My 7year old disipline problems!

My 7 year old has been tested for ADD & ADHA and they came back negitive. He is either crying or yelling about something or at someone, and has know care when you disipline him. He says you will forget or I don't care. As soon as he is over with the punishment he goes and does it again. He does not listen to me unless I scream. I am also getting phone calls from school that he is starting to hit and scream at the kids at school.  Now my 3 year old is starting to act like him. I need help.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Vicki,

While Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder has been ruled out, it remains to be determined what is to account for your son's behavior. At the very least, you and the school need systematic methods of responding to the behavior. The wise course is to obtain a pediatric mental health or behavioral health evaluation. This will pinpoint the diagnosis and delineate a plan for treatment. If you're not sure how to obtain such an evaluation, consult with your son's pediatrician and with the personnel at his school.

[Kyle's Mom]

Try eliminating artificial dyes, flavors and preservatives from his diet.  No KoolAid, Jello, junk food.  Limit sugar, juices, anything with corn syrup (which is just about everything).  Cook from scratch and give raw veggies and fruits as snacks.  Don't feed the same food in a four day period.  Also give a good multivitamin with no artificial ingredients and dyes.  

Also add essential fatty acids to his diet.  This has been shown in scientific studies to help improve behavior.  Try reading "The LCP Solution" by Jacqueline Stordy and Malcolm Nicholl.   My son was hitting, scratching, spitting, you name it at school and at home.  We eliminated the artificial ingredients and added essential fatty acids and saw a complete turnaround in his behavior in two weeks.  He stopped the hitting, scratching, etc and became calmer, verbalized his anger and obeyed.

Some good sites on diet and behavior are drrapp.com and foodallergy.org. Some good books on this is "Special Diets for Special Kids" by Lisa Lewis and "The ADD Nutrition Solution" buy Marcia Zimmerman.  I know you said he is not ADHD but this book covers behavior problems as well as attention.

You need to be aware that most of the psychiatric medications are not approved for kids under 18.  So make sure if you decide to go with medication after getting a diagnosis that you research the side effects and make sure whatever he takes is approved for kids under 18.  But please try the diet changes and essential fatty acids first.  They do work.  There is a parent on the WebMD board who just put her son on essential fatty acids and is starting to see an improvement already.  Some of the parents at conductdisorders.com are starting to try essential fatty acids for behavior problems too.  Good luck.

[belinda]

This sounds exactly what I'm going through with my 7 year old right now.  In fact, I was called at work earlier today to come and pick him up from after care because his behavior was out of control.  His way or no way and right now, because he says so.  He pitched himself a fit throwing the chairs in the class and pushing the other kids out of his way. He also, is neither ADD/ADHD.  Although his Pediatrician tried him on 2 of the medications, Adderall (adderrall) and Ritalin, his behavior was worse than before, those few weeks were real nightmares.  Good luck, I just wanted you to know, you are not alone. We are now waiting on a referral from his PCP to get in with a child psychologist. Something has to change fast.  Thanks for the dietary suggestions, we'll start tomorrow on that.