diagnosing ADHD in young children

Rabecca - posted on 07/07/2009

I have been there!! I knew my son was ADHD at 6 months no lie but people were always like okay whatever hes just spolied well hes never been spolied and those close to me know I am a no nonsence kind of mom . he was wild never slept and was go go go by two he was just crazy wild he would get into everything I swear posion control would answer the phone hi is this Becky caidyns mom and not that things werent hidden up high locked you name it he found the half second I went to the bathroom to get it. He talked very early and very well people would baby talk him at 2 and he would say in a very grown up voice hello I m not a baby there would be shocked faces everyday of my life not only because of how well he could talk but just the stuff that would come out of his mouth was way way beyond his 2 year old body.He has never understood normal socail cues like the look or a nudge to stop he would just be like why do you have that look on your face mom you look wierd.

I started to feel very alone when he was around two because he was wild and disrutive and destructive my friends just seemed to stop asking us to come over but praised me for beibng such a good mom at the same time and would look at me like I dont know how you manage him it hurt alot I love my son he's my life I hate that people would look at himlike he was bad or mean when he's not I could see the wanting to do right there he gets really emtional and it comes across as bad behavior when really it's like his feelings got hurt and he just couldnt pull himself through that and bad behavior was all he would display.

The biggest thing that I think helped us before we could get a dx was cutting out red dye this is hard I have to tell you it's in everything and some ADHD kids it all dyes we saw a 50% improvement right off plus any kind of omega 3 is great help there are some herbal stuff you can give to younger kids I think one is called kid calm you may talk to your local health food store we never saw much improvement with tha stuff but I know some kids do so it's worth it .

staying true to what you say if you say dont do it or well leave and they do again you leave not saying 5 times I said we'd leave it just gets ther emind set in I cn do it one more time and moms not going to really make us leave kind of thing.

ther is a book I teli everyone about its called the strong willed child by jamed dobbson its great even for ADHD kids that cant seem to understand what no means half the time

you may have to look hard to find a doctor that will dx before 5 but its well worth it becauseas school gets closer if he needs meds it as not as easy as okay well give them this and hes a different well behaved child they dont work that well with all kids and its a test this out and see if it help some may some may not and you have to try different doeses its tough but once your there life seems to come so much better for them and you dont want them to drag it out longer than they need to I know we waited to long to a point for my son and he has some self asteem issues and I know its because before meds he was out of control and kids made fun of him it hurt him and made him resentful to other in away hes working past that but I know hes still hurt about it hes comming along and I know you still are at the start but dont give up there is hope and some tears along that road but you have to try everything you will find what works i know alot of parents just get tried of the you son did this or said that thing they can move past that with a parent who will not stop till they helped them move forward and overcome there symptoms

Jessica - posted on 07/07/2009

I had the same problem! My first son was just crazy at that age. Couldn't get him to hold hands to walk, but when he would walk by himself he would just RUN and it would freak me out. He always was like a boy with a motor. He would get so angry and I think that was mainly in frustration. I sent him to a preschool at 2 and they referred us to a local LIU to get tested. It wasn't till he was 3 when they finally diagnosed him. Started him on a med and saw some results immediately. It is really hard to get docs to diagnose that young, but if you can get him to a good child psychiatrist, they can help steer you with "behavioral" changes and then possibly diagnosing him to start on meds. I didn't want mine medicated...but thank God I did now. He is just doing so much better in life!