I have a 4 year old with autism and 3 younger children. Does anyone have any advice on multitasking my family?

My four year old son has Pervasive Developmental Disorder. I also have a 3 year old son, and two daughters ages 1 year and 1 month. He has a tough time transitioning but I'm trying to put them all on a shedule that works for everybody - thank God I have a husband or I'd never get anything done.





Neither of my daughters breastfeed - and I will not be told I'm bad mother because of it - so that makes it easier. My three year old has average communication skills and my oldest daughter (and my oldest son for that matter) both sign. I'm doing all I can think of, but if anyone has any other tips I'd really apprecite it.I have a 4 year old with autism and 3 younger children. Does anyone have any advice on multitasking my family?
i have 4 kids also (and sometimes 5 when my stepdaughter comes to stay with us) they are 7,5,4, and 9 mos (SD is 8) my 4 year old has AS so i know what your going through its very tough......its alot easier now that the older kids are in school through the day though. I love my children very much but sometimes (especially during the summer when there was no school) i just wanna wave a magic wand and poof them away for the day lol. The important thing to remember is the majority of kids with PDDs have some sort of focus (my daughters is animals and science) find out what it is your son is interested in and buy activities for him that he can do by himself that focus on that interest. sometimes i give my daughter some cups and some miscellaneous (nontoxic) stuff from my kitchen or bathroom so she can ';experiment';.....or ill let her watch a show on animal planet (her psychologist says shes a visual learner so TV is ok for her as long as its educational) or give her an animal book to read...just so i can focus on the other kids to get them ready for school.......feed the baby....or help with homework. i found a church close to my house that offers ';respite care'; for kids with disabilities....so every friday i take her to them for 5 hours so i can grocery shop and clean my house. dont be afraid to ask for help outside of your home, there are programs out there to help you, many of them free for your son. as for a schedule your autistic son needs to be kept on a rigid schedule....and the 3 year old and 1 year old will probably adapt and follow it as well in time....the baby however is gonna be a handful, at that age they just arent ready for it, they make their own schedule. Im glad to hear your husband helps you out....alot of them dont.im also fortunate to have a great husband, unfortunately hes in the military so hes away alot and im left as a single parent.I have a 4 year old with autism and 3 younger children. Does anyone have any advice on multitasking my family?
Mine are alot older now, best advice i can give you is to take it 1 day at a time, I tried when mine were younger the oldest being autistic to put them all on a schedule it worked some days and some days it didn't. Best thing you can do is to know your limits and take a break when you need it, don't worry about what other people think and hang in there.
put the 3 and 4 yr olds in preschool this will help alot for you and them maybe get them to speak (if possible)


check into private schools for the autistic child most have scholarship programs





as for the 1 yr and 1 mo old


your 1 yr old should be self feeding by now so feed them at the same time





maybe you could start the 3 yr old and maybe the 4 yr old on chores (simple things of course)
Wow! That's an amazing schedule. I think you should be giving other people advice for beeing able to keep up with that busy schedule.





Since everyone else gave you good advice I think the only think I can recommend is three really good books:





For this one you might want to buy the audiobook since you seem really busy and Dr. Covey has a very good speaking voice:





The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey





http://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effe鈥?/a>





Don't be fooled by the corny title. This book has a wealth of information for anyone in any situation - especially busy parents. Plus, he has 9 children and 47 grandchildren (yep, he's a Mormon) so he knows what it's like to be busy.





Since you are really busy you probably unfortunately have to say ';No'; a lot. Because if you don't say ';No'; to things then you really get busy. This next book teaches you how to make sure you don't get too frazzled (Again, a corny title and somewhat misleading) with great strategies and stories about how to live a happy and healthy life:





Codependent No More by Melody Beattie





http://www.amazon.com/Codependent-No-Mor鈥?/a>





The last book I'd recommend is one that just talks about a lot of general family stuff but from a bit of a differrent perspective.





Bradshaw On: The Family by John Bradshaw





http://www.amazon.com/Bradshaw-Family-Jo鈥?/a>





Also, make sure you get the 1 month old gets lots of supervised awake tummy time - at least 3 hours is recommended. This used to not be important before 1996 when 75% of kids slept on their tummies (prone) but now it's really important. Also, make sure she doesn't sleep in the same position every night so that you prevent flat head syndrome (plagiocephaly). Here are a few articles you might want to consider regarding current infant sleeping advice about tummy (prone) sleep and supine (back) sleep:





Pro:





http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article鈥?/a>





Con:





http://cgi.thescientificworld.co.uk/cgi-鈥?/a>





Neutral Article:





http://www.oandp.com/edge/issues/article鈥?/a>





Good Luck. You seem like a wonderful mom.
First - use a condom. This is not said in any negative attitude at all - just a frank acknowledgement that your schedule is completely filled right now and the kids you've got need the attention you can give. Youv'e said it yourself - you're doing all you can think of. Get a handle on what you've got.





Second - kids this age are very tough to deal with - if only because they do not have the skills to communicate or cooperate the way an older would. So - that would be your focus.





Create a schedule that everyone can adhere to and is age-appropriate. Picking up toys, laundry, starting the dryer or finding all the empty cups in the house are good tasks to assign. Be patient but firm in the completion of duties and eventually - things will get easier.
Well the youngest is at the moment the top priority. I have a younger brother with aspergers and he is frustrated easily. They say kids with autism usually have a strong point in something. My brother has a strong point with video games, he can figure out a whole game once he literally turns it on. And he is at a 4th grade reading level even though he's in 2nd grade. He's a little behind socially and is a little vulnerable, But a good idea when your trying to stop focusing on him is find out if he like reading, writing, toy cars, maybe math, or even helping you out with his younger brother and younger sister, the 1 year old. Try having him playing games with the younger boy and girl for that fact and have him teach them things so you can focus on the baby, for now at least and the other plus side is he might improve also with the added authority. By him just knowing that your trusting him and giving him the chance to teach his younger siblings games or what not he can learn ways of making compromises and so forth. Hope I helped!
kudos to u. I want four kids also. I can't believe u are still functioning. I think u are a supermom. However I don't have any advice for u just praise
You are amazing. I have one child and feel like I could go nuts at any second at least 5 times a week. Just keep fine tuning a schedule and routines that work for all of you the majority of the time (Don't know about you, but something always seems to come up for us that takes us off schedule) Your not a bad mom for not breastfeeding and anyone that says so is just closed minded and probably never had two babies so close together. Sounds like you are on the right track. Maybe set down with a calendar and discuss with hubby who does what chore things on what days - one day he cooks dinner and cleans it up while you get the kids ready for bed with a routine-things like that.