bipolar in toddlers????

hello, i'm writing to see if anyone has a child who has been diagnosed with any type of bipolar and can tell me what the toddler years were like for them? did you know something was different about them than your normal (what ever that is??) toddler in the 2-3 years old stage? or does anyone have a toddler now that they think may be bipolar because of another family member who has been diagnosed? i have a 13 year old son who has had many hospital visits and i've heard, cyclothymic,adhd,oppositional defiant disorder,explosive disorder,you name it, so i'm not real clear anymore on what he may have, with every visit to the hospital i get a new diagnosis, and he fits them all but i'm convinced it is bipolar, i was also told on hospital visits that the patient has to have a diagnosis with in 3 days for any insurance to pay for the visit so i'm wondering if in the case with my son if they are just grabbing out of the sky on what's going on. but the reason i am writing is because i have a daughter who is almost 3 years old and has been showing odd behavior since 18 months, head banging to the point of bruises on her forehead and face, very aggressive, mood changes on a dime,cries at everything,and whiny, she has a developemental delay with her speech and some sensory integration, so they say,i dont notice anything out of whack and neither does some of the other therapist who work with her but it was her original diagnosis and it has just stuck. she is receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy and seems to be getting better but this behavior is way over the top, her psychologist mentioned autism, we found out that wasn't it, we were told "odd" well we were then told that if she had "odd" that she'd be hell everywhere and not just at home, because she is wonderful at daycare. it seems to be just an at home issue, she hits, she throws her furniture she is now biting herself to the point her whole arm from the elbow down is black and blue with bruises. everbody involved with her say that she is normal but to the extreme, and i say the words "normal" and "extreme" are a contradiction, they say her behavior is normal but magnified. my question is , does this sound familiar to anyone? we have had a hard time finding a psychiatrist who will take her when she isn't quiet 3 years old, and beings meds aren't an option at this age i guess we will just have to tough it out, she is had genetic testing along with neurological testing and they came back back normal. thanks

Sounds normal to me. I have four kids, and they all fitted the bipolar profile during the toddler years. In fact my eldest is now nearly nine and still does at times.

The diagnostic criteria applied to adults for psychiatric evaluation really don't apply to kids. There's a great book called 'The Normal Child' written by a child psychologist which explains how and why; too lengthy to go into right now but basically children's behaviours are completely different to those of an adult and what is acceptable and in fact normal in children is not in adults. It is vital that we don't apply adult criteria to children.

If your daughter really did have a psychiatric problem, it would manifest itself in every area; she wouldn't be great at daycare and not at home.

Very often children behave well in places where they feel they should, and then use familiar, safe surroundings to take out their frustrations and aggression at a world they are still struggling to comprehend.

This kind of behaviour is tough to deal with, but it is normal, and approached in teh right way, will improve.

Try talking to a child behaviourist and explore ways of dealing with it rather than trying to get a diagnosis.

I worked with young children for a long while... we had kids come to us who had what on the surface appeared to be severe problems; kids who fit bipolar, adhd, autism and even schizophrenic profiles. And every single one of them has grown into normal, healthy kids never needing treatment or diagnoses.

I think sometimes as parents we try and seek reasons for our kids' problems when in fact the best thing to do is deal with the behaviour and move on, and stop trying to find reasons for it. The number one reason is that they are just very small children trying to get to grips with a world that is so much bigger and more complicated than they ever imagined, and they don't yet have the equipment they need to do that.

Every one of us is 'different' or 'odd' in some way. Celebrate that; it is all part of being 'normal'.

i personally think "they're just being a child" causes people to look over serious problems. when i was a young teen i was in and out of psychiatrists, councelors, you name it. every time they wrote off my behavior as "just being a teenager." they were very wrong. they missed clear signs of PTSD and manic depression, in other words, they missed the fact that my father was sexually abusing me. as a toddler i tour at my face and body with my fingernails.

it probably is too early to see if anything is wrong, but in a few years i would try again with the child psychologists.

good luck

kaelynn, I agree with you in some respects, but I do also think (from my experiences as a mother and working with kids) that we are sometimes far too quick to seek a medical reason for what is, ninetynine times out of a hundred, just a normal child acting out.

And while missing a problem is potentially devastating.... diagnosing a problem (particularly one that carries with it the use of medication) is just as bad.

Medication, in particular psychiatric medication, causes potentially serious long-term problems (sometimes irreversible damage) that can even cause the symptoms it's supposed to be controlling. Diagnosing a child that is just 'mimicking' symptoms is potentially condemning that child to a life of psychiatric treatment that may not neccessarily have been needed.

That's why I suggest a child psychologist or behaviourist; they are in a much better position to both assess and advise, without the risk of an unwarranted diagnosis and associated problems.

Edit to add that I am another who was abused as a child... and who was never picked up on. But self-harm in abused kids is actually rarer than behaviours like prolonged bet-wetting, social withdrawel and more 'passive' disordered behaviours; kids who head-bang or bite are more usually venting frustration and anger.

i didn't say medicate her, medicating a child is often wrong, i just said don't cast it off as being normal when it could easily actually be a serious problem. (i also said child psychologist, not psychiatrist)

i also said wait a few years. as in, if the problems continue untill she's school aged get it checked. even if the head banging and biting are to show frustration an anger, if it continues that anger has to have some cause.

Sorry... read you wrong the first time.