[shellybelly]

Hi everyone
I am wondering how many infants (0-12 mos) in the foster system are exposed to drugs or alcohol in utero. Someone told me that basically they all were and that they would scream all the time and never sleep. I would love anybody's thoughts or experiences on this. My husband and I are planning on adopting an infant in Orange County and now we are worried.

[Withay]

The latest figures I heard were that approximately 80% of children, ages 5 and under were exposed to drugs/alcohol, either in their environment or in utero.

While it is true that some newborns who were exposed in utero cry a lot, not all do. In fact, some drug exposed infants tend to sleep more than non-exposed infants. To the point that you have to wake them to feed them.

There are as many differences in the drug exposed child as there are in the non-drug exposed child. I am saying this with having the experience of fostering over 100 medically fragile and drug/alcohol exposed infants and toddlers over the last 6 years.

Generally, the drug/alcohol exposed infant does not show too many signs of withdrawal until they are about 2 - 3 weeks old. At that time, some, but not all of them become more irritable for approximately 2 - 3 months. They then, for the most part, have completed the major withdrawal and their sleep/wake patterns become more established.

Blessings to you and dh for considering adopting through foster care. Welcome to the forums. This is the right place to come for questions. Some other forums you may want to consider checking out include the Foster Parent Support; Foster to Adopt - What is it Like; and the Special Needs forums.

[julierose24]

I can only speak from personal experience - and I think every child is different. Our daughter came to us when she was 4 months old. She tested negative when born, to any drugs - but I looked up birth mom's arrest record and found that she was arrested for drugs when pregnant with my daughter. The baby went into foster care immediately from the hospital and has no symptoms or problems from drug exposure - so far! She is 2 years old now, and normal - but if there are any problems I expect them to come out later with ADHD and learning problems being possibilities (according to her pediatrician). Hope this helps!

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

I agree that a LARGE majority in that age range have come into care because mom or mom&baby tested positive at birth.

However, to the extent that it will cause symptoms or problems can never be determined. Every case is different and you would have to just ask LOTS of questions when they called regarding a drug exposed baby coming into care.

Kim

[shellybelly]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me. My husband and I definitely want to give it a try

[One_Happy_Momma]

My daughter whom I adopted from foster care came not only drug exposed, she tested positive. Her bio-mom used heavy drugs up until the day before the delivery. She did have some tremors the first couple of months, but I would swaddle her a lot, and did a lot of baby wearing and she was the easiest, calmest baby I've ever met. My friends that knew she had tested positive would joke around saying that maybe they should've used drugs when they were pregnant so they could have good babies like her.

At almost 18 months, she is healthy, developmentally on target, if not a little ahead, as she's potty training herself, literally taking her diaper off and climbing up to the big toilet. She wants to do everything big sister does.

Good luck and God bless you for opening your home and heart to these little ones!

[JJemail1]

Hi Happy Momma,

I suspect that your friend who considers crying a deterrent from parenthood has no aspirations for children? (Just a joke.)

In all seriousness, we are in the process of adopting our angel, who was drug-addicted at birth and who was weaned in the hospital for 2 months afterward. Today at 15 months, she is happy, healthy, developmentally on par, and incredibly gifted in many areas (particularly with verbal skills and dexterity). She does have two minor heart defects and food allergies--neither of which can be definitively attributed to exposure to drugs as the former is usually tied to nutrition (or lack thereof) in the first trimester and the latter tends to be genetic. In other words, these odds are similar to that of biological children--we're never certain our children will be born 100% healthy.

Also, with foster care inevitably comes some of the products of economical epidemics (parents and children lacking proper nutrition, dental and medical care, etc.). However, most studies show that drug-exposed infants' long-term prognosis is greatly impacted by their environment. Hence, these infants' situation is usually bettered by a loving, stable, and predictable environment.

I hope my two cents also helps.

Best wishes!
Jennifer

[BuckarooBanzai]

All 3 of ours were exposed. Our oldest DS (now 7) shows almost no evidence. Our other DS (almost 4) is showing signs of issues, especially in sensory integration. He had some rough patches as an infant. Our DD (4 months) is showing some signs like out youngest boy, but only about half as severe.

Each kid is different. How much exposure and to what plays a major role in the type and amount of issues.

DS #1 - birthmom admited to marijuana use after placement.
DS #2 - birthmom will not confirm or deny anything other than smoking.
DD - birthmom admits to crack and cocain use.

[ca-bigsister]

My FD is a teenager and came into the system later, not at birth. Her biomom used heroine in the first trimester, maybe more, but she did not later because she was in jail. (Although you never know because I guess you can also get drugs there, too).

FD has ADHD and learning disabilities (processing disorders). School can be very frustrating. You need to advocate a lot. I think that she would have been better if I would have gotten her as an infant because I would have pushed a lot more for services as a toddler.

[pechocha]

My daughter whom I adopted from Foster as a newborn, tested positive to meth at birth. She was discharged from hospital after two days, and no withdrawals at all, well, she used to sleep a lot, and I mean a lot, until she was about 6 or 8 months. The first weeks we used to undressed her so she would wake up and eat. There were sometimes that her nap consisted of up to 4 hours of sleep, and I had to woke her up too, abd then not even an hour later, she was sleeping again. She was an easy baby, she is 2.5 yrs old now, and developmentally on target, potty trained, and talks in complete sentences now.

[BCFD]

Originally Posted by pechocha

My daughter whom I adopted from Foster as a newborn, tested positive to meth at birth. She was an easy baby, she is 2.5 yrs old now, and developmentally on target, potty trained, and talks in complete sentences now.

This sounds similar to my daughters. We have adopted 3 children from the fost/adopt system as newborns. The are now 3, 2, and 1. Two exposed to meth (our 3 and 1 year old), one to cocaine (our 2 year old). Our child exposed to cocaine was also 2 months premature, has breathing issues due to reflux (she is also very sensitive to the fires that burn in CA and bad air quality days) and she is a sensory seeker (loves to jump, walks heavy....everything is just turned up a notch for her including her voice! LOL!). She is extremely bright and almost what I would consider advanced for her age. At 2 she is talking in almost complete sentences and her latest is doing 25 piece puzzles in about 10 minutes! She is extremely mechanical minded and really sits and tries to figure things out. As a newborn, it was almost unbearable because of her reflux, but she is doing great now (still on reflux meds). My 3 and 1 year old were/are the easiest toddler/baby ever. People always comment about how well behaved they are. We rarely have tantrums and if they do, they are short lived. We use a lot of redirection and choices and they are growing up happy, healthy and smart!!!!

Honestly, you would never know they were drug exposed children. We were not afraid of ADD/ADHD/learning disabilities because even a bio child with the best prenatal care could have those same issues. I firmly believe that once a child is in a stable, loving environment that they thrive (especially a child adopted as a newborn).

Good luck!

[Yash]

It totally depends on the baby. My son tested positive for cocaine and showed no signs of withdrawl. They placed him in an emergency foster care home with a very experience foster mom straight from the hospital and she noticed nothing. He came home at five-days-old and was perfectly fine. He has always been on target or ahead for all of his developmental milestones. The developmental psychologist he saw from 0 - 18 months never noticed any issues.

Today my son is 3 and just perfect. On Good Friday, he counted from 80 - 100 for me. I guess now we need to work on 30 - 80.

It is a scary prospect. I wish you the best of luck.