origins of prescription drug abuse

My son is currently going through the dreaded "terrible two" stage of toddler-hood, and coincidentally, we as parents are going through the "how the heck do we deal with this kid" phase. One of our biggest brick walls at this point is bedtime. Our son does not want to go to sleep. In fact, he doesn't know what he wants. He just wants to say "no" to whatever we suggest.

"Do you want to stay up?"

"Noooo."

"Do you want to go to bed?"

"Noooo."

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that we are allowing him to make these types of decisions before he is ready to make them. Maybe his little two-year-old brain isn't ready to assess such earth-shattering options and rationalize which one will bring happiness and comfort. Or, perhaps he is just tired and cranky, because he pulled this same act last night, didn't get any sleep and is overly tired.

We have read lots of advice from websites and books, relatives and such. Some are conventional. Others promote "far out" experimental methods. In the back of my head, I am convinced that all would be okay if I could just reason with him, as we do with our older children. However, what do we do in the meantime?

We have tried the rewards methods, the punishment methods, the ignoring "don't give him attention for it" methods, even the "lock his door and let him scream it out" method (which nearly broke our hearts). Nothing seems to work at this point. So we endure, as parents enslaved to the beast that is two-year-old indecision and stubbornness.

One relative suggested that we give him a small dose of Benadryl each night, to soothe him. Problem is...I don't want my kid to get addicted to Benadryl. You'll know it is becoming a problem when they ask for it, or feel that they must have it in order to "get by". We noticed this when he was teething and was getting accustomed to some herbal teething pills for babies. I wonder if the problem that we have in today's society with prescription drug abuse might originate from this very same approach by parents. We already see it continue in the form of things like Prozac and Ritalin - I can't handle the kid - it must be an imbalance. Give him some drugs. Wouldn't this explain why some people end up addicted to things like pain killer?

As difficult as it may seem, I say stick it out, deal with the little brat and keep the drugs in the medicine cabinet. No sense in establishing addictive behavior at such a young age.