Help these children?

Question

Hello
I'm a child care provider in central California. I have twin, 3 year olds, who will be coming to my child care on Monday. The grandmother is raising them. When they were born, they tested positive for meth.
The grandmother tells me that they are very active. (Not a problem here) My concern is that I would like to learn as much as I can so I will be able to pick up on what is going on with them. I do not want to mistake something they do as bad behavior, you know what I mean?
I am getting these children because the grandmother took them out of the care provider they were at with suspisions of her giving the children something to make them sleep all day. The grandmother told me that these babies stay awake all night. They fall asleep around 4:30am.
Please,can you give me some suggestions or links to research or even a couple books I could read. I want to be the best I can be to help these children.
With much respect,
Lori
http://auntielosdaycare.clubspaces.com

Answer 1

I worked with kids with disabilities for years, the first thing to remember is that bad behavior is bad behavior. They may not be able to control it as easily but don't think you have to coddle them, your rules are the rules (you will create problems with your other charges if you don't enforce your rules with the girls). That said, time out, will not work. These girls are going to have trouble with self-control and will have a lot of trouble sitting still. If they need discipline, make it make a lot of sense and have it involve movement. They are going to have symptoms similar to ADHD and bipolar disorder. They may have massive emotional reactions to things (over-reaction) or they may not have an emotional response at all. These girls may not proccess the information logically, you may have to make things pretty obvious for them. As long as you keep them moving and busy and remember that nothing they (or any child) do (does) is personal, so don't react emotionally. Just matter-of-factly remind them of the rule and help them through the discipline to learn the rule. Keep yourself neutral and don't hesitate to call in reinforcements if the girls are too much one day, call a friend for help or a little break. Good luck.

Answer 2

Well lori, I wish I knew of a good website that would guide you. The only one that I regularly go to is webmd. I am only a MA however, I have worked in peds enough to see a few cases like this. First off, yes they are going to have ADHD and bipolar symptoms. There little minds have really no consept of knowing what is good or bad behavior. Also, there memory is shot so if you do want to enforce rules, it must be consistantly reminded to them. I would suggest putting a sheet with picture recognition. Meaning use like 'street signs' instead of words. For example for no hitting I would suggest having a picture of someone hitting with a 'no circle' around it. This way it will help them to remember what it means and expand their memory. That is unfortuantely something that meth users and kids exposed to meth loose very quickly.
I wish you the best of luck and bless you for taking on such a challenge. We need more good people like you; your an angel.

Answer 3

I don't know anything about this but I have to tell you....We need more child care providers like you! Most do not care after they are off the clock and you are willing to do all this research for them. I hope they do well with you and those will be some lucky children.

Answer 4

i feel for these children. i love kids. and im glad that you care too. if you can't find enough research about dealing with some situations, i would recommend that you seek advice from a professional who can talk to you and advice you.

Answer 5

lol you are so proper approximately the spare tyre and chips factor!!! all of the wretched humans who come on right here and bag the crap out of alternative humans are simply the sorrowful, lonely ones who categorical their anger wherein no person else can see them... they usually feel they cant break out with it. i feel the lady it lovable :) the morph factor doesnt make any snapshot appear best... cos its morphing 2 totally one of a kind image's. i simply snigger whilst i see petty comments. i could say that she appears like an isabell :) no longer considered one of my favorite names however she simply appears love it. or probably even a madden or monroe. jade, bayla, selena or scarlett could swimsuit her too :)

Answer 6

I agree with Shannon! I don't know anything about this situation, but I'd love to applaud you for this brilliant question. This proves to me that there are decent people who care out there.

Many, many kudos!

^_^

Answer 7

Hope this link helps.

http://www.kci.org/meth_info/msg_board_posts/010106/raising_meth_baby_help.htm

Cheers