Experience with putting a 4 yo on Ritalin?
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Anonymous
Most kids don’t need 6 months, usually 2 weeks will show some changes, but if done correctly the GAPS diet typically lasts around 2 years with the intent being to re-introduce some other foods at that point, if possible. It’s a relatively simple solution given that I’ve seen it work very well multiple times as long as parents stuck up to it very strictly. Obviously you want to consult a doctor or nutritionist first. It might not work for you but I wouldn’t rule it out especially at that age when you still have complete control over what they eat. The only downfall I’ve observed from it is it can be a difficult transition for a few days or weeks depending on individual and parents (are they consistent with the transition or do they just give in to tantrums over food). Also not always easy because you have to eat food from home 98% of time. |
Anonymous
Sorry, but the Naughty Step isn’t going to help a kid whose brain chemistry is working against them. Applying shame and isolation to a kid who is repeatedly trying their best and still failing to meet expectations is only going to cause anxiety and self-recrimination, and probably trigger even worse behavior because of it. |
Anonymous
I am 100% pro healthy living before resorting to pharma, especially for a preschool child. All of these meds have side effects. The younger the child, the more risky the side effects. Why not first do a brain scan to actually see what you want to “fix”? Isn’t that what we do with every other part of the body? These are the questions every parent should be asking any doctor who wants to start experimenting with various drugs on your child. It typically takes a while for them to find the right drug and the right dose. It’s a process of experimenting. Every child is different. |
Anonymous
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It is remarkable to me that no one has yet alluded to the consequences of failed attempts at “healthy living” or whatever PP is banging on about, which include greatly heightened risk of the child starting to engage in self-medication—not at 4, of course, but not that long after it. The number of people I have heard at AA meetings talking about how transformative it was when they drank for the first time at 9, 11, 13 because it was the first time their minds slowed down at all—I would not spend much time on a GAPS diet, I’ll tell you that.
Good luck OP, psychiatric meds are a bear to adjust correctly. I think you’re clearly doing the right thing to try it. |
Anonymous
“Try” it? Why aren’t these drugs approved for a four year old? |
Anonymous
Clearly, a change of environmental factors can do wonders, either at school and/or at home. Establishing a solid home routine can produce incredible results. |
Anonymous
I was a camp counselor for multiple summers and the kids who drank coke and ate zebra bars and other crap often had the worst behavior. That stuff impacts little bodies just like it impacts big bodies, but it's way worse for a small bodies. It's very disregulating. |
Anonymous
Just stop. Unless there is a serious allergy/celiac causing pain, diet does not create the serious challenges that OP’s child has. |
Anonymous
\ Also... correlation /=/ causation. ADHD kids have impulse control issues. Are the kids eating candy bars *because* they have adhd (ie have less impulse control than other kids, so aren't attentive to what they eat, follow their parents' or other social expectations about what they eat, and gorge on candy. And adhd is genetic, so parents/households are often also struggling with impulse and organization ssues, so possible the adhd kid is growing up in a house where eating candy is normalized)? Or do they have adhd because they eat candy? A lot of scientific research indicates the latter concept is bunk. Also agree that any anecdotal evidence is like "my kid was pep pep pep for a few hours after eating candy". Not "my kid was violent towards other children, missing developmental milestones and having 3 hour daily meltdowns at preschool every day". |
Anonymous
NP. For my kid, artificial food dyes do. It's worth cutting out all artificial food dyes and artificial flavorings for 2-4 weeks to see it there's any difference. Fwiw, only one of my kids cannot have artificial food dyes, the other one isn't affected. |
Anonymous
I think the dyes make my DDs tics much worse. No skittles please!! |
Anonymous
My kid eats sugar, she gets hyper. THE END. Sugar directly causes my child's hyperactivity. |
Anonymous
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OP sorry that the medicine didn't have a more immediate effect. I agree that it may take a while to learn the right dose or medication.
However, our therapist and pediatrician also let me know that ADHD and ASD and ADHD and Bipolar have a lot of blurred lines (I am sure there are many other disorders that have overlap as well). Diagnosing little kids can be tough. But we were told that if we start meds and meds change things we may not have the right diagnosis. |
Anonymous
There’s plenty of evidence that food dyes cause behavioral issues as well as gut issues (going back decades!). There’s also plenty of evidence that the more processed food you eat, the less healthy you will be. I’m not sure why people DON’T think these effects can extend to the brain. And other countries already ban a lot of the dyes in particular. If my kid had behavioral issues I would remove dyes from diet and minimize processed food in addition to listening to doctors and doing meds if necessary. Not sure why everyone reflexively responds like it has to be either/or. Both make sense. I would want to remove food triggers to the extent possible if they are exacerbating the problem, meds or no meds. But, I also don’t think there is any way to say this is what is specifically impacting this particular kid and I wish op the best in trying to help them. No, I don’t like meds but I don’t think you can just watch your kid suffer and do nothing either. |
Anonymous
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OP - Please continue to report back on your experience starting your 4 year old on ADHD meds, if you're able. I have a 4yr old with a rare form of epilepsy where ADHD is a common comorbidity. Our child hasn't had a formal ADHD diagnosis, but I expect it's only a matter of time. .
On the food issue, I just want to say that when my kid started a keto diet to treat her epilepsy, we did see improvements in her ADHD-like behavior. We were amazed that she was able to sit still for more than a second and actually focus on something at hand. We also saw more intellectual development and we were able to reduce one of her three epilepsy medications (which as far as I'm concerned are far more concerning than any ADHD medication, but when you need medication you need medication). I absolutely believe that what we eat matters and food can be medicine. Pre keto, the closest thing to junk food that our daughter had was tortilla chips. From time to time, she would have pedialyte, which has artificial food dyes in it, because it seemed to calm her seizure activity. I did think that her behavior was worse after having pedialytes, but I don't know if I was just looking for it becaus of what "they" say about artificial food dyes. But pedialytes aren't an option since starting keto - literally everything my child eats is made at home from real ingredients. And even with a pretty "clean" diet, my child still has severe enough ADHD like behaviors that we routinely consider whether we need to actively pursue an evaluation and consider medicating. We've been holding off in part because our pediatrician says it's too soon, and because we know that ADHD meds are tricky to get right and our daughter isn't verbal enough to be able to tell us how the medication is impacting her. But if she were more verbal, I think we would be pushing our doctors more for an evaluation and possibly medication. Becuase it's pretty obvious to us that our child's behavior is so far outside what would be more normal, even for a 4year old, and we're concerned that the behaviors are getting in the way of her ability to make more progress in the many therapies she's doing and in her preschool. |