I completely relate to everything you are saying.  I would definitely contact a psychiatrist (not your OBGYN or General Practitioner) who can properly diagnose and treat you.  There may be some medications that are OK to take while breast-feeding.  If not, I believe, a well-medicated, stable minded Mom out weighs breast-feeding.  You may have to switch to formula in order to be treated.  If you have a Mood or Mental Disorder, your body needs medication to stabilize.  Best wishes.  You are a great mom for trying to figure things out for your family.

I don’t have ADHD, but I have other medical issues that require drugs that couldn’t be taken while nursing. I vividly remember being thrilled when I could take the Good Drugs again, and truthfully I felt much better.  You’re in the same boat. Until you can take the Good Drugs again you’re not going to function as well as you could, plus you are almost definitely sleep deprived and might have post-partum depression on top of everything else. Even without the depression, you are going to be cranky and impulsive due to lack of sleep and meds. Talk to your doctor and be open-minded about formula feeding. Breast milk is good for your baby, but so is having a healthy mother who feels in control. Generations were raised on formula and went on to live happy, healthy lives, despite what some breast feeding advocates would like you to believe. Good luck.

I am so with you. My son (will be 7 in Aug) has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and I recently had my depression diagnosis re-evaluated to BI_POLAR 2. Bi-polar 2 has many of the ADHD aspects. Hoping to get son medicated on the next visit to psychiatrist on the 30th.
I am not on a mood stabilized yet because I am also breastfeeding daughter (9 months). I get so upset with sons (I also have a defiant 4 year old in the mix!) I yell at them, and it upsets them and the baby to the point of crying. I’m hoping to wean DD over the summer so I can get something to help myself before the next school year begins. I want to be happy mommy.

I had a very difficult birth with my ADHD son.  I had to stop breast feeding at 6 months and get on medication for postpartum depression.  You could be experiencing postpartum depression. Please take steps to get your behavior under control, maybe medication.

Medication isn’t the only answer. Modeling is so important - your behavior teaches your son how to act.  Here are some things that worked for me:

Pick your battles.  Ask yourself each time: is his behavior something that should be addressed (is he being unsafe, physically aggressive, etc.) or something you can ignore?  Can you just skip the shower for today? (FYI - Baths calm an ADHD child better than showers.  You can put both kids in together, if the little one is in their baby bath.  While in the water, you can have your older help you bathe your younger.)

Walk away and count to 10 and breathe deeply, rather than address a problem right away.  He may be ignoring you because of the ADHD and not intentionally. 

If he is acting out, warn him that you will take away the TV/videos for the next day.  If he acts out again, take them away.  Stay calm.  Try to remember that children want attention, so your anger can be a form of negative attention.  If you are calm, you have all the power and are in control.

Make two new rules:  (1)One hour of videos and one hour of TV a day.  (2)Both get turned off at least 30 minutes before bed.  (If this doesn’t work with your schedule, decrease the time allowed.) My son needs an hour to calm down after videos.  Don’t break these rules for anything, even play dates.  I think videos heighten aggression in ADHD boys.  I’ve seen it in my son.

Catch him being good.  Positive comments and rewards for good behavior were the cornerstone of raising my ADHD son through childhood.  Positive comments actually made him behave better.

Buy a small whiteboard that is magentized and can go on your refrigerator.  They are cheap at Walmart.  Write down the steps for morning and bedtime routines.  Tell him to go complete one step at a time, then have him check it off when it’s finished and give him praise for doing it. (He could do this while you are drying off the baby from the bath.) ADHD kids like charts, lists, structure of any kind. And, they’ll get positive feedback immediately for each step.  All that walking back and forth burns their energy, too!

Once you start catching him being good, and once the chart is in place, you could give him a token each time he does what you ask.  When he compiles so many tokens, take him somewhere special - the library, the park, etc. This could be on your day off.

Tell your son that you really need his help.  Give him chores that you expect him to complete each day.  I started my son with making his bed, putting away his folded clothes.  Now my son is 13 and does a lot of chores.  He earns allowance and rewards for his chores and loves the cash.

What you are doing isn’t working, right?  So, it has to change.  I feel your pain, I have been there. You are in my prayers :0)

You need to get help or therapy as soon as possible before you really hurt your child and/or the baby. You sound like you are bi-polar for sure. My sister would do the same thing to me when I was a child and she is bi-polar now with psychosis. You probably have post partum depression too. Please talk to your husband about what is going on so he can get you help to. You don’t want to hurt your child mentally and physical?  My son has adhd also. Since he was 2 I knew he had it. He was a whilwind. He never sat still and wouldn’t do anything I said. I never hit him ever but I did yell at him a lot and I feel sick to my stomach now that I did that to a young little boy. He’s was finally 6 when he got diagnosed and got meds and it was a God send with the meds. I knew he had adhd but everyone including my husband said he didn’t that I had a problem not our son. Talk about denial??  He’s 13 now and the greatest kid ever.
Please get some help for yourself and huggs to you.
From one mom to another, please get help today. Call your doctor or a a phone line to a mental health place and talk to someone.

BTW…...I took Zoloft and breastfed my baby at the same time for 2 years. The doctor said it was fine and she was fine and is very smart now at 9 years old. You can breastfeed and take a anti-depressant. I did and nothing bad happened to the baby.  I didn’t do this with my first and I was very, very depressed. Lesson learned the second time around.

If you are bipolar adderall can cause you to rapid cycle. Which means by switching from mania, hypomania, to depression. Another thought if you change moods multiple times a day, emotional intensity, formerly called borderline personality disorder, mainly fear of abandonment. It can cause dramatic mood swings during the day. Research what you can on your own and then talk to a psychiatrist. Another thing would be to journal and track each episode to show the doctor. You have to be your own advocate, ultimately you are the only one that knows what happens at home. You have to convince your doctors the greatness of the issue.