hyper children | Imamother

amother ↓

Mon, Apr 20 2009, 2:22 am

2 of my kids are very hyper.
I know they would probably be candidates for ritalin but I really don't want to go path.
Has anyone had any experience with any alternatives? not medicine but with charts or anything else that will work.
It requires so much patience -- just to button ds shirt - he can't stand still - and he is constantly testing...

↑ amother ↓

Mon, Apr 20 2009, 9:35 am

There are definitely other things to do. Any natural approach will definitely take time and patience and probably money. Medication can come with serious side effects, so it may be "simpler" to give but not always worth it and it doesn't always work.
One of the first things to look at is diet, try cutting out all artificial additives and caffeine, I found it makes a huge huge difference with no side effects and the kid is not loaded with junk. We now have basically eliminated most artificial things from our house, from the whole family.

There are many different approaches that work, I personally have a program that I follow and it works.

But I found that watching the food has to be done with any program and it can't harm it can only help.

I don't allow any msg, food coloring, food additives, yeast extract, artificial flavor and basically anything that I can't pronounce.

↑ amother

Mon, Apr 20 2009, 11:58 am

Quote:

I don't allow any msg, food coloring, food additives, yeast extract, artificial flavor and basically anything that I can't pronounce.

and does this really cause a hyper kid not to be hyper?
I know he is more sensitive to sugar but not sure about the others.

morahmommy

Tue, Apr 21 2009, 11:30 am

Don't knock it till you've tried it. I took my son off of dairy- and that ended up being the clincher (in addition to no sugar or additives, etc.). Charts are nice for kids you have a choice, but generally if kids are candidates for ritalin as you describe your children, they can't really help themselves so there's no cause and effect.

bonnie

Mon, May 04 2009, 10:30 pm

There are a couple of factors:

Diet- Allergies to certain foods can definitely add to hyperactivity, check with a good allergist

You don't just "put" a child on medicine ( and, yes I have a medicated child). What are the reasons you want him on medicine? is the school telling you anything? or, is it just your in laws?

Go to a qualified pshychiatrist. If you live in NY, pm me for mine.

What environment is he in? Is he in a mainstream setting, a special ed setting?
If he is in a special school. you're paying enough that they should at least try without meds.

A diagnosis can really only be fully made through a pshychoeducational eval, which takes time, money and patience ( about 6 weeks). But, with the right eval, you can get any service you feel you need out of the Board of Ed. Ask around who is fully qualified. That's the first step.

With that eval, you can begin to look at appropriate environments or appropriate modificaitons to the environment he's in.

It's a long process, but start with step 1. Step 2 is deciding whether you medicate or not.

Two excellent sites:

aboutourkids.com

or Dr. Edward Hallowell's site, google him.

good luck

MOMMYRN

Mon, May 04 2009, 10:49 pm

you may want to make sure they're getting enough sleep at night. a kid (or parents, for that matter) who does not sleep will be very cranky. there is also something called sleep apnea, when even if the kids are sleeping they are not breathing well and do not get the rest that they need. u can have the kids evaluated by an ENT for enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

MiamiMommy

Tue, May 05 2009, 11:12 am

OT helped my daughter tremendously. The school wanted me to medicate her, but I knew that many of the issues she was having were directly related to the classroom- too much going on at once, etc.

B"H she's doing very well now!