Experiences with Meth Exposed Babies

this is just based on my experience with a meth baby and the research i did when he was placed with us. [LIST][*]What problems are common with Meth exposed babies? withdrawl in the beginning. our son had tremors for 3 months after he was born. other problems that sem to be "common" are feeding issues (such as reflux), and sleeping problems- either too much or not enough, irritablity- although we were lucky that as irritable as our son was, as long as he was held he was fine (24 hours a day for 3 months). this included changing him ion our legs, holding him while we slept (not reccomending this....just telling you how bad it was for us). i also read once that meth babies can have a hard time regulating their temperatures....that was true for us. he got a fever constantly...and a fever of 104 was completley normal for us. it was scary! he does seem to have gotten over that one. [/LIST][LIST][*]What problems may develop later that are not obvious when they are babies? learning issues, attention problems, sleep issues- again either too much or too little. our guy is 6 now....we are experiencing learning issues, he is totally adhd, and as a toddler/young child he slept 14 hour nights with 3-4 hour naps during the day....now we are lucky if he gets 10 hours at night. [/LIST][LIST][*]Do Meth users tend to only use Meth or do they also use alcohol and/or other drugs? our social worker said in her experience where we lived meth addicts tended to also smoke- cigarettes and/or pot, and drink alcohol. our baby only tested positive for meth at birth....but that doesn't mean he wasn't exposed to other things earlier on. [/LIST][LIST][*]Is there a large difference in terms of long-term outcome between babies who are born Meth addicted as opposed to just exposed? i don't know. our middle son was born addicted(the one i'm talking about above), and our younger son was exposed only the first 3 or so months in utero. i definitely notice a difference in this new baby as far as developmental and intellectual growth are concerned....but he(the younger) is also much angrier and tempermental than the middle one. so who knows? i will say this...even my one born addicted, is super smart and super sweet. he does struggle with some aspects of school and he can't sit still for much, but i think he is one of the neatest kids i've ever met. (not that i'm biased or anything ;) )

[/LIST][LIST][*]I have been told that Meth is one of the hardest drugs to kick, making RU rates very low among Meth addicts. Has this been your experience? we were told the same thing. my son has 6 brothers and sisters, none that were able to ru with mom over a 18 year period. new babies continue to come into care for her every few years, and she just hasn't managed to find success yet. our social worker said this is common. that even when meth users manage to get to a period of drug free living, that it only takes one time of using to make them an addict again.

[/LIST]I am going to be a single first-time mother, so I am very concerned about taking on more than I can handle. I would appreciate any experiences you could share on Meth exposed children. it is not the scariest thing to deal with for me. i am much more nervous about a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. that was a no go for us....however, everyone will tell you that if a mom is doing drugs, you can't rule out alcohol....so there is always a risk of that. i will say that it was very tiring when he was going through withdrawls...and i don't know if i could have done it without my husband. i was working when he was born, and dh had 2 months off. so dh was able to sit on the couch all night long holding a sleeping baby. there were plenty of times he would come into our room crying that he was so tired he couldn't do it anymore...and i'd take over staying up all night so that dh could sleep. after 2 months, i had a month off, and dh went back to work and we switched rolls. it was sooooo exhausting. lol! but, after 3 months things calmed way down, the tremors had stopped, and he would sleep in a crib next to our bed most of the night and we were finally able to get some rest.