Your family doctor is great for diagnosing colds, fixing broken bones and letting you know that potentially, there maybe ADHD present. But, he's probably not an expert in that area. Your instincts are right and you should pursue additional expertise to ease your concerns.
Knowing that you maybe dealing with ADHD or some other condition now , will enable you to establish approriate behavior techniques aimed at supporting your child. As you already noticed, your normal parenting skills aren't working and therefore you may need new ones aimed at his challenges.
My wife and I have a family therapist who is an ADHD expert. He's given us a better idea what to expect from our son's condition and taught us behavior modification techniques to help manage our child's difficult behaviors.
Then there is the whole 'medication' thing. But don't get preoccupied with that now. Your probably want to stay away from meds as long as possible especially during your childs first 4 to 5 formative years. Meds can make a big difference in a properly diagnosed condition.
Again, knowing exactly what you're dealing with helps to manage the future, so get a second opinion and be open to new techniques to raising a child.
Paul
My normal parenting skills not working is an understatement. Thank you for your response, I am going to call someone. I, myself, have seen a psychiatrist for awhile so maybe he can recommend someone to me. My husband ane I went through some information tonight about preschoolers and ADHD and it seems like it is a real possibility. And the fact is my husband is also ADHD. Once again, thank you so much. I hope your family and son are doing well.
Christy
From seeing your story lookes like you are right about the ADHD issues, my child was 2 yrs old when things started happening at daycare. Alot of the same behaviors as your child and I didn't believe anything was wrong I caulked it up to his age. He is young, Read SOS help for parents or go online .My child just turn 5 and we had him eveluated at a pedicatic center that deals in behaviors, it's an all day process with 3 different Dr's and when your done it's such a relief ,it's like a ex-large weight was lifted of my shoulds, get a referral from your Dr. or the psychiatrist recamend someone. Good Luck / It's hard work and any help you can get TAKE IT.
My son Blake is 3 will be 4 in November. He is a great kid in so many ways and I love him so much but basically he is out of control. He listens to nobody, does not obey, is constantly in trouble at daycare/preschool. If he does not get what he wants, he kicks, screams, bites, recently even peed on the floor. I take him to tumbling and while the other kids do what the teacher says, he runs around the room and than gets upset. I have done all kinds of discipline methods, took other parents advice, read books - nothing seems to be working. His teacher at daycare has told me he has very little focus and is hyper.I have spoken to his dr. and the dr. said Blake is too young to worry about it and if he is still like this once he enters school, than we can worry about ADHD. But I see him compared to other kids and it just does not seem "normal". I am wondering if I should just call a child psychiatrist, I don't know.
I feel so frustrated and scared. I just want him to be happy.
Christy
ChristyH39724.4326157407My husband and me are going to meet with a child psychologist on Wed. to discuss Blake. Then the next appt Blake will meet her. If he does have ADHD, at least I already have some support, you all are awesome!!!
You are the best expert your son has got in terms of knowing him, if you mix this knowledge with reading in the field you will be able to decide what is right and what is probably not right as to what the professionals are saying about him, and why. Try Hallowell and Ratey Driven to Distraction, with this I was able to criticise constructively the clinic that gave my son his 'no decision , maybe' diagnosis. I was positively diagnosed at the same time his checks were going on so was very motivated to find out about my disorder for myself. The knowledge I gained by reading helped me make decisions for him as well. I think knowledge, either from the professionals or gained by reading yourself is the best thing you can get to help yourself here.I think you need to follow your heart. I highly recommend you get several opinions. We worked with our pedi, and a psychiatrist to determine what our son needed.
I know that I had some concerns at this same age with my son. He was just right at 4 when we found out for sure. We did a QEEG to help with this process. This test will help with determining how your child's brain is working. It can give you some feedback to help with deciding what is the best course of action to help your child. We also had blood work done per the doctors request and we learned our son had reactive hypoglycemia (where the sugar levels drop). So he had us meet with a nutritionist to come up with a plan for helping our son. Hypoglycemia can cause someone to act impulsively which goes hand and hand with ad/hd. My son is now almost 7 and only takes 10 mg. of Focalin XR and has a high protein/low carb diet in place. He still gets to be a kid but honestly he choses not to eat a lot of breads or sweets. I guess because he has learned to eat differently and can tell the difference when he does eat sweets. Hope this makes sense and is helpful.
Thanks, I think it is always best to follow you gut, the dr. has me doubting myself. This might seem strange but in a way I just feel embarrassed calling a psychiatrist or psychologist and say that I think 3 year old son has a problem. Thank you so much for your help and I will let you know what happens. I hope all is going well with your kids. Christy No one wants to give meds to a child especially myself. I have a grandchild who started to behave hyper (father is diagnosed ADHD) and my daughter began to worry. Even natural meds, some don't like for a young child as I was told (via message board) don't give tyrosine to a toddler, and I didn't. Yet I wonder - are we suppose to sit there and do nothing while symptoms of ADD are starting to show, just waiting for them to get bad enough, the child old enough, where a doc can put them on Ritalin? What a dilemma.
I have to admit it was hard for me to take my son to a psychiatrist in the beginning. I think it is the stereotype that has been ingrained in us over the years. I probably would of only worked with my pedi if he hadn't insisted I use a specialist in the area of ad/hd etc. I nowthink differently about psychiatrists.
Also, just a side note...we use a play therapist. The psychiatrist only handles the meds and diet component of my son's ad/hd. He can do the therapy but since we had a play therapist already in the works prior to him he said that we would be fine and actually prefered we used a play therapist at the age of 3 1/2 and 4. We still go to her but just on a monthly to bi-monthly basis now unlike in the beginning we went weekly and bi-weekly as things progressed. If you are not familiar with play therapy you might want to research this topic. I'm a firm believer in this concept. I've seen it work with my child and students at my school. My insurance pays for 80% of our visit. I pay the remaining 20%. About a visit. I think the cost without insurance usually is around 5 for 45 mins. to an hour visit.
Take care!
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