Step away from the WebMD

I vividly remember DH coming to me one evening not long after Nut was born to address his concerns about her sleeping: Was she getting 12 hours a day? Every day? Was I sure? No, was I really REALLY sure? Like, 100% positive? I assured him that she was, more than that in fact, and asked him why he was so concerned about it. He told me he'd read an article on line that said babies who get less than that amount are more at risk for psychological and behavioral problems. Whether or not this is true, I don't know. I filed the info away in the Doesn't Apply to Me folder in my brain and didn't think of it again until recently.

Nocturnal Baby is back. With a vengeance. Never in my life have I met a baby who sleeps so little yet goes so much. Ever since he started learning how to crawl, he's stopped sleeping. He doesn't even make up for it with naps. It's the oddest thing. He gets up around 8am --- and we all know he still gets up two to three times a night --- naps for maybe 45 minutes to an hour the ENTIRE day and then fights bedtime until 9-9:30 at night. Every time he starts to doze off, he pops up on all four's and starts trying to crawl around. It's driving me INSANE. He's all over the house, rolling, scooting, and belly flopping along so I know he has to be tired. I thought during those early days of him never sleeping that surely, SURELY it was only temporary and that I would be getting some much-needed zzzzz's soon.... but no. That was almost 8 months ago and he's yet to sleep through the night. Yet to take two good naps during the day. Yet to let me feel like a human being and not a zombie most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love that he's so entertaining and active, it's just.... SLEEP damnit! That being said, let me get back to the original point of this story - yes, surprise, it actually has one.

I jokingly told DH that I think Bug will have ADHD. He agreed. I jokingly mentioned it to someone else. And then another person. And another. They also agreed. Suddenly it didn't seem to be such a joke. So I did what any neurotic hypochondriac with the world wide web at her fingertips would do: I googled it.
"Early signs of ADHD in infants" "Common characteristics of infants with ADHD" "ADHD + infancy + signals"

That was a dumb idea. Dumb, dumb, DUMB. Here's what I pulled up (courtesy of adhdcentral.com):

"According to ADDResources, some of the signs are:

More squirmy
Less able to cuddle
More impatient
More easily frustrated
Require more attention
Have more colic
Have a more difficult temperament"

Fabulous. Everyone tells me how hard Bug is to hold, how they can barely keep him from squirming right out of their arms. DH's grandma flat out refuses to hold him because she's scared she'll drop him. Requires more attention? Go back and read my previous posts, I've often referred to him as the neediest little shite I've ever met. Colic? Dear God, the horror of the nightly four hour screaming episodes are still fresh in my memory. Difficult temperment? Check! Impatient? Check!

As if that wasn't enough to send me into oh-shit mode, there was also this little tidbit:

"In previous support groups for parents, some also indicated their children, later diagnosed with ADHD, slept less or took only short catnaps in comparison to children that were not diagnosed with ADHD."

Catnaps?!? That's all this baby ever took. Crrraaaaaap. And so I came to the illogical conclusion that my child has ADHD. I know, I know, it's overdiagnosed, he's not even 8 months old, I'm being a spaz, blah blah blah. Hence the illogical conclusion statement. Really deep down I know I'm being an idiot. You don't have to tell me that. You'll probably think it though and that's okay. I'd have to agree. And honestly if there is some slim chance that I'm right and not just being an overly dramatic bored mama with nothing better to do than self-diagnose my kids with stuff, well then we'll deal. There's a hellava lot worse things that could happen.