ADHD And Your Preschooler

My son,at age 2.5, started showing signs of being ADHD.

The first thing we did was to kept a written record of his behavior.

Then we talked to his pediatrician. He referred us to a child psychiatris.

The psychiatris ordered blood work to be done to make sure is wasn't some kind of illness.

Then she wanted to make sure it wasn't a food allergy. We took him off of milk products for 5 days to see if things got better. Then eggs, wheat, etc.

After trying all of these things with no luck we tried medicine. It is not an easy decision. Many of my family members were opposed to this.

It's been 4 years now and if not for the medicine I can honestly say our family would not have survived.

This behavoir can be a precurser to other psychiatric problems
that are managable if being treated.

I understand. Hope this helps!!
J. B.

J.,

No experience, but read tons of research. About four months ago, there was a study published (I posted it on here somewhere in the past) stated that ADHD can often be misdiagnosed for sleep apnea. Young children do not have to be overweight to have sleep apnea, it is a common misconception (though it is true for adults). If you do get screened, ask to get screened for sleep apnea as well.

You can also look at a book called Is This Your Child? By Dr. Dorris Rapp www.drrapp.com who is a pediatric allergist (been seen on Oprah, Larry King Live, etc) and has great research on her book about how food and environmental allergies can cause triggers in kids to have ADD or ADHD like symptoms. It is a great read and something else to consider when getting screened. You'll have to seek out a good pediatric allergist during the process.

Good luck and Happy Holidays,
J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator/Lifestyle and Wellness Consultant

PS You may find this article interesting: http://www.drgreene.com/21_621.html it explains more on the whole sleep apnea thing. When kids are sleep deprived, they will exhibit behavior that displays well, "behavior disorders" Read on and make the best decision for you and your family. Knowledge is power and healing!

I thought I was the only one going thru this as well . I have a 5yr boy and its driving me nuts that he has ant's in his pant all the time and cant stay focus for very long. Im going to talk to my son's ped and get more information regarding shildhood sleep apena . Good luck and keep us all posted

J. as a preschool director I have had this past year two children enter our program with that diagnoses. With communicate with therepists, I was informed at a young age children at times can somewhat grow out of it, or it can become a mild case. I am now watching with my own eyes a child who I observed in her setting last year and has started out school year at our school, she has made major strides and I see her doing better in the classroom. She will be going for a re-evaluation soon. I also have another child in past years in my program who ended up having a sleep disorder that was only found out when she went to an ENT after she had already been medicated for ADHD. She is now not on medication and has not been diagonsed for ADHD. I think that at a young age one has to be really careful, get testing done by more that one doctor to compare, rule out sensory issues with an OT which can give off red flags close to ADHD. If you are really worried start by getting an evaluation from a pediatric OT, from there they will guide you as to if you should go further in ruling things out.