Medication at a young age

[Brookelynn2250]

My son is 5 years old and we are at the cross roads with school and his behavior. My husband and I both know medication is what we should do but we are really concerned with his brain development at his age and medication. Please can some one give us some guided advice

[Sandman2]

     Very interesting after your last post I googled the "sugar calming effects."   And it really does help calm a child.  Pretty good article here - http://special.edschool.virginia.edu/information/hypersugar.html
     Hopefully, your son has a teacher that lets him roam around and does not make him sit all day.
    And, of course, I would assume that you have checked out things like Sensory Integration disorder and ADHD.  There is a lot that can be done to help him, but only if you know what the problem is.  Or if there is a problem for that matter.

[margypops]

After the are hearing today I would not give your children the drugs that are prescribed ...Many are known to cause aggression ...do some research

[tuwsdai]

I'd like to say this was the first school or teacher to request that my son be put on medication however thats not the case. He's gone through three teachers in two schools. He doesn't suffer from the angry outbursts like others but will flat out refuse. when I first noticed he was having issues at age 3 I thought he may have been high functioning autistic, due to his constant need to rock/bounce but as he gets older he has shown less signs of that and more a.d.d. Qualities. He's never been able to sit still long enough to even watch a 30 min cartoon of his choosing. Highly intelligent, but can't stay on one topic, extremely perticular about how and where his things should be (which I believe is related to my own problems with ocd) he can find a million different things to ask you to keep you disracted from the fact that he's not doing his work. If its not a physical task, he will talk, move, squirm. I feel bad for him when it comes time to do homework as it seems to almost painfully frustrating to be still and do his work. I normally do not allow candy, junkfood or caffinated sodas but this past halloween I let him pig out on candy and for the first time ever I saw him sit still, calmly and quietly watch an entire full length movie, but only after ingesting an amount of sugar that would normally be enough to have 2-3 children bouncing off the walls. legos are my sons main drive and sole request for reward, and yet last year we had problems with him being so determined not to miss any play time that he would resist the need to goto the bathroom to the point that he would accidently poop himself. It boils down to- from the moment he wakes, to when his eyes finally close he's moving and talking. Constantly. Its like he's forever in the middle of a sugar rush.  He's sweet, charming and very smart, but the rest of the world just isn't moving at the pinball pace he is. This is his second year of kindergarden. I held him back in the hope that a second time would help him retain the basics. the next 12 years are going to be a fight.

[Sandman2]

   Interesting, I have always wondered if coffee might help, but have never found evidence of it doing so.   Let me know if it still is working a month or so from now.   By the way, many 6 year old boys have high energy and a lack of focus.  Tha'ts one reason I always thought the first grade teachers on my staff were saints.
If he is showing other signs of ADHD, I would be glad to give you additional resources to help him.

[tuwsdai]

I have a soon to be 7 year old son, who's always had trouble with focus and is very high energy. After speaking with his teachers we decided to start letting him have a small cup of coffee before he leaves for school in the mornings, and half  can of soda midway through the school day. Both his teachers and l have seen a noticable change since we started this. Also you might try getting a red postet board for your son to do his work on, it helps to keep drawing his attention back to whats in front of him. I personally am very much against medicating at such a young age, due to the current brain development, and what the damages could be later in life. with proper research and consultation with from  good doctor you can find many diatry and herbal ways to help him throughout his years in school, without having to give him pills.

[BrianJo]

Has he seen a professional I am guessing.  I people with ADHD can have amazing skills..can excel in classes and various other things.  Drugs are not good for anyone.  But what he may go through emotional in school maybe even worse. Talk to your Dr's, if you don't feel comfortable with the answers you both get then find another. It's alll trial and error with drugs and the people who you like working with.  Also talk to them about adding supplements and which may help.  Google can also help with that so you have your questions ready for them when you go in.  Stay in constant contact with the school.  Of course some our better then others.  Stay in contact with all the forums.  The information here and on others is so valuable. You can gather info on routines and how to approach homework if that becomes an issue.
Keep us all informed and updated on how you and your son are doing.