every person is different with how they react to medication. But I would love to hear from everyone with kids 6 and Under -
What medications have helped your child best? Which therapies helped most?
We are at our wits end trying to get our aggressive, impulsive 4 year old son on the right path. Our heart breaks for him, and it is also extremely triggering for us as parents to have toys thrown at our heads constantly and to be dismissed from several preschools for poor behavior. We KNOW it’s not in our child’s control, but something has to give! We need some hope.
Would love to hear what has worked for YOUR child so we have some options to discuss with his Psychiatrist!
Thanks I’m advance. I always appreciate everyone’s responses <3
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Hello, and thank you for asking! My kid is 10, and we have tried the vitamin method, but it didnt work. I spent more than 200 on supplements. We tried one medication and it created tics (clearing throat). We decided to get a Gene sight test to determine the chances of adverse side effects, but our current doctor is old school and doesnt want to medicate. My therapist highly recommends to get her medicated so we dont have to play catchup. I am looking for a new doctor so that we can get her OT and medication that will help her for middle school stresses. Shes a great student but gets distracted and has emotional disregulation at home.
For my stepkid, we had this aggressive behavior you speak of. He was put on an IEP with teachers deciding that he could be autistic. I knew it wasn’t (I was working in ABA), and when we had a neuropsychology evaluation, he was determined to be ADHD with DMDD tendencies. I think it was super beneficial for him to be in a behavior classroom. It taught him coping strategies and social skills through specific instruction. In 6th grade he was put back into mainstream, and is currently thriving in 10th grade. He also got tics, but not sure if it was a medication or what. The anxiety meds and the ADHD meds have been super beneficial. ABA can be beneficial for kids with ADHD as well as ASD, since it’s basically repetition training. I have seen it work wonders for some kids and be horrible for others.
We have had our kids in play therapy and talk therapy, which has been SUPER beneficial to have a trusted adult to express themselves to that werent their parents. For me, DBT has been extremely helpful, but im not sure if it goes that young, and kids may not be goal oriented like they do in DBT. Hope this helps. Zen Hugs 🫂
Thank you for your response!! I also have people questioning autism for my son, and I know that isn’t it. I will of course explore the possibility so that he can get what he needs, but I know it is just extreme ADHD and anxiety.
We have been doing OT, but I can’t tell how much it helps. We really need to get his meds right so that he can implement the strategies he’s “learning.”
Just got referred for PCIT after asking several times. I am hopeful it will help, but not holding my breath.
Right now we are on a combination of anxiety meds, stimulant, and a nonstimulant. Seems to be helping some🤞🏻
Start with a gene sight test. That will narrow out the ones that will give bad side effects. The non stimulants have been beneficial for me, since I have anxiety. The stimulants work better for my partner.
Our 6.5 year old son was definitely a handful from early on, but it wasn't until he turned 5 that we had him tested and found out that he had ADHD. He had impulse control issues, some sensory issues/ overstimulation, but mostly emotional regulation issues (he cried & melted down a lot and sometimes lashed out). His preschool started us on a path recommending different evaluations and therapies including OT, ABA parent training, speech therapy, play therapy, PCIT parent training, and behavioral therapy which he is doing now. Like many parents, we faced the decision of whether or not to medicate and we put it off wanting to see if the other therapies helped. So far, what has helped us the most is a combination of PCIT, behavioral therapy and medication. We finally started him on 10 mg of Vyvanse 4 months ago. The way our behavioral therapist explained it to us is that the medicine is what allows him to be able to access & use the skills he is learning in behavioral therapy. Without it he cannot slow down and think about his choices. Honestly, I really wish we had started him on medicine sooner. Not because of academics or his teacher's sanity, but because uncontrolled ADHD makes it hard for them to make and keep friends. Especially if emotional regulation and lashing out is a regular occurrence. He's only in 1st grade and I already feel like there are families and kids who have made their minds up about our son and his behavior. I'm hoping now that he is able to control himself better that kids will recognize the changes and want to be his friend because he desperately wants to be theirs.
What didn't work- play therapy was a waste of time and money. OT at an independent place was great and helped him with emotional regulation, but OT at his school only works on hand writing and so did not help him with the ADHD symptoms.
I feel for you. I don't know if medicating a 4yo is an option, but definitely find a place that offers PCIT (parent- child interaction therapy). It really helped us at home (though did not transfer to school). Good luck! I hope things improve for you soon! You're a great parent and you're doing the right things.
Thank you for taking the time to respond! We have tried a handful of medications now and just sort of feel kost on how to proceed. We finally got referred for PCIT this week, and I am hopeful it will help.
At 4 years old I also already feel that children, and their parents, have also made up their mind. My child feels singled out at school and acts worse at school than he normally would because he doesn’t feel comfortable. But he is very dysregulated and I’m not sure we can switch his school AGAIN this year :/
I feel so badly for him to know he is “different” and to feel out of place in his classroom. And for him to also feel out of control with his reactions to things. It seems like every time we make progress, something happens to derail it. Such a hard thing to go through with such young children.
I'm not sure what type of medicines you have tried, but from my understanding, the methylphenidate helps more for inattention and focus while the amphetamines are more helpful for emotional regulation. That is why our pediatrician skipped straight to those because that was our son's main issue. Also, he chose long-acting Vyvanse over Adderall because there are less side effects. They accidentally called in the wrong rx (adderall) at too high a dose and I didn't notice because it was the generic name, so for almost a month he took this medicine and it caused anxiety, nightmares w/night wakings, and more aggressive behavior! It was terrible. Obviously, everyone is different, but that was our experience. I'm still debating getting the gene sight testing done, but for now I think his medicine is working thankfully!
The only option, due to age and weight at the time, was Strattera. This was also the ideal choice since anxiety was revealed to be a bigger problem than ADHD. Play therapy with a child psychologist was twice per month, and began before medication. The neuropsych testing battery results, which were used for diagnosis, were crucial in identifying lagging skills that OT, teachers, and play therapy (via homework for us) could address.
At that age, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy was very beneficial for us. It is involved and can be a long process (it took us 10 months), but it definitely helped. Also giving time to process changes helped…. “In 5 minutes we are going to have to stop playing and get washed up for dinner”…. “In one minute we are going to have stop playing”… etc. Also laying on specific labeled praise when he does something right “I really like how you cleaned up your toys right away when I asked you—great job!” Those were all things that helped in the long run for us around age 4 We didn’t try medication or supplements until a bit later, but found Mood Probiotics and Nutritional Lithium to be very helpful in controlling the emotional outbursts/aggression, if you want to ask your psychiatrist about those.
The physical aggression can be so emotionally draining (and physically painful)—please know that you are not alone! Wishing you all the best.
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We didn’t try medication or supplements until a bit later, but found Mood Probiotics and Nutritional Lithium to be very helpful in controlling the emotional outbursts/aggression, if you want to ask your psychiatrist about those.
Not extended release stimulant
ADHD parent training programs 
Anxiety and Aggression what Meds Have helped?
Question about 1st steps
