauma of loosing his father. Traumas can be extra hard on adoptees. It’s really so hard to diagnose anything specifically at this age, because so many symptoms are within normal limits of behavior for a small child. It’s just too early to know for sure about ADHD, etc. But, a parent can tell when something’s off. Just keep an eye on it. Limit sugar, make sure he gets enough sleep, has a good diet, and has constructive outlets for lots of activity. It really very well be his expression of the anxiety he is feeling right now.
I wasn’t born addicted, but according to my amom, I’d just go and go and go and go until all of a sudden I just collapsed and fell and slept on the spot. I have no idea what it was due to (in me I mean), but I wanted to just add in the voice that it *may* be (at the very least, part of) a natural occurrence in the kid in question.
I haven’t adopted children born addicted to meth, but have worked with them in a professional capacity. Generally, there are more deficits apparent before this point. I wouldn’t rush to assume this hyperactivity is due to the meth, but without having a doctor do an assessment, I wouldn’t rule it out either.
So I do have to comment: what is it with people assuming that child abuse and drug use in-utero has no effect on children? That every problem that an adopted child might have *must* be due to attachment/bonding issues instead of the glaring red flags in their medical history or their pre-adoption history?
My cousin adopted a Meth addicted baby through foster care. Her issues were similar to Annabelle’s daughter- light sensitivity, sleep & feeding issues, tremors and physical pain, etc. It took a good 8 months for her to be completely symptom free. Now, at almost age 3, K is a “normal” 3 year old, bouncing off the wall little girl.
If your son’s f Mom stopped doing meth when she found out she was pregnant, but did it again the day he was born, then your son was NOT born addicted. It would take much more meth than that for a child to be addicted. You would definitely KNOW if he was born addicted. They would have told you at the hospital.
He sounds like a normal almost 3 year old to me. Again, I know you say you are familiar with the stages of grief, but you do not know grief from a 29 month old adoptee’s frame of mind. I would venture to say this is the underlying cause of his new found hyperactivity. That, and being almost 3.
Constant hyper-activity, sleeplessness, high verbosity and moodiness has run in my family for generations. Today I suppose “drug” use would be suspected, but there are so many people with these characteristics and it goes back so far, that it is obviously some genetic thing.
Unless drug abuse is known, and has shown up, I would look elsewhere for an explanation…like personality.
My son was highly active and verbose. His adoptive grandmother told me he never stopped talking which is typical of my family. But, his adoptive mother couldn’t stand his talking and questioning, and she took him to some doctor who put him on heavy duty anti-depressant drugs that knocked him out. He was only 2 years old.
sometimes adoptive children are given a diagnosis of ‘pathology” which the bio-family would just say, well that behavior runs in our family.
ETA: your question was about meth addiction, but although I know that is a real condition, I have also seen people whose normal behavior can seem hyper to other people. And I have seen a number of adopted people who were given medications to “treat” “symptoms” that their bio-families considered to be normal family personality patterns.