My son was on cotisone acetate (pill), but when we couldn't get it in 5mg pills anymore, he was switched to prednisone. He was about 10 or 11yrs old. We haven't had any trouble. From my understanding the prednisone stays in the system longer than cortisone, that's why they prefer not to use it for children. When the doctors need to make a change in med. levels for children, they want the levels in their body to change quickly, but with prednisone it takes a little longer. One other thing....my son's Endocrinologists wanted him to have the higher dose at night before bed to more closely mimic the body's natural hormone levels....maybe that is why your son's levels are off in the morning. Someone else on one of these message boards once said that their Endo referred to it as "stacking". There are some REALLY GREAT links on the left side of this message board, maybe you gan get some info from there. Hope this helps.