Toddlers are now getting Ritalin and Adderall drugs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we were at the end of our rope with your 3 year old. biting, hitting, screaming, melt downs. Dev Ped suggested we might consider drugs at a "younger" age. We worked intensively on behavioral modification, diet, parenting, atmosphere--it was a full time job. We also waited for our child to mature. Now, at 4.5 drugs are not an issue, despite the clear ADHD diagnoses. Will they be in the future? Perhaps, though given the research showing that long term use of these drugs results in no improvement has given me pause. i would prefer to understand what is going on--there is clearly a brain chemistry issue with our kid (when child has a fever, is a completely, 100 percent different kid, like night/day, a reaction that is not uncommon for other kids with autism and adhd) but i'm not sure if messing with that brain chemistry through drugs is the right answer. Then again, my child is not suffering right now. I have known and seen kids who literally cannot function without the drugs. What to do?

This child's only problem is his parents' inability to parent.

You need counseling and parenting classes, not a developmental pediatrician.

Poor baby.

Until you've been the parent of a child like this, you do not get to say what is or is not the problem and what is best needed to solve the issues.

You are the parent of your own child and that is your frame of reference. All children are not the same. The same strategy implemented by the same person to 2 different children will get 2 different results.

[Anonymous]

If we want caregivers/teachers of young "special needs" children to have some training, please explain why we don't expect that parents should get some training to (BEFORE resorting to drugs)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we want caregivers/teachers of young "special needs" children to have some training, please explain why we don't expect that parents should get some training to (BEFORE resorting to drugs)?

Every parent that I've encountered has taken numerous parenting courses and tried behavior modification therapy before trying drugs. I don't think anyone is saying this is the line of first defense. In fact, it's often the absolute last resort and done with a lot of trepidation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
we were at the end of our rope with your 3 year old. biting, hitting, screaming, melt downs. Dev Ped suggested we might consider drugs at a "younger" age. We worked intensively on behavioral modification, diet, parenting, atmosphere--it was a full time job. We also waited for our child to mature. Now, at 4.5 drugs are not an issue, despite the clear ADHD diagnoses. Will they be in the future? Perhaps, though given the research showing that long term use of these drugs results in no improvement has given me pause. i would prefer to understand what is going on--there is clearly a brain chemistry issue with our kid (when child has a fever, is a completely, 100 percent different kid, like night/day, a reaction that is not uncommon for other kids with autism and adhd) but i'm not sure if messing with that brain chemistry through drugs is the right answer. Then again, my child is not suffering right now. I have known and seen kids who literally cannot function without the drugs. What to do?


This child's only problem is his parents' inability to parent.

You need counseling and parenting classes, not a developmental pediatrician.

Poor baby.

I'm the poster you're responding to. First, did you even read my post? As I wrote, we did not use drugs. We worked intensively on behavioral modification, diet, parenting, atmosphere. We did in fact consult a child therapist when our child was under two. We hired a shadow at daycare. We took parenting classes. We also successfully parented two other children who do not seem to have been scarred by what you think is an 'inability to parent'--yes ,they had the occasional tantrum but were easily redirected, natural consequences worked and they were fairly predictable toddlers. Despite our best efforts, we had one extremely unhappy, difficult, irritable child. He was like since birth--he was a baby who woke every 45 minutes to 2 hours, crying, until he was 8 months old, all night long--leaving him bereft of the sleep he (and we) desperately needed. Although we successfully overcame that, and has matured immensely, and I'm very proud of him, he is still a child who will just do impulsive things and that has an extremely difficult time sitting still. We have instituted a very consistent, well thought out and well vetted parenting plan with our dev. pediatrician (who runs parenting classes, btw) and our behavioral therapist, but DC is still not an "easy" child. And because there is a history of mental illness and significant learning disabilities in our family, we understand that there are genetic components that may be at play. But thanks for your 'diagnosis' that our uninformed parenting is the issue. God, how I wish it were so simple. Believe me, I would do anything i could, if it were in my power, to help my kid.

[Anonymous]

I am a trained professional nanny. What parents often report to the professionals, is not exactly what is happening in the home. Until you are an eye-witness, you can not assume you are getting factual data. You're getting second-hand information, heavily tainted with the exasperation of stress-out parents.

In my decades of experience, these are typically very disfunctional family systems. The fallout gets dumped on the child who is least able to cope.

[Anonymous]

I am a trained professional nanny. What parents often report to the professionals, is not exactly what is happening in the home. Until you are an eye-witness, you can not assume you are getting factual data. You're getting second-hand information, heavily tainted with the exasperation of stress-out parents.

In my decades of experience, these are typically very disfunctional family systems. The fallout gets dumped on the child who is least able to cope.

that's why we had our therapist evaluate behavior at home and at school (we also provided videos of home situations where we witnessed confusing behavior) and our preschool director was a member of the team as well. None of them had answers, and they all tried very hard. We hoped that we would discover that it was in fact "our fault" because then at least that was something we could fix, presumably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a trained professional nanny. What parents often report to the professionals, is not exactly what is happening in the home. Until you are an eye-witness, you can not assume you are getting factual data. You're getting second-hand information, heavily tainted with the exasperation of stress-out parents.

In my decades of experience, these are typically very disfunctional family systems. The fallout gets dumped on the child who is least able to cope.

How many years have you worked with special needs children?

[Anonymous]

All children and adults should be medicated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a trained professional nanny. What parents often report to the professionals, is not exactly what is happening in the home. Until you are an eye-witness, you can not assume you are getting factual data. You're getting second-hand information, heavily tainted with the exasperation of stress-out parents.

In my decades of experience, these are typically very disfunctional family systems. The fallout gets dumped on the child who is least able to cope.

How many years have you worked with special needs children?

You do realize that the mushrooming of the "special needs" industry is relatively recent? When I began my work, most of the current terminology barely existed. I also know that toddlers biting each other wasn't considered "normal" behavior, as it is now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a trained professional nanny. What parents often report to the professionals, is not exactly what is happening in the home. Until you are an eye-witness, you can not assume you are getting factual data. You're getting second-hand information, heavily tainted with the exasperation of stress-out parents.

In my decades of experience, these are typically very disfunctional family systems. The fallout gets dumped on the child who is least able to cope.

How many years have you worked with special needs children?

You do realize that the mushrooming of the "special needs" industry is relatively recent? When I began my work, most of the current terminology barely existed. I also know that toddlers biting each other wasn't considered "normal" behavior, as it is now.

No set number of years then? No training in caring for special needs children? Your answer is unclear.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Parental training and skill is at least as vital as any other caregiver's. Is this generally known?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Parental training and skill is at least as vital as any other caregiver's. Is this generally known?

To those that are considering medication for their toddlers--- yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Parental training and skill is at least as vital as any other caregiver's. Is this generally known?

I have two children with ADHD. I have gone through all sorts of training. I have worked directly with a range of professionals to learn how best to work with my children. I have attended seminars and speakers to learn as much as possible.

How many of you judgy parents of NT kids have done these things? Who trained you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heard this being reported on WTOP this morning.
CDC says 1000's of toddlers are being perscribed these drugs.
Our medical men have gone mad.

I heard the WTOP clip and the report indicated that the types of medications used were not identified. It was generic psychotropic medication. The types of conditions being medicated went far beyond ADHD - depression, pschosis, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Parental training and skill is at least as vital as any other caregiver's. Is this generally known?

To those that are considering medication for their toddlers--- yes.

Why not all parents, in the development of their child's decipline and self-control?