ADHD/ADD in a four yr old?

Im getting quite perturbed.. My sister has a son who was just recently diagnosed w/ ADD.. Now every single time she is around my happy and outgoing adventerous daughter she swears she has ADHD. at first it was a mention, now she wont stop. Its pissing me off and has me worried, I feel 1/2 kids out their are wrongly diagnosed, but now she has me second guessing. How can you tell when they are only 4? I thought this is how they all act. thanks.

First of all...don't talk to HER about it...talk to your pediatrician.

You may also want to mention that HALF THE COUNTRY is misdiagnosed and she may be unnecessarily drugging her child and hopefully she has gotten a second and perhaps third opinion before she filled the Ritalin prescription.

Kids are spazzes...

I couldn't even imagine putting my child on legalized pharmaceutical grade amphetamines because he's acting hyper....he's a kid!!!

All kids are hyper...it would take a truck full of proof for me to agree on doping my kid.

If you're concerned about YOUR child...talk to your pediatrician, and maybe ask your sister when she managed to get her medical degree...if you're concerned for YOUR NEPHEW...ask your sister if she's gotten a second opinion...doctors ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT.

Hi, I think your absolutely right! ALOT of kids are wrongly diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. When in fact some kids problems are simply behavioral issues from bad parenting. Now don't get me wrong, there are also some kids that truly do have ADD/ADHD and do need to be on medication.
I think it is difficult to diagnose a child as young as 4yrs old, simply because a 4yr old is not going to have an extended attention span and they are going to be hyperactive. I think in children that young, for 1. there needs to be an extensive evaluation done and I would most likely get a 2nd opinion. But also for children that young I think you need to try to look beyond the "normal" behavior of a 4yr old and see if their is an excessive amount of hyperactivity or an excessive amount of impulsiveness or an excessive amount of any of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD and also look for anything else that is unusual behavior for a 4yr old. But don't let your Sister push you into having your child put on medication for a disorder that your daughter may not have. Good luck and God Bless!

Tell your sister that until she gets her doctorate degree where she is qualified to diagnose you will continue relying on the advise of her doctors who are developmental specialists and actually qualilfied to make diagnoses

I have a son dx with ADHD, he is 2.5 yrs, and was dx at 2. He is not aggressive at all, he's impulsive, and climbs alot, we just deal with it. No meds until absolutely necessary, oh sure the neurologist wanted to put him on clonidine for it, we said no.

I do believe ADD/HD is real, but don't feel that medication is the first intervention, actually its the last. I do think many are misdx, and many are really bipolar. IDK if my son is really ADHD or bipolar or something else.

I do know a 4 yr old who was dx ADHD, he was later expelled from kindergarten, labeled SED-severely emotionally disturbed, oppositional defiant ODD, and bipolar. He is 6. At 2 it was obvious that he was not typical

When a child really has ADHD...you will know. If you are having the thought process of "I thought this is how they all act..." then your child likely does not have it.

I spent some training time in a special education room. There was a Kindergartner with ADHD and there was absolutely no mistaking it for "how children typically act." No mistaking it. And I'm with you after that experience...I believe many children are misdiagnosed.

My son who is only 4 has adhd and I had to fill out a survey on my sons behavior and if your child attends school or daycare, her caregiver or teacher fills one out.

The questions were asked and they want an answer between 1 (never) and 5 (constantly).

Example:
My child purposely destroys his own or others property. 1. Never, 2. Rarely. 3. Sometimes. 4. Often. 5. Constantly.

My child fidgets, moves his hands and feet, and can't seem to stay focused during tasks that take time. 1. Never, 2. Rarely. 3. Sometimes. 4. Often. 5. Constantly.


These are just two questions out of...I believe close to 50. But make an appointment with your child's pediatrician and in the very least, you'll take the survey for no reason. Good luck.

2 options:
Lie and tell her that the Dr. said she was a normal ACTIVE 4 year old.
It's hard to get the news that your child is ADHD and when you do .. you feel like you want to SAVE THE WORLD - by helping mom's with kids that 'might' be a bit more active than they think they should be.
IF you don't want to lie then just let her know HOW you really feel. Let her know that she isn't to say things like that again. Period..you are sick, sick of it. IF your child is ADHD then what you do is YOUR option. Not hers.

Put the emphasis back onto to HER child. Ask her questions about what she's doing...she will be MORE than willing to talk about it.

at the age of four..they ar ehyper. I was wrongfully diagnosed with ADD\ADHD they had me on multiple medications for years. and it didn't do me any good. I am sure your daughter is perfectly fine. she is just a 4 year old being hyper an d playful...:) its normal. Honestly, i don't think there is a " disease" such as ADD or ADHD.

My personal opinion about ADD or ADHD is that it is a medical term for bratty kid. It also gives the parent an excuse to let their kids keep behaving badly.

gram

Let's see. Four years old? Runs around a lot, talks a lot, always climbing something, excited about life. Doesn't listen all the time, etc? Am I close?

Sounds like a normal kid who has a parent who doesn't want to take the hard road of parenting and be CONSISTENT in what they say and do in order to set boundaries. So, instead of teaching when and where it is appropriate to be a kid, parents just drug them up so they are sedate and boring. Later on they will have learning disorders because they have no interest in anything.

Kids are not miniature adults who are bored with life. Your nephew has only been in this world for 4 years. Everything is new! Why shouldn't he be excitable and curious? When kids want the same book read over and over or eat the same foods over and over, it's to build some comfort because everything is different. It's nice to have some continuity.

Good luck with convincing your sister that she needs to be a better parent.

add edit:

I'm not implying in my post that you are being a bad parent, but that the misdiagnoses gives some parents excuses to not parent. If your sister's kid TRULY has a problem (I hope she got more than one second opinion) then she just needs to deal with her situation.

Good luck