Putting me 5 yr old on ADHD meds...?

Question

At the beginning of the summer the Dr.'s diagnosed my 5 yr old with ADHD, and they put him on meds. This really didn't settle well with me so I took him off the meds after a month and a half. They didn't turn him into a "zombie" like everyone says. In fact, they really didn't do anything. But, it was summertime and I wasn't convinced that he really had ADHD so I decided to take him off the meds and try working on his behavior with other methods. So, Kindergarten started yesterday and I didn't say anything about the diagnosis. I wanted to see if he would be ok in class, and I didn't want the teacher to already have it in her head that he would be a problem child.

Today, I took my son in to his school for individual testing (all the students have to do it). His results were great! He is very smart, and even above where he needs to be in math...but the teacher dropped the bomb. "Your son is very smart and a sweet little boy, but he cannot sit still or pay attention to the tasks I ask him to do. There are times when I'm having to ask him 3 times within a minute to please sit still and pay attention." So I went ahead and told her what was going on. She asked me to please get him back on meds for his sake. She said that she doens't want to have to keep getting on to him, and doesn't want him to fall behind because he can pay attention and keep up.

I want to do what is best for my son so that he can be successful and excel, but ADHD medication is so controversial. As a parent, what are your opinions/suggestions?

Answer 1

Do the research on the medicine, it may help settle any unanswered questions you have. I personally would keep him on the medicine if he is having a hard time focusing in class. I wouldn't want the teacher to harp on him because he can't focus. My step-son has Adhd. I remember before he was diagnosed, it would take him about an hour and half just to get dressed in the morning. He couldn't focus on one task. With the medicine he is on, it helps him focus, but he isn't a zombie. He plays football and he is very very active. Push comes to shove though, it is your decision on whether you want to put him on the meds or note!

Answer 2

I'm going to be in the same situation as you are soon, I have a 3 year old that everyone says is already showing symptoms of  ADD. I really don't want to have to put him on any medication if at all possible. My friend is adult ADD and he has always hated the different medication (he hates having ADD as well). Since you are working with behavior modification you know that medicine is not the only answer. I've read that something as simple making sure he drinks enough water helps a lot and letting him burn off a lot of energy before school. I'm starting to switch my sons diet to a preservative free diet. I think that will help my son. I'm going to exhaust all possibilities before going on medicine.

Answer 3

I have never had a child diagnosed with ADHD, so I really do not have the benefit of experience, however, I think you should wait at least a while before medicating the child. Tell the little guy how important it is for him to behave well in school so that he can get the most out of the experience. Do exercises with him that will increase his attention span. Give him tasks at home that require seeing them through to completion. Limit TV and video games, if not eliminating them all together. Behiavior modification works in a lot of cases and I believe that should be given ample opportunity to work before medicating.

Answer 4

Do not put your child on meds just because the teacher can't deal with children correctly.  Every child is different and she needs to realize that.  If you are effectively working on this with your son and he seems to be showing some improvement, then don't medicate him.

Answer 5

please listen it will take a while for your son to understand how important it is it sit still if you would like you can make sure your son knows the importance of sitting still and alowing the  other pepole in his class to learn and try that for a month or so if there is still an issue than i think that te med. is a good idea he doesnt have to be on it foever i predict that after two years durring the school year he will have grown out of his consitration problems or at least by then you will know if he really needs it or not

Answer 6

If your son was diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist and placed on meds than I wouldn't have taken him off the meds without consulting the doctor. Doctor's go to school, read up on research and most are knowledgeable about the meds BEFORE they give it to a child. He must have really been hyper for him to be placed on meds at such an early age. My advice would be to  consult with your psychiatrist and tell them that you took him off the meds for a while. The downside of all of this is that with you taking your child on and off med's that can cause side effects which can develop into something long term. If you didn't want your son to be medicated you should have expressed that with your doctor BEFORE he was placed on the meds so that he could have been placed in behavioral classes or something. Good luck!

Answer 7

Your pediatrician shouldn't really have diagnosed him and put him on medicine.  You need to take him to a psychiatrist for proper medication management.  My daughter started taking medicine for ADD and depression when she was 7.  The fact is, she needed it.  You should be able to tell your son to do three tasks (brush your teeth, get dressed, get your shoes).  Kids with ADHD can barely do one without being distracted.  It isn't fair to not medicate him if he really needs it because all that will happen is that he will get in trouble at school.  You should request (in writing) that the school evaluate him and then you can draw up an IEP (individual educational program) to suit his specific needs (special seating, longer testing times, cuing to keep him focused).  This is part of the No Child Left Behind Act and the school has to do it. If you have any questions you can email me.

Answer 8

Go with your gut instinct Mom!

At around the age of 5 years, little boys bodies are flooded with that first blast of the hormone testosterone and many of them have great difficulty keeping still because they have so much energy.

Unfortunately, this comes at a time when we expect them to sit down and be quiet because we just put them in school.

If your son is in Kindergarten he probably does not HAVE to attend school at the age of 5 years, so if possible, he would benefit from another year at home with you - you could make sure that he covers everything that he needs to know for next year - his colours, shapes, days of the week, months of the year and so on.

He sounds like he is a smart, wonderful, NORMAL little boy who has lots of energy, so at this point in time, school may not be a good fit for him.

Good Luck!

Answer 9

Listen to the DOCTOR.

Keep your son on the meds.  Please believe me.

My son is ADHD and I let him struggle along with it for YEARS because I was pigheaded and refused to believe that he could have ADHD.  Even after I was pretty sure that he did, his (previous) pediatrician blew it off as "just little boy stuff."

It was not until he was actually becoming violent and destructive, constantly menacing his classmates, backtalking his teachers, landing in the principal's office, and ultimately threatened with suspension, that I finally had to face the truth.  My son is, indeed, an ADHD kid ... and pretty severely, too.

The medication is the ONLY thing that keeps him in a public school.  I'd probably have had to withdraw him and have him home-schooled because he just could NOT behave correctly in a classroom.

By the time of his diagnosis, he had zero self-esteem and was negative and oppositional ALL the time.

If your son's teacher is already noticing those types of behavior, I'd definitely keep him on the medication.  Please don't make the same mistake that I did.

By the way, my son is also significantly above average in intelligence!

Answer 10

Whether or not your son should be on medication, it is HIGHLY inappropriate for his teacher to be encouraging it. She can have her private opinion, but she is not qualified to diagnose ADHD and she is CERTAINLY NOT qualified to determine whether or not a child needs medication. I have been in the special education field for many years; it is simply not okay for a teacher to be giving input on MEDICAL issues.

The reality is that your child may be eligible for various accomodations either by having an IEP or a 504 plan. I would research both. If he were my child, I would probably want to look into developing a plan with his teachers that would be designed to work on his attention issues. There are numerous interventions that the teacher could implement in an effort to help your son, and whether she likes it or not, she is required to try them. It should be a collaborative effort between you, the teacher, the administration, the psychologist, etc... And sorry to say it, but it is not approrpriate for her to be dumping the responsibility solely in your lap - she is the teacher, she should be trained to handle this.

If I were you, I would ask to set up a meeting with her and the school administration. If you decide on not doing the medication, I would make that clear from the start. Again, it is not the role of anyone at the school to discuss medication with you. That is a medical issue. But the school is legally obligated to find a way to help your son succeed - medication or no medication.

Answer 11

As a parent and teacher, I know this condition is 'overdiagnosed' - honestly, sometimes it's just boys being boys, and I don't say that flippantly. Of course your son is smart - and oftimes what some think is add/adhd is simply boredom. The school needs to be challenging him academically, and you need to do so at home as well.

For true diagnosis, it has to be WAY more than a checklist - there needs to be neurological, hormonal, nutritional and psychological testing.

Check out Dr. Frank Lawlis' book -

http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/1...

Answer 12

My mom told me that the teachers wanted to put my brothers on ADHD meds when they were around that age and she refused. They're little boys and they're going to act like little boys. Just because some teachers don't want to deal with having little boys in their classrooms doesn't mean you have to put your kid on drugs to make them sit still.