Parenting Tips For Disciplining Kids With ADHD

Parenting a child with ADHD can be hectic, especially when you’re trying to find a healthy balance between your work and family life.

By definition, kids with ADHD frequently have trouble staying on task, controlling their impulses, sitting still and even following direction. Thanks to these unique symptoms and behavioral issues, discipline tactics that are effective on other kids might not be suitable for those with ADHD.

Parents of such kids need to seek out discipline strategies that will help their children to not only keep out of mischief but also learn how to control and manage their symptoms.

Here are some tips on how to best manage kids with ADHD and get them to follow your rules:

1. Provide daily doses of positive attention.

Children with ADHD can be exhausting to keep up with. They seem to have an unending supply of energy coupled with a desire to talk constantly and this can tire out the most patient among us.

However, in order to curb attention-seeking behavior, practice giving your child focused positive attention. Spending even 30 minutes daily playing and bonding together brings you closer and makes your discipline more effective.

2. Give simple and clear instructions.

Rattling out chain commands for kids with ADHD to follow isn’t a good idea as they have notoriously short attention spans. A better approach is to give simple clear instructions.

To make your instructions more effective, get your child’s attention by establishing eye contact, then say something like, “Please put your toys away.” Have your child repeat what you’ve said to make sure they’ve understood. This works better than giving multiple instructions at once.

3. Motivate good behavior with positive reinforcement.

A little praise when your child does something good goes a long way. It motivates and encourages them. This is especially important for kids with ADHD as they require frequent feedback. When doling out praise, make it specific. So instead of saying, “Good job,” say, “ Great job putting away all your toys after playing with them.”

4. Pick your battles wisely.

Kids with ADHD usually exhibit attention-seeking behavior. They may make loud noises, whine or otherwise try to interrupt you. Rewarding such obnoxious behavior with attention only encourages it to continue.

On the other hand, constantly disciplining your child for mild misbehavior can make them feel like they can’t do anything right. Allowing some minor misdemeanors to slide helps keep the peace sometimes.

5. Use a reward system to keep your kid on track.

Another great way to encourage children with ADHD to stay on task is by rewarding them. These kids get bored if they have to wait for their rewards for a long time so a token economy system would work perfectly. This way, your child earns tokens throughout the day for good behavior and these can be redeemed later for rewards like more screen time or a playdate.

When it comes to disciplining kids with ADHD, some creativity and a whole lot of love and patience will produce the desired results.

Author of this article, Tyler Jacobson, enjoys going to the mountains near his home in Draper, Utah to connect with his wife and children through camping, hiking, and quality time together. When he isn’t rebooting in the outdoors, he shares his fatherly experiences with the world through writing and creative work. Tyler shares the ups and downs of family life and the solutions he’s found through lengthy research and involvement in the industry and his own experiences to help parents everywhere. Follow Tyler on: Twitter | LinkedIn