You might try giving her an appropriate oulet for her energy. Sometimes my son is so hyper he just jumps up and down in place or does his version of tap dancing. We have a tredmill, so when he is so hyper it's annoying/inappropriate we have him run on the tredmill. We start it off slow and speed it up every minute untill he's running a little more than he's comfortable with. Then we leave it on that speed for about two minutes. The whole thing only takes about 5 minutes for him. After he's done, he's a little calmer; maybe you could try jump rope or running around the yard, something like that? I try to give my son appropriate outlets for his behavior, because he's hyper and sometimes he is just going to be hyper no matter what. I think in Behavioral modification this would be considered finding an alternative behavior. I hope this gives you ideas.

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My child sounds similar to yours and I can't say I have it beat, but I have had some success with being very strict and using all my classroom management techniques on my own child. I agree that our kids are too young to medicate until a last resort. I have a counting system where I state the behavior that needs to be altered and then count to three. If the behavior stops, than she is quickly praised and redirected to another activity. If the behavior continues, then she loses a privledge and goes to time out in her room (she can't stand the door being closed). I tell her she is welcome to have a tantrum, but it must be done in her room, even if it lasts for hours (and it has!). Later, after she calms down and we connect a bit, she has to clean up her room. I have a musical timer, whatever isn't cleaned up in that interval (reasonable for the mess), goes into time out for a number of days. All done with an even tone of voice and as much love as I can muster. It is hard at first to follow through. I don't know if this will help, but it has helped my daughter. I wish you luck with your daughter and journey.

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I would look for a second opinion on the diagnosis. A lot of the time ADHD symptoms (like extreme hyperactivity) are also exactly the same symptoms of other disorders in kids. 30 minute tantrums, to the point of destroying her room are not typical of ADHD. Frequent tantrums are common with ADHD, but at the age of 4 ADHD kids are so easily distracted that its rare for them to go so long. Prolonged tantrums are often a sign of Bipolar disorder in young kids, which can occur as well as ADHD.

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I would look for a second opinion on the diagnosis. A lot of the time ADHD symptoms (like extreme hyperactivity) are also exactly the same symptoms of other disorders in kids. 30 minute tantrums, to the point of destroying her room are not typical of ADHD. Frequent tantrums are common with ADHD, but at the age of 4 ADHD kids are so easily distracted that its rare for them to go so long. Prolonged tantrums are often a sign of Bipolar disorder in young kids, which can occur as well as ADHD.

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I was a hyper little kid, my brother was a hyper little kid, what did our parent do before starting meds? My brother was put in soccer, he didnt like it much, so they sent him to gymnastics and had he not busted his knee in middle school he probably would have gone on to national gymnastic competitions. For me they put me in gymnastics and if I'd had better coaches I would still be doing it, I also did dance and if the teachers hadn't moved to another island I'd still be dancing, in high school I joined track and it worked wonders! Give her an outlet! Having all this energy bouncing inside is frustrating! So we let it out when we need to! This doesn't always mean its the right time to let it out! Once I was put in gymnastic and dance I was able to keep still longer and my behavior improved! I was a happy little kid who had a set schedule on when I can let the ants out! So make a time for her to just let loose and run around crazy! Or put her in a sport that will use alot of energy and hopefully it will help! I know I was always super tired when it was over and I would behave better each day to make sure I saved my energy for the outlet! With ADHD there ALWAYS has to be an outlet! even as an adult! I mean I'm sitting here typing this and my leg is bounding a thousand miles a second! So find an activity she shows intrest in and get her signed up! She will be happier and most likely tone down the jitters! But its very important to let her chose! It has to be something she enjoys or it WON'T work! Hope it all works out! :)

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