Question for those of you with DC on ADHD meds

[HIU8]

Mornings are getting VERY difficult. They have been for some time. DS is primary innatentive. He takes Focalin xr (which works well for him). He gets up at 6:30 so we can leave by 7:15 for the bus. Normally he gets up and dressed (with A LOT of help) and then goes downstairs to eat and leave. We have a rule that he can bring NOTHING into the kitchen (he is not able to switch focus so if he has anything with him he doesn't eat). Anyway, we are toying with giving him his meds when he wakes up so that by the time he gets down to breakfast he can start to focus better (we still won't allow toys,books etc... to be brought down to a meal though). I'm just curious if anyone has done meds on wakeup or not and how it has worked.

Thanks.

[pinkmomagain]

I had this problem with my youngest who is not dx ADHD and have found that putting her in her clothes at bedtime for the next day has helped tremedously to get her out the door in a timely manner in the morning.

That said, I think it's an awesome idea to try the med upon wake up to see if that helps at all, as long as the dr is on board. The only thing I can think of is that it will wear off sooner, so if there is afterschool stuff that goes into evening that he needs the focus for, he may lose the effects for that.

[Pepper]

I'm just curious if anyone has done meds on wakeup or not and how it has worked.

Thanks.

We haven't. But, DS1 is a little younger (5-1/2) so we are still using the short-acting ritalin...I've thought about giving it to him first thing in the am but I didn't want him to have a big gap at any point in his day - righ now it's easier for me to handle him in the morning without meds than i think it would be at the end of the day, when he's tired and spent.

You mentioned that your DS had 45 minutes to get ready in the morning, though. IMO that is a short time for an inattentive kid. My DS, who is combined type ADHD, can get dressed, eat breakfast, and ready for the bus in an hour without meds, if I keep on him and set lots of timers (i.e. "at 7:15 you need to eat breakfast, I'll get a timer and then you have 10 minutes to finish eating" etc), but just barely - there are lots of days when the bus arrives and he isn't quite ready to go. It might be worth it for you to try gicing the focalin earlier so your child can make the most of those 45 minutes, without having to wake him up earlier in the am.

How many hours does focalin last? Does your DS have a rough time when it wears off?

[lalasmama]

Sorry, I'm late to seeing this!

DD (ADHD) has her morning issues as well. So now, she gets up, gets dressed, and takes her pill, and off to school we go. She does breakfast at school (honestly, a lot better breakfast than I could manage on a weekday morning!)....

From start to finish is 20 minutes. If I wake her up too much earlier, all heck breaks loose, as she would then have time to play, and trading play for school is a hard sell ;)

I often wish there was a way to make the pill take effect sooner, but in the 2.5 years we've been doing this, this is the best way that works for her.

[Uno-Mom]

I have multiple kid-clients who have meds upon waking for just that reason. But like someone else mentioned, I'd check into when his levels start to dip and make sure those 45 minutes earlier doesn't cause worse havoc later in the day.

Eta: another option that helps some is to do a gentle wake up with meds while still in bed, then let the child hit snooze and sleep another 15-20 minutes. Strange, I know, and obviously wouldn't work for every kid or every med regimen.