if you feel that your child is severly ADD/ADHD and if you think that he will have hard time making friends and keeping them , sitting still enough in school. ADHD is really hard especially when we are young we don't feel like we fit in and at times we are just to ansy that we are always being corrected. It is a problem for many ADHD that in teen and young adults years if untreated that they use alcohol and drugs to self medicate. Will it be a problem for him hopefully never. I think your husband does speak from a place that only he really understands. And if you have doubts wait ; but when you are ready put him on meds

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If you dont feel comfortable medicating your child, then look into other options. Research it first. I think so many doctors are pushing these meds. My husband and I do not medicate. We give our son vitamins, and we work with him. I did alot of research when he was first diagnosed, and still do. I found vitamins, exercises, routine, talking, reinforcement, helps him alot. He does struggle at time, but we do alot to work with him and he does good. We have been lucky to have great teachers that are willing to work with us with our choice.

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I feel for you. I wasn't diagnoised with ADHD until I was an adult. But with a 2.5yo daughter, I worry she may go through what I went through growing up. But the last thing I want to do is medicate her at a young age.

Our brains don't fully develop until we reach the age of about 25, so I worry that medicating at a young age could interfer with the brain's proper development. The brain becomes dependent on the medication (this is my opinion only). Our brain's are just so complex.

I'm not saying I'm against medicating, just research other options first. He is still young. You have some years before drug & alcohol abuse is a risk. Start NOW, research other ways to combat whatever is out of line in his mind - try technics, routines, hobbies, diet, mentor/coach - and more than anything - give him lots of love, understanding, & support (which i'm sure you will)! But don't enable or give in to his behaviors, just understand & support.

GOD BLESS

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I know I'm going to sound like I'm contradicting myself, but bear with me, here. I was VERY reluctant to try my daughter on medication. I ONLY did so after lots of soul searching, research, her having lots of school problems (to the extent I could barely keep a job because of the constant phone calls/school meetings, etc-and I'm a single mom!) and only after I found a doctor WISE enough and HONEST enough to truthfully admit to me that kids have DIED on medication (sometimes there's a heart condition nobody would know to check for, sometimes, nobody ever really knows why). My daughter was in 3rd grade by then, and she was also part of that decision. I wasn't about to force her into THAT. I also wish adamantly that I had put her on them by or before 1st grade. See? I'm already contradicting myself! Now I'm going to again. I ALSO KNOW that medication alone, while very effective, only makes an affected child more AVAILABLE for learning. Pills do not TEACH SKILLS. I know my daughter may have only been able to gain those skills she's learned and is learning that help her cope with AD/HD --BECAUSE she was on medication, and therefore- more available for learning. Just medication would NOT have really helped, either. The medication only gave her the chance to learn the skills and coping strategies she needs to overcome this. The one thing you can do that's at least as effective (or more so) as all of these alternative therapies (fish oil, etc.) is Behavior Modification. Also, teach specific skills (like time management, organization, etc.)Yes, to your 4 year old. Whose already destined to be terrible at these things. That's why you start NOW. You want to learn these things and apply them anyway, so your not waisting your time doing so now. The medication issue will work itself out. If he responds to really good Behavior Modification, and he learns ways to compensate, then maybe he doesn't need medication. If those things don't help, no matter how well they are applied, or how qualified of help you get, then you'll know it's time to try the meds. You'll be more sure of the decision, if it even comes to that, AND you and your kid will have the added benefit of being ahead of the game because of the knowledge and strategies you've both already gained by then. Unfortunately, I didn't know enough about that stuff when my daughter was younger, I still don't know if we could have avoided meds, gotten by on a smaller dose, or put them off for a few years if I had more real info back then. Your starting early, so go ahead with all the other stuff, first. Try charts with stickers, rewards and cost-response systems, giving one clear direction at a time, etc. Chances are, your still going to need to use all of that anyway, medication or no medication, might as well go ahead and get started now. Stickers are OTC, so are whiteboard charts, great books (like Driven to Distraction) and articles (try this site-its like a really understanding neighbor, kind doctor, and caring teacher all rolled into a website).

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My son was diagnosed two years ago, he was 7 and a second grader. I was always keeping the faith that he "outgrow" all those ADHD behaviors. During these last two e intense years, we have tried several natural approaches with just success. He is in a gluten free diet, he has had neurofeedback sessions, he takes cod liver oil, he has tried homeopathy, he had tried a couple of those online specilaty ADHD products that claim to be GREAT and at the end we have not had the results expected. Now my son is 9, a fourth grader that seems to start noticing that there is something "different" on him. He just can not keep his attention for more that 20 seconds, he has a very low tolerance to frustration (because of this he is very prone to EXTREME and sometimes violent tantrums) he is very impulsive and is not having a lot of success on sports because he just can not focus at all. After two years of avoiding meds, now I'm convinced that he needs to try something to help him restore his self esteem and to help him to feel successful at school. Before we take this extremely important decision we had already tried so many things and proved ourselves that he is not getting any help this way. I know that this ADHD world is sometimes very confused about meds, but before medicating your son, try alternative approaches that actually might work for you kid. Remember that every ADHD kid is different. Nothing work for mine but could work for yours. At the end take a educate and convinced decision about meds or not meds. My best wishes and God Bless you!

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