Any parents of children with ADD??

Question

I'm concerned that my four year old daughter may have ADD. The last few months I have noticed more and more that she doesn't pay attention to me when I am speaking to her, and she looks around the room the entire time she is speaking to someone. I have tried to correct her on it but nothing helps. It has gotten so bad that she totally loses track of what she is trying to say because she is paying attention to other things. I have also noticed that no matter what she is doing (such as coloring, playing a game, or even eating) she seems to lose interest and wants to do something else before she is finished. She is not overly hyper though. Can a child have ADD and not be overly hyper? Also, if you have or know a child with ADD does this sound like the symptoms? I fully intend to take her to the doctor, but I would just like some opinions of people who have dealt with this. If she does have ADD, I would rather not medicate her unless absolutely necassary....is there anything else I can do?

Answer 1

i had add without being hyper. i think that she sounds kinda like she does, but i am not sure that medicine is her best bet. if she can function and do her school work, keep her off meds,  find a way to help her learn to focus, she will be much better off. good luck

Answer 2

yes, you have add without the hyperactivity part. Only way to know is to take her to a specialist who deals in ADD. But it could (most likely) be a part of being 4. At this age they do not have long attention spans. Hey I quite often get distracted and forget what I am saying

Answer 3

ok first off I will say that I have 4 kids, 10,8,5, and 4 and everyone of them have add-adhd- and odd. yes a hand full if they do not have their meds. By what you have said about your child it most diffently sounds as if she does have add and the older that child gets the hyper you will notice too, when they have add they always end up with some adhd. I have been investaging this kind of stuff since my first born was around a year and half because she was tested and dignoised to be add and the older she got the hyper she got and then she ended up having odd but the worse is as they get older and have this you really have to watch for signs of bipolar and depression and oppotional impulsive control. This can lead into very sersious stuff for a child. My oldest has add/adhd/odd/bipolar and impulsive, she can not live without the meds,she has also become the last 2 years pulling her hair out which she's on zoloft for that. to be honest if you do not medicate her know then she will never beable to concentrait at all not evenin school, she will not beable to know what the right choice is, no child that has this can live right without medication. I tried myself and gave mine moutain dew, yes it calmed them down but did nothing else. My kids where bringing straight f's home, they where staying in trouble constantly with everyone even at school, they would run from me and even run across the highway,you are going to have to put this child on meds or she will not be able to be herself. once I had put them on meds,the teachers thanked me, I seen there grades fly up, they listened to me, they went from these terriable kids to wonderful behavoir kids, I do not regret these meds at all, it was the best thing I ever did for my kids. all you really can do is get that child on some medication like concerta and she will be able to be herself and she will thank you later on in the years. if you need anything at all just email me any time.

Answer 4

Its called being a typical 4 year old. Doesn't  sound like she has ADD. Just a short attention span. Typical four years olds.

Answer 5

my daughter was diagnosed with it but also was a bit more hyper tan other kids but nothing too drastic. she did do a lot of what you mentioned. she was not medicated but had an aide work with her in elementary school. i think sometimes dr.s are to quick to label things as medical issues and dope kids up. she was a bit of a rebelious 12 year old and when her mom and i seperated she was allowed to do whatever she pleased which meant not going to school smoking, drinking and even getting caught as a passenger in a stolen car. mom kicked her out i found her gave her a dose of tough love and now at 22 she's finishing her double major on the deans honour roll!! personally i think the more intelligent a person is the more stimuli it takes to keep them interested. maybe she is bored? i'm almost scared to say anything as it may sound like i'm criticizing your parenting, i'm not! i will sat what worked for me. i had my girl start multitasking at a young age. i helped with her homework while i made supper and she helped. she would be wiping dishes while she recited spelling. as a teen, she did the laundry. 20 mins of homework then a break from the books while she put the clothes in the dryer. then 40 min break from laundry while she worked on homework and had a snack. it meant a lot more free time for both ofus.. we spent it doing things together. i also did fun things that required siting in one place for a period of time, such as board games etc. biggest mistake i made was teaching her chess. i never won a game in abt 8 years! just a few suggestions, docs are too quick with the pills nowadays.

Answer 6

There are three types of ADHD... It sounds like she may have the inattentive type.  

Here is some information on that form of ADHD

http://web4health.info/en/answers/adhd-d...

Look into getting her some services.   They can develop a treatment plan for her, which may help

P.S.   ADD and ADHD are the same thing...over the years the  abbreviation ADHD has become the general term

Answer 7

Funny enough but the first poster has a point. My step daughter has adhd and some weekends her mom would send her over with no meds. We would get her a small flavored coffee from Dunkin Donuts in the morning to help her calm down. It helped. (No, it didn't stunt her growth, she's 15 and 5'9" now and that was 10 years ago).

If it helps, then I would see her doc about it. The earlier you can catch it and get counseling and behavior modification training, the less medication she will need, if any.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

I took my son in to be tested at age 4 & they wouldn't-said to wait a few years.  Finally, this year at age 8 he was diagnosed.  The Mountain Dew works b/c the caffeine is a stimulant, which is what most of the ADD meds are.

Answer 9

This may sound insane, but when you notice she is getting hyper give her some Mountain Dew. If this calms her down she most likely has ADD! This is because the caffeine mixed with other ingredients some how cancels out the affects of ADD! Hope that helps!