Any LEAD Experience?

S.,

I don't have any experience with LEAD, but wanted to respond to your post. I was not a "young" parent!! But I was inexperienced in caring for young children and had no support and looking back would do so much differently now that I have had experience :) I'm sure there are others that feel the same. I wanted to let you know that I have a son who is 7 and from the time he was about 18 mos old I realized he did not act quite like the other kids. He wasn't as free spirited. He didn't interact with other kids. He seemed timid at times. I worried about him so much. Fast forward 4-5 years and he now has a friend in elementary school that acts just like him!!! Which is amazing to see and wonderful for my son to have found as he says "a friend that fits". For years I worried that he was "not quite right", but it turns out he is the way he was meant to be. In fact he is just right. He has many positive qualities that I did not see because for a few years I was so concerned with what he wasn't. That is just my experience and I wanted to share it with you. I thought I hadn't socialized him enough, or not done something right, and really it was just his personality was different than most other kids I knew.

Regarding the lead, have you talked to your ped about this? I think that would be a good place to start. Also Yahoo groups has some great support groups and there may be a group re: lead and children, with other mothers who could give you some insight.

R.

To ease your mind, I would definitely talk with your pediatrician and have his lead levels evaluated now, since it can take a long time for elevated levels to go down. I'm surprised he didn't have his levels checked at 12 mos. - that's pretty routine. My pediatrician gives every new parent a brochure about lead poisoning and checks the levels at 12 mos. and then at 4 yrs. You may want to ask your pediatrician why he/she doesn't do the same.

We noticed our son was delayed as well. Always about 3 mos behind others. Late walker. At 3 his preschool felt he should be checked out and he was diagnosed with dyspraxia which affects 10 percent of males. We got him into OT which was very helpful. Good luck.

Your son sounds normal to me. All kids don't accomplish the mile stones at the same time. What counts is that they are meeting them. If your pediatrician wasn't concerned, I'd stop worrying about it. He is continuing to mature.

I've known one family who were hospitalized with lead poisoning. The reason for the hospitalization was to remove lead from their blood stream. I think that lead stays in the body. So I suggest that you talk with his pediatrician have his blood tested for lead. So that you can stop worrying about it.

At the same time recognize that you did the best that you could with what you knew. You can't go back and change it. So stop beating yourself up about it. I sympathize with your anxiety. Anxiety is hard to let go of especially when we think we may have harmed our child. But the anxiety in its self is damaging. Get more info about lead poisoning, as you're doing here. Look it up on the Internet. Talk with his pediatrician about getting a blood test and ask the pediatrician about your son's development in light of his exposure to lead.

Then accept what is and go from there. Even if your son is a bit delayed in meeting mile stones he is meeting them and he is OK. Love him as he is. Love yourself, knowing that you did and continue to do the best that you can.

I don't have any lead experience, but I do know that when all the toys were being recalled due to lead paint I made a few calls. The dr's office said they can do a blood test to find out what levels of lead are in the blood. I also called the poison control center and asked a million questions. To make a long story short, the poison control center told me that it takes a lot of lead to really "poison" the blood. Now he was referring to toys so I am sure it is different for inhaling particles after a remodel. My suggestion is to have his blood levels tested for lead, IF there is a problem chances are the levels will still be high. Also just give the poison control center a call. It isn't like 911 or anything and the person I spoke to was extremely patient, informative, and they really put my mind at ease. Also as the parent of 2 boys (5 & 7) I know that it is really hard not to compare what others are doing. My 7 year old son's best friend in kindergarten could pick up books and read them without even sounding out the words. My son (now in 1st grade) is still stuggling with reading. So try not to compare, I still do it and just end up frustrating myself to no end. Good luck and try not to beat yourself up over this!

I think you should read this...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lead-poisoning/FL00068

GET YOU SON TO A DR LET THE DR TELL YOU NOT A BUNCH OF STRANGER WHO MIGHT HAVE AN IDEA FORMal nurse