I have this little boy who has ADHD. He is 6 years old and very bright. They had him on medication but he was withdrawn and trance like. It was really scary. They took him off the medication and he is the wildest little fart. He gives me gray hairs daily. He is family so we try to work together. He is very smart and just as loveable as you can get out . We have been tring to find natural alturnitives but the doctors won't give advice on those, only their 400. a month meds. Anyway, my

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), October 18, 2001

Answers

He needs LOTS of exercise, jobs to do around the house (responsibility and consequences when they aren't done), eliminate ALL food coloring and additives from his diet.

We went through this with ours, and now they are grown, settled, happy and productive.

Parenting, activity to burn calories, and clean food are the answer.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), October 31, 2001.

I have seen this with my neices and nephews--try to have a daily routine that includes healthy meals at regular times and a regular bedtime. I have seen this make a world of difference.

Also, have you had him checked for allergies? Sometimes they just don't feel well and if you find out what to avoid he might just sit still better.

Love him very much (which doesn't mean give him what he wants....) Best of luck.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 31, 2001.

My sister had this trouble with my niece, so she did some observations among my family and decided my oldest son was also ADD. I chose not to get a second opinion, but I did look at the symptom list she was referring to. It did seem that they were listing Nathanael's personal characteristics. I applied a strict routine of daily living combined with loving attention, and saw just about every trait disappear within one year. I am also looking at the food thing. Lots of food allergies show up as emotional reactions rather than physical reactions.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 31, 2001.