3 1/2 year old with the potential of being ADHD

Olivia - posted on 05/18/2009

Hi I have a 6year old son who is trialing the medication for ADHD it seem to be helping him to at school. Thats the only time we use it just to help him learn at school.Since he has been on it he has started learning numbers and letters in which he didnt know at the start of the year.We were not keen on putting him on medication but then we didnt want to delay his learning any longer has he is also behind in his speech aswell. So hopefully he's not on them for long, it is a hard decision to make about medication i just hope we made the right one time will tell.

Mary - posted on 05/17/2009

My daughter Mallory turned 3 this past December. She has always been BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS with energy. Its insane. Even as a baby she would fight her sleep in any way she could. Had mittens on her hands because she would claw at her face, pull and tear on her ears, pull her own hair, you name it. She even went through a stage where she would (as a baby still) raise one hand up in the air.... as she would fall asleep her hand would drop and wake her, and SHOOT back up in the air her hand would go. Anyways, Naps and Bed time was always INSANE and DRAMA FILLED. Hour after hour tossing , turning , screaming, serious madness I kid you not. At the age of 1 year I could not lay her In a crib anymore. The crying and tantrums were out of control, and the whole "let her cry her self to sleep, each day it will be a shorter amount of time, she will give up and go to sleep" yeah that didn't work one bit for her. She would go into a panic, have a meltdown, bang her head on the rails of the crib, anything for a response for attention, and after 3 hours ( watching from where she couldnt see to make sure she was ok, and checking on her time to time to try and calm her down) she would be so exhausted , her eyes would be rolling to the back of her head. And then the screaming would start again. She would throw up and it would be everywhere. She won that way time after time after time because I could not let her stay like that. Got her a toddler bed with Elmo sheets...she loved it. Would climb right in. Fall off several times a night but had a small mattress on the floor. Worked great. Till she realised hey, i got up here i can get down.... Bed became impossible again. Was like playing Nanny 911 for hours. Out she came In i'd bring her, out she came, in she went. My hair should have turned white. At 1 and 1/2 Naps became out of the question. If she had a nap, we would be awake till 2 or 3 am....tossing , turning, kicking, i dont know i survived still!! She would wake up early, I couldnt get her down for a nap....at 5 or 6 pm...she would fall asleep at the table eating her dinner exhausted. And that did not go well either. Because she wasnt out for the night. She would sleep a few hours, and then wake right up for enough energy to power the world. Insanity!!! She is a lil over 3 years now, Wakes up around or after 8-830 most days. No nap what so ever (she has one , we have issues later) We can have the most exhausting day but she will be as wound up as ever. No sweets or much sugar during the day, especially before dinner, or ANYWHERE near bed time. Recently put my foot down more at bedtime for her and it has worked this time because she is old enough to know better now. In bed at 8:30 each night, fusses a lil bit but knows i will ignore her. Shes asleep in about 10 minutes now. ITS AMAZING. However alot of nights, she wakes up starting at 2 am. Every few hours some nights. Over and Over and Over. During the day she is GO GO GO tons of unwindable energy. I have thought since she was 9 months old that somethings not right. ADHD Im am almost positive now that she is. But shes going through so much change Im just not sure anymore. I dont know what to think. Either way i plan on working things out without meds because i have heard storys too. Long term issues later that i would feel horribly guilty about because i wasnt strong enough to handle the over hyper insanity. I havent found a doctor yet that will agree to even have her tested for ADHD because of her age.

As far as the daytime hyperness goes, stick with the W.I.C. approved cerials, (not sugary stuff) . Healthy snack a little bit later. Lunch and treat like chips or goldfish crackers. Stuff she wont scarff down and be hyper off of. Avoid Stuff like that after dinner also. Not sure what else to say. Im pretty careful about what kinda of stuff my daughter eats because she is just too hyper. Treat every now and then is ok. But daily, stay on the ball about stuff. And see how things go. I have accomplished bed time nicely for the past two weeks. Now if i can only get her to Pipe Down during the day a little bit, we will be doing great. But Shes more than a handful and then some. You're not alone with the hyper child. I really think my daughter is ADHD aslo. Its been very clear in my opinion. Just not sure what to do with her sometimes! Don't want to put her on meds though. Tough call.

Courtney - posted on 05/17/2009

My son is almost 5,and definitely has ADHD.. along with other things but my mom also tells me the same,he is just a boy! I have chosen not to medicate him because I didn't like it at all! He had crying and emotional outbursts. I would look into seeing a natural pathic doctor for your son. I can't afford that kind of doctor right now but if you go,let me know what they said! I would love to find a supplement or something! I am reading alot about how much ADHD is often mis-diagnosed,when the child really has Bi-polar. I also would keep an eye on your son's diet and maybe incorporate more water and fruits and stay away from food additives..Hope this helps..would love to help in any way I can!

Heres a great method that I use for my son: Get a white-board and draw boxes and name what activity he will do first,such as, eat lunch, then when he is done he gets to draw a big "X" in that box. Then say,"ok look at the board and see whats next"!

My son loves this and kids with ADHD need to know what is coming next!

Write down your son's activities,and cut them out for him to put on the white-board!

I use fun magnets and let him choose a "task" like "learn letters"...

he places this on the white board. He gets to choose and sometimes mom chooses!

Just make sure you keep changing the activities so its never the same!

First a "task" and then something fun,like "blocks"....God Bless!