Toddlers are now getting Ritalin and Adderall drugs

[Anonymous]

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

I'm the PP questioning the nanny poster. I am a nanny with a specialty in special needs children, and about 10 years experience of caring for SN kids. I have another 6 years in classroom and nanny experience with neurotypical children. I did receive training specific to each child, so did parents I've worked for over the years.

I believe the accusatory posters have never dealt with a child with profound difficulties.

Some of the training was required by the hospital for all caretakers. There are legal considerations with children who've been RXd restraints for their own safety.

[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.

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.

Is direct professional observation in the home, the norm? I didn't think so.

[Anonymous]

I'm the SN nanny PP. Home evaluation has been the norm for the families I've worked for, along with extensive therapies.

Drugs aren't a first choice by pediatric mental health professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Well, it's not like you have to pass a test on child discipline and self control in order to get pregnant and have a baby. If your parenting techniques are working for your child, you're getting no negative feedback from preschool or playdates, why would you seek out parental training? People seek help when what they're doing is not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the SN nanny PP. Home evaluation has been the norm for the families I've worked for, along with extensive therapies.

Drugs aren't a first choice by pediatric mental health professionals.

+1. Wish you were our nanny!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Well, it's not like you have to pass a test on child discipline and self control in order to get pregnant and have a baby. If your parenting techniques are working for your child, you're getting no negative feedback from preschool or playdates, why would you seek out parental training? People seek help when what they're doing is not working.

What kind of parental training and support is required before resorting to the medications? How long is considered enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Well, it's not like you have to pass a test on child discipline and self control in order to get pregnant and have a baby. If your parenting techniques are working for your child, you're getting no negative feedback from preschool or playdates, why would you seek out parental training? People seek help when what they're doing is not working.

What kind of parental training and support is required before resorting to the medications? How long is considered enough?

I'm sure every prescribing dr has their own criteria. For us, it was a 12 week parenting course supplemented by weekly one-one meetings and then an additional 6 months of behavior modification therapy. There is no set guideline and maybe that's the issue. But you have to trust your dr if you're going to go down this road. And you have to trust, that as a parent, you are making the best decision for your child, with the information you have at the time. As I've said before, no parent wants to medicate their toddler. Many parents even give pause when considering meds for the elem/teen set. You only go down this road when you've exhausted all other options and nothing is working. You have to have nothing to lose.

[Anonymous]

17:07 again---I will add that we ended up not needing to medicate our 3 yr old. But it was only because I was looking at every means not to. Behavior modification did nothing for my child. But yoga did. It taught him self-regulation. And once he had that under control, the behavior modification strategies worked. But if I had not turned over every rock I could to avoid medication, I would never had tried yoga. And trust me....yoga is not one of the therapies that was readily recommended to me. Most people looked at me as if I was crazy. But I had nothing to lose and now being on the other side, I can say, I had nothing to lose but everything to gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:07 again---I will add that we ended up not needing to medicate our 3 yr old. But it was only because I was looking at every means not to. Behavior modification did nothing for my child. But yoga did. It taught him self-regulation. And once he had that under control, the behavior modification strategies worked. But if I had not turned over every rock I could to avoid medication, I would never had tried yoga. And trust me....yoga is not one of the therapies that was readily recommended to me. Most people looked at me as if I was crazy. But I had nothing to lose and now being on the other side, I can say, I had nothing to lose but everything to gain.

I'm really impressed with your journey. It seems to be very much out of the norm, at least according to what we see in the special needs forum.

[Anonymous]

One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Where do we learn about local stats? These drugs seem to be thrown at both rich and poor kids. For poor families, other options are too expensive. For rich families, other options are too much of a hassle. For insurance, drugs are the most cost effective, and for doctors to. Not to mention big pharma. Parent training is arduous. Especially with all the defensiveness we see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17:07 again---I will add that we ended up not needing to medicate our 3 yr old. But it was only because I was looking at every means not to. Behavior modification did nothing for my child. But yoga did. It taught him self-regulation. And once he had that under control, the behavior modification strategies worked. But if I had not turned over every rock I could to avoid medication, I would never had tried yoga. And trust me....yoga is not one of the therapies that was readily recommended to me. Most people looked at me as if I was crazy. But I had nothing to lose and now being on the other side, I can say, I had nothing to lose but everything to gain.

I'm really impressed with your journey. It seems to be very much out of the norm, at least according to what we see in the special needs forum.

To be fair, my kid has anger issues not adhd. The drug that was recommended was rhisperdohl (sp?). When you read the side affects, it's enough to scare the crap out of an adult considering it. Considering it for a 3 yr old made me look for any other possible solution. I was lucky that I found one that worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17:07 again---I will add that we ended up not needing to medicate our 3 yr old. But it was only because I was looking at every means not to. Behavior modification did nothing for my child. But yoga did. It taught him self-regulation. And once he had that under control, the behavior modification strategies worked. But if I had not turned over every rock I could to avoid medication, I would never had tried yoga. And trust me....yoga is not one of the therapies that was readily recommended to me. Most people looked at me as if I was crazy. But I had nothing to lose and now being on the other side, I can say, I had nothing to lose but everything to gain.

I'm really impressed with your journey. It seems to be very much out of the norm, at least according to what we see in the special needs forum.

To be fair, my kid has anger issues not adhd. The drug that was recommended was rhisperdohl (sp?). When you read the side affects, it's enough to scare the crap out of an adult considering it. Considering it for a 3 yr old made me look for any other possible solution. I was lucky that I found one that worked.

You were much more than lucky. You were committed and persistant. You made the time. And found the energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Is that because children on Medicaid don't get other treatment? Or because a family history of ADHD may lead to parents' unemployment and hence Medicaid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Where do we learn about local stats? These drugs seem to be thrown at both rich and poor kids. For poor families, other options are too expensive. For rich families, other options are too much of a hassle. For insurance, drugs are the most cost effective, and for doctors to. Not to mention big pharma. Parent training is arduous. Especially with all the defensiveness we see.

Well, kids on Medicaid get cheap treatment.
Rich kids get convienient treatment.
End Result: Drugs