Tips For Parents of ADD / ADHD Preschool Age Children

If you are the parent of a preschool age child who has been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, you are probably more than a little bit overwhelmed. Not only does the ADD / ADHD child have a set of unique behavioral problems which require you to learn new parenting skills, but you also have the added weight of trying to make decisions regarding the care of your ADD / ADHD preschooler. It can cause you to be more than a little bit frazzled, but you need to get a grip on yourself because having a calm parent who is patient with the problems of ADD / ADHD is what your child needs to help diminish the effects of the disorder. Here are some tips on what you should do to get your mind back in the right place after an ADD / ADHD diagnosis.

You are likely to feel a mixture of emotions about the diagnosis, including concern, frustration, fear, anger, helplessness, and anxiety. Accept that these feelings will come up and do what you need to do to take care of yourself while you cope with these feelings.
Arm yourself with information. One of the biggest difficulties for parents of ADD / ADHD preschool children is that it can be frightening to make decisions about your child’s mental health at such a young age. Figuring out what treatment, including behavioral adjustments and medical prescriptions, are right for your child is hard. The more that you learn about your options, the better prepared you are to make these decisions and the better you’ll feel with them generally.

Practice patience. A child with ADD / ADHD is going to have behavioral problems that you might not have had with your other children or with children you’ve care for throughout your life. You are going to need to come up with wells of patience to help cope with these new difficulties.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re going to get frustrated with your ADD / ADHD preschooler and you’re going to make parenting mistakes. Learn from them and move on. You can’t spend all day wishing that you were a better parent and still have time to become one, so just do your best and accept your flaws.
Find a support group. Parents of preschool children with ADD / ADHD face a lot of difficulties and one is that other adults often don’t understand the challenges of the situation. People will tell you that your child is just being a child or that you should try x,y, and z to fix the problem. What you need is to have a support group of other parents of preschool children with ADD / ADHD who know where you are coming from. If there is no such group in your area, consider forming one or finding one online. The suggestions that come out of this group will be important but the general support will be invaluable.

Figuring out that your child has ADD / ADHD is not something which just suddenly happens one day. You probably noticed behavioral issues which you were trying to correct or explain for a long time before the diagnosis came. Recognize that getting the diagnosis means that you are one step closer to understanding your ADD / ADHD child and getting the help that you all need to make life easier for your family. Trust yourself and rely on your support network as you learn the skills that you need to learn to make your child’s preschool years go as smoothly as possible.

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