Can a Three Year Old Have ADHD?

My son was diagnosed with ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) at 3. He also has Language and Cognitive Developmental Delays. I am in the process of working with the school system to get him in therapy here (just moved here from Mississippi) and I am seeking a new psychiatrist for him in this area. If anyone has any suggestions for a pediatric psychiatrist, please contact me asap. Thank you!

If your curious about that why dont you get him checked with the dr to see if they can find out if he has ADHD my ex fiancee has that and he used to do the same thing to his parents Drive them FREAKING INSANE
he was the worst problem child but as he got older he was ok but has serious insecurity problems.
he has alittle bit of issue's not like anything criminal or nothing. it aint nothing bad thank god. well get ur son checked and see if they can find out thats the best way to get your answer, ok thanks take care

I'd give him no junk food and a natural vitamin with B6 in it. My 5 year old may be add and I am giving him a vitamin to see if that helps him. GOod luck!

Absolutely a 3 yr. old can have ADHD. You may want to have him tested. Contact a local elementary school and talk with the Sp. Ed. department for help in finding someone to test him at that age level.

hi B. my name is T. im from davenport iowa and i have a 9 year old son with bad a d h d hes was put on meds at 4 years old it is very hard to handle him he goes from the time he wakes up to fighting him to go to sleep he also eats ALOT and 91 lbs 4foot 9 a been pole if you need anything please e-mail me at ____@____.com

I think ADHD is a term society has overused to find some excuse for those parents that have chosen to not do their jobs as parents. He's 3 and is going to be energetic. But if not consistent with cause & effect (action/consequence), kids will take that opening and push as far as they can. If my son has an active day and gets really tired at night, he can be a handful going to bed, but I find if you are immediate...you hear him get up, don't let him get all the way down the hall or downstairs. Head him off. I think a parents, part of our challenge is to get to know you kids so well, we can predict their next moves and if it's bad stop it b4 it even gets there. If he does something that you need to reprimand, do it immediately. Sometimes waiting 5 minutes while you finish cooking or a call, can be too long, they've already moved one and the ability to recall and associate action and consequence is hard, so they get confused about what you're really scolding on. Be brief, don't string out the talking to..make sure he looks at you. when I make sure our son makes eye contact, he seems to understand better. We usually say, if you get up again, (here is the consequence)...then follow through. If it's at night going to bed, getting up to sit in the naughty chair probably isn't as effective as taking away the night light or stuffed animal, since that's actually what they want to do is get up. You don't have to take it away for long all the time. if they are afraid of the dark, which starts to manifest about 3, maybe they want the closet light on. If so, you can turn it off later once their asleep. But I find that if I let my son know what's going to happen next even if it's getting ready to go somewhere ahead of time, there is much less battle, because they have time to prepare themselves.

ADHD can not be clinically diagnosed until a child is 6 years old. If a doctor tries to put your child on drugs at this age he doesnt have the best intentions for you or your child. i agree with the other posts about no junk food and giving him vitamins. try to keep his diet as natural and healthy as you can. but also make sure you are following through when he acts up. for example if hits or bites and you say you go to time out for 3 minutes.....set a timer for 3 minutes...put him in a chair in the corner or facing the wall....totally isolate him for 3 minutes...( watch him but dont let him know you are) and when the 3 minutes is over then reasuure him you love him and if ever does it again the same timeout will happen. and if it does happen...do it again. but try not to scream. i have noticed that when parents yell, the kids get louder too. good luck.

HAHA!! you sounds just like me! my son is 3 and a half and he drives us bonkers!!! when he was 2 he started acting really crazy, but i just kept saying it was because he is a boy. well, about two months ago i ended up taking him to the childrens resource group in indianapolis. they specialize with childrens problems ( whether it be behavioral/add)
my son tested 90% higher than children his age.. we have since put him on a patch (ritalin) and the difference is wonderful. don't get me wrong, it's not a magical pill. it took us two times to figure out the right medicine ..and he still acts a little hyper, but nothing to where he was before. my son didn't listen to us at all.. one thing i had to start doing was smacking his hands when he didn't listen ( time outs do not work so well in our house) . i think that if you crack down a little bit more on his bad behavior you will see a difference...at least we did and i swore my child was worse than any other i had seen :)

A.

p.s. i'm opening a hair salon with a kids area (sound-proof)
on the northside. do you think you could give me some feedback and let me know as a mother if this is a place that you would be interested in coming to??
thanks

p.p.s i forgot to tell you that you should try melanonine....I didn't spell that right).. but it's a natural ingredient that helps you fall asleep. it's not a drug and it doesn't make you stay asleep; it just helps the brain's process.. most kids with add/adhd use it.. i've even tried it and there's no side affects at all!! it worked MIRACLES for us because ethan wouldn't go to bed until 11pm

My son is only 4 so not much older than yours but man reading your message...sounds like something I have been through. Here's the big question that will help determine ADHD....does he do it for everyone or just you and your husband?? Meaning if he goes to daycare or something does he do this stuff there? If he does then maybe he has ADHD but if he doesn't do things at other places...grandparents, daycare ect then probably not and ADHD issue. If you're like me you've been reading everything about how to discipline children and how to do things with behavior problems. You've probably tried every bit of advice. Like I said my son isn't much older but rest assured he is getting better. I know it can drive you nuts...if you wanna talk more feel free to write to me!! I will try to help you out on this one because I know how hard it is.

Yes and no. Having gone through kindergarten teachers who told me my daughter at 5 was ADHD I am exceptionally hesitant to label a child that age. I was especially skeptical after the questionaire that is used to help diagnose children was sent home. According to the questionaire EVERYONE in my family is ADD. Both of my children are wild and rambunctious, however, since my husband is diagnosed as ADD we use diet and excercize to help control them. Cut out as much processed sugar as possible. No cookies, candy, etc. Substitue fruit and vegitables. One thing that I learned from a foster parent friend was to have my chidlren run laps around the house when they start to get really wild. It helps to get some of their energy worked out as well as keeping them active. It also works if you are sitting and helping them count the laps (learning numbers). Consistancy in punishment is exceptionally important also. If you do one thing when your child acts up and your husband or the grandparents do something else your child is going to be confused. Make certain everyone is on the same page with discipline. Strong sitting is another technique which goes along with time out. And make absolutely certain that you do not give your child attention while they are in time out unless it is redirecting them to stay sitting facing a wall. Many times it is learning to focus that is hard for children (and adults as well). Work with your child to find activities he enjoys and then do them together. It does get better. My daughter is now in the 4th grade and her teachers love her. I keep getting that she is so smart! Course once she learne dto read (which was a fight and a half) she jumped in with both feet. My 5 year old son is also now doing much better and has stopped having as many problems with behaviors in Kindergarten. He is in a group called AVE (Audio Visual Entertainment) where he goes to dance and sing to work out some of his energy so he can concentrate at school.

I know that right now it seems like your child is always going to be the hellion monster (while I was dating as a single mom I used to even call my kids that to prospective dates). It does get better. Be careful though to not label your child with the current popular "this is what is wrong with children" idea going around. I studied child development in college and can tell you that I would not put either of my children on any drugs for this issue. I think in many cased we have just forgotten what it is like to be children ourselves and how frustrating it is. Remember also to give your child the opportunity to express himself and make some decisions. If he wants to wear socks that don't match or shoes that don't match let him. It isn't that big a deal and it will give your son the feeling that he has some power. After all, we are all just trying to learn to be who we are.

Good luck! It does get better and you will find that there is a loving and kind child in there underneath the frustration and anger.

Hi B.,
Yes it is possible for him to have ADHD. I have a three year old that was recently diagnosed. He is currently on medication for it and goes to counseling. He too is very violent and beats his little up severely. I have to be on top of him constantly so I can protect my youngest. He too is very hiper and defiant. My son actually went to a behavior center right after he turned 3, for three months. He attended like he would day care. They taught him and me structure and postive and negative reinforcements. That worked for a little bit and then once he graduated from there, he went back to the way he was before he went. I felt like I hit a dead end. Then I took him to a mental therapist and then to a psych doctor. He was diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar ( a mood disorder which would explain how one minute he is kind and the next he is being cut throat). He was medicated and now is doing better. So if at all..as a mother you have the right to investigate. Good idea to, before he gets into school, or he will have a hard time. Good luck! ____@____.com if u need to talk.

I had 2 boys that were ADHD. I had them on no meds. during the summer months. I did find how ever that RED DYE #40, White flour of any kind, (white bread, white pasta...), artificial sugar and even hot dogs made them go totaly crazy and nuts!!!
When I stopped these items it really calmed them to a point they could learn and manage their behavior.

Be consistent....be consistent....be consistent. If you even just one time don't follow through with a punishment, you hand the power over to him. If he knows there's even a slight possibility that you won't follow through, he'll continue to do the bad behavior. If you make up a chart or just a mental note of a punishment that's given everytime, he will learn the idea of consequences. If time out doesn't work, find a toy that you can take away for the day. At bedtime, let him cry and fight it out. If you don't pay attention to the behavior, it's the same as staying in control. Remind yourself when you're trying to argue with him and talk him into going to bed that you're trying to compromise with a three year old, and that just isn't going to happen. It's easy to say that the children are the problem and must have something such as ADD, but I truly believe that it's us as parents that either raise well behaved, disciplined children, or we raise kids who don't pay attention, don't respect people, don't listen, and act out of control. I'm not saying that we do this intentionally, we just get tired of constantly disciplining and so we begin to let them get away with behavior now and then. Before we know it, they're out of control and then we're saying that we think something is wrong with them.

I do not believe for one second that this is a phase. I think that it will get progressively worse if you don't gain control back as a parent and make them know that you're the one in charge, not them. I realize that there is probably ADHD a lot out there, but I can't help but think about how when we were kids and our parents were kids, there was no such thing and my mom and grandma say that they weren't around a lot of kids that they would say were ADHD, just kids that needed some good discipline. I really really don't agree with starting young children on medications early on in life. How are they supposed to become themselves as they grow if they have medication constantly making them feel a certain way or not feel a certain way?

B.,

When I read your post, it reminded me EXACTLY of my son around that age. But it was just a phase. He is now 5 and for the most part, has grown out of it and is more respectful. I think "terrible twos" is a misnomer. I think 3 is MUCH WORSE than 2. Hang in there. I recommend you look for a book entitled "Your Three and Four Year Old". It really helped me to read it. I guess I realized my son's behaviors were very typical of a 3 year old. I remember vividly that on one occasion when he was 3, my son went into complete hysterics because I refused to run a red light in the car! Looking back, I see that he was just learning about the outside world, about limits, but I thought he was crazy at the time.

P.S. the book is the one from Parents Magazine, not Louise Bates Ames (although it might be good too, I have not read it)

As parents we want to do what's right for our children. I have a hyperactive son but kids are hyperactive especially boys! I don't think it should be called the terrible two's.... it's more like the terrible three's. I think as parents we need to be careful about having our children labeled and put on medications. I would use that as a last result and continue to work with him. Stop telling him you are going to punish him and just do it. My son would act up in the store or wherever and we'd drop what we were doing and go to the car and sit. He hated that once he'd calmed down we'd go back inside and I'd explain to him what he did wrong and how he hurt my feelings and I would ask him to apologize. Now if he acts up in the car while driving I have him put his head down on his lap (got that one from my sister). When we are at home I have designated either the front door or the bottom step of the stairs to sit on for time out. I don't keep him there but 2-3 minutes. He hates it and then I explain what he did wrong and how mommy didn't appreciate it. He's a mommy’s boy so it tears him up if he thinks he hurt me. It's a work in progress and you MUST stay consistent. Reward him with special time when he’s being good, color or make crafts. I don’t suggest rewarding with food or toys, you want to send a message that mommy gives better attention when I’m good rather than bad. Kids are far much smarter than they are given credit for.

GOOD LUCK, It only gets more exciting from here!!!!