Anyone deal with ADHD in young children?

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Flirtycuddle

Flirtycuddle

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Joined
Sep 24, 2010
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Location
, Indiana, USA
My son is 4 and is going for evaluation Dec 10th for possible ADHD since we are having many issues with him. He wont focus on anything for more then 10 mins max usually 5. Its gotten to the point he will not sit and eat any meal without getting up and running around to play no matter how we go about meal time. I have turned off all distractions, serve dinner where there are no toys to be played with, keep it quiet to try and let him focus and he will just sit there and play with his food or stare into space till he gets up to get a drink then runs off to play. OF course when he runs off to play he has to come sit back down. He wont watch a movie for more then 10 minutes before needing to get a drink, get a snack, just walk around or play. I cannot sit down with him and try and help him learn anything cuz he wont focus on what I'm saying or trying to show him, surely doesn't retain anything. He gets aggressive when he's in trouble and has to go into time out and has come towards me to hit me forcefully. Granted at 4 he doesn't hurt me but I cannot have him doing that.
I know some of this might be just normal 4yr old stuff but even the doctor we went to see for check-up noticed how he is and wanted the evaluation.
I have put him on a schedule and started trying to keep him occupied with stuff I know he loves but it isn't doing any good. We do time out away from everyone when in trouble and that just makes him upset of course but that way he isn't trying to hurt someone or himself.
 
not sure really what to say. i was diagnosed with "add" because in school teachers said i didnt pay attention and my head was always in the sky.

how active is he? kids with add and adhd need constant activity that makes their minds THINK hard.

the aggressiveness...not really sure. if he tries to hit you just keep him from hitting you as best you can and do not get mad but ignore the behavior, beause reinforcing negative wit with negative behavior will not solve the problem. so like dont say a word just, if you can, hold his arms to his side, put him in his time out spot and walk away. do not look at him or say anything. wait however long your time outs last then go and talk to him about why he is in time out.
if he turns aggressive just dont say a word walk away again, if he gets up pick him up and put him back in his time out spot just as before, silently with no eye contact
 
With the aggressiveness I've been just ignoring it and making him sit in his area longer every time he tries to hit me. I can talk to him till he's blue in the face and will tell me he's sorry then do it again 10 mins later. When I ask him why he did .... he will say I don't know then ask if he was just told to not do ..... and he will say he doesn't remember.
I can sit and help him build stuff with his blocks, go outside and run till he don't want to run any more, give him directions to do one at a time, help him build forts to play with, but he wont stay on one activity for more then 5-10 minutes. The only thing I can get him to is watch Scooby Doo which I refuse to let him do all day lol. We have work books for kindergarten for his older sister and he kept saying he wanted to do it so we bought him one for kindergarten since he will be starting next year. He will sit and do a page for maybe 5 minutes then hes off doing something else. And the pages are simple as tracing letters on the page at the begining of the book.
 
My 19y/o son was adhd and still is to a point. For several years we had to take him completely off of wheat, dairy and red food coloring. We found it was an allergy. He still has issues with the red food coloring, but the other two foods he can have. We found medication and for us it was a good decision. It was difficult dealing with his allergies but in the long run we learned to adapt using soy/rice milk, cheese and ice cream in place of the normal ones. And there are flours out that do not use wheat which can be used in place of it for baking.
 
My son has had food allergies since he was 6 months old to dairy, soy, and egg whites so we have removed all of those from his diet already. Everyone in my family and on his dad's side is telling me how wrong it would be to medicate him no matter what the doctors say and it's frustrating to the point I told em to just stay out of it. His dad was diagnosed adhd and I had mild add as a child I found out so not a big shock he might have it. They did another RAST test on him recently and came back the same allergens so nothing new to exclude. My only issue is most of the stuff I have read keeps saying medication not for under 6yrs of age so kinda curious to see what will happen next month too
 
Your son sounds nearly identical to my son. My son is 6 and diagnosed with ADHD and some anxiety disorders just a few short months ago.
We are going the medication route along with more 'quiet, calm, thinking rituals/routines'. We are on our 3rd medication now and it's just a waiting game to see how he tolerates this one. The first worked VERY well but he lost his appetite almost entirely and within 1 month he lost 6 1/2 pounds! Next medicine caused much worse outbursts and he was repeatedly hurting himself or trying to. So far the current one seems to be doing the job without making him a zombie or having the massive aggressive outbursts.
I feel your pain as I know what you are going through. If you would like you can PM me and I will listen and help support you through this time. Maybe we could even compare notes since we are going through the same things at nearly the same time.
 
Flirtycuddle wrote:
My son is 4 and is going for evaluation Dec 10th for possible ADHD since we are having many issues with him. He wont focus on anything for more then 10 mins max usually 5. Its gotten to the point he will not sit and eat any meal without getting up and running around to play no matter how we go about meal time. I have turned off all distractions, serve dinner where there are no toys to be played with, keep it quiet to try and let him focus and he will just sit there and play with his food or stare into space till he gets up to get a drink then runs off to play. OF course when he runs off to play he has to come sit back down. He wont watch a movie for more then 10 minutes before needing to get a drink, get a snack, just walk around or play. I cannot sit down with him and try and help him learn anything cuz he wont focus on what I'm saying or trying to show him, surely doesn't retain anything. He gets aggressive when he's in trouble and has to go into time out and has come towards me to hit me forcefully. Granted at 4 he doesn't hurt me but I cannot have him doing that.
I know some of this might be just normal 4yr old stuff but even the doctor we went to see for check-up noticed how he is and wanted the evaluation.
I have put him on a schedule and started trying to keep him occupied with stuff I know he loves but it isn't doing any good. We do time out away from everyone when in trouble and that just makes him upset of course but that way he isn't trying to hurt someone or himself.
Click to expand...
Sounds like ADHD for sure. There are things that you can do to help your son.
 
Flirtycuddle wrote:
With the aggressiveness I've been just ignoring it and making him sit in his area longer every time he tries to hit me. I can talk to him till he's blue in the face and will tell me he's sorry then do it again 10 mins later. When I ask him why he did .... he will say I don't know then ask if he was just told to not do ..... and he will say he doesn't remember.
I can sit and help him build stuff with his blocks, go outside and run till he don't want to run any more, give him directions to do one at a time, help him build forts to play with, but he wont stay on one activity for more then 5-10 minutes. The only thing I can get him to is watch Scooby Doo which I refuse to let him do all day lol. We have work books for kindergarten for his older sister and he kept saying he wanted to do it so we bought him one for kindergarten since he will be starting next year. He will sit and do a page for maybe 5 minutes then hes off doing something else. And the pages are simple as tracing letters on the page at the begining of the book.
Click to expand...

You have one solution here, activities which he and you can do for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.

What city are you in, in Indiana? I have an aunt in Indiana that may be able to helkp you with your son.
 
Flirtycuddle wrote:
My son has had food allergies since he was 6 months old to dairy, soy, and egg whites so we have removed all of those from his diet already. Everyone in my family and on his dad's side is telling me how wrong it would be to medicate him no matter what the doctors say and it's frustrating to the point I told em to just stay out of it. His dad was diagnosed adhd and I had mild add as a child I found out so not a big shock he might have it. They did another RAST test on him recently and came back the same allergens so nothing new to exclude. My only issue is most of the stuff I have read keeps saying medication not for under 6yrs of age so kinda curious to see what will happen next month too
Click to expand...

First of all, a child who has ADHD should be medicated if nothing else works.

Good for you telling your family to stay out of it. There are a lot of research on ADHD that they may not know about. They may not think that medication will help your son. But in this case the benefits will outweigh the risks of medication.

Maybe do a strict routine schedule that you do every day, that has helped me stay focused. Yes, I have ADHD.

Medications that may be able to help:

Ritalin- I have taken this from age 5 to age 14.

Cylert

Imipramine- have an allergy to this one

Dexidrine(sp)

Strattera- I take this one now and it helps me focus better

Adderal

These are just some of the medications that are out there for ADHD

I would google Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder and see what you can do for your son.

I am willing to share my knowledge on ADHD with you and help you with your son.
 
I have ADHD my hole family has it to be honest.

My niece who is six has it very very bad. There are different levels.

The magic drug for this family Concertia (sp)

Its work very well long term to. I take mine when going into a class or something. luckily its one of those drugs you do not have to take everyday. Like on weekends the older kids do not take it. Now Shawny everyday like clock work.
 
my son and daughter BOTH have ADD/ADHD. Both of them tried all the meds (ritilan adderall, concerta...) they did seem to help however the meds caused tourettes syndrom in my son. he did not have the vocalization part of it but he did develope tics that waxed and waned...came and went. I took him off all the meds because of this and he outgrew the tics eventually ( he's now 20) but he unfortunately still has the ADD in as far as frustration levels and inability to organizeand so on. But i felt these were less of a problem then the tourettes. My daughter who is 18 stopped taking the meds about 3 years ago. It was always a battle for her to take them and i had to practically use a blowgun to shoot them down her throat. She would hide them in her cheek or under her tongue and i would find them stashed all over the house. We even tried patches with no success. I found out later that friends teased her about her "dummy pills" and she didn't like the way they slowed her down (which told me they were working.... So like her brother we have just learned to adapt. its a long road. Now they are adults tring to adapt to life. I can see some improvement as far as the hyperness is better but the attention part is still an issue.
 
Julie: have they been on Strattera? It is a nonstimulant medication for ADD/ADHD. It works on some people with the disorder. It sounds like your kids could benefit from it.

Also get them to write a routine schedule for themselves to follow every day. Like Mondays and Wednesdays, do this; and so on. It works well for me and keeps me on track with things. It might work well for your adult kids.
 
My mothers advice was... Have them run the test and to make sure they do a full range of test. Make sure that it is the only thing. To be open to meds but also to try other things before the meds. With meds right down any change. How ever small. Start a detailed journal of his day. Any outburst and all details about what was going on.

She also said how you handle him when he gets that way is great. You are not feeding him at all.

My mom has done so much research and taken so many classes (even given them now) to be able to help and honestly just deal with my brother.
 
Sports are a good way to get your son's hyperactivity out. Letting him help you clean the house if he wants, make it really fun so that he stays with the task.
 
I actually work (as a mentor) with teens who have ADHD, among other diagnoses, so I don't know how relevant this is, but I find that structured activities keep them from losing focus. Some one had already posted this, but try doing some activities with your son that only last about 5-10 minutes tops and see how that goes. And definitely bring him to that evaluation. I can't tell you how many kids have had to wait until their adolescent years to get treatment.













 
i have also found through trial and error to try to be very specific when telling them something. Like instead of saying "go clean your room" i would say go and make your bed and pick up your clothes. If its too vague they get distracted with other things like what they may have found under the bed or something like that

Sweetie: I think Strattera is the one drug they did not try. Maybe its worth looking into. My daughter is a senior in high schoool so perhaps she would benefit. I think i would have my son re-evaluated. I know he still has issues but i fear potential abuse to be quite honest. :sad: Its alot different when the kids are older. Unfortunately we have had issues in the past with these meds. Not neccessarily with my kids but their friends who come over and steal it.
 
Julie: getting them both re-evaluated, that way you will know if Stattera will be right for them. I believe from what you said about your kids that they will benefit from Strattera.
 
i personally...at that age...would not even think to medicate. medications act like speed, most do im pretty sure. but if you have add or adhd it does the opposite to person without it...calms them down helps them think.

you need to really pay attention to the effects short term and long term though. i personally think i am worse off...i have major memory issues since i came off after 2 years of adderral and i have had to majorly adjust without meds but it is possible.

i think meds are an easy way out...if nothing else works then you should medicate but he cannot even communicate properly about how it may effect him...ie not eating, not sleeping, making him sick.
 
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