[shelbydog]

Does anyone's child go to a complete extreme after having sugary foods, like cupcakes, ice cream? I know kids get hyped up on sugar, but we have noticed that our 4-year old, Mia, goes way beyond that. Example: I pick her up from playdate and learn she has had cupcake and ice cream, and then fruit (instead of another cupcake). I find she has a toy in her pocket and tell her she needs to return it before we leave. She starts to cry...and then completely loses it. Throws herself on floor, bangs fists, screams at the top of her lungs. There was NO consoling or getting her out of it. It was tantrum times 10. It's like she loses it and almost becomes psychotic. I had to force her into the car (tried counting, time out on step, tried to talk to her calmly...eventually she screamed SO loud we just had to go. The other kids were crying) She unstrapped herself in the car. Was STANDING in my mini-van jumping up and down full force, shaking the back of the front car seat she was holding on to, SCREAMING "I want to keep it!!!" Luckily we only drive a block back to our house. I came home, put her in the corner....she continued to scream and my son was getting very upset (blood piercing screams!!)

Put her in the guest room and when she was quiet, she had dinner and went to bed. I took TV away from her for 3 days and she will have to apologize to the Mom and child tomorrow at my son's bus stop.

This doesn't seem like a normal reaction to sugar. It is consistently the same issue when she has cake, cupcakes, or ice cream....or candy. I tell Moms she can't handle it and they say all kids get hyped up. This is different. She literally turns into the exorcist. She is VERY spirited and strong-willed but this just seems extreme. Any thoughts? She isn't two anymore - she is 4 and 1/2. Help!

[SKL]

My DD1 also reacts unusually to sugar. She normally is so good, but a little sugar can really screw up the way she processes things, including good/bad choices. My niece was also a maniac only when she had sugar. You could always tell when she'd had some - which was not very often, as she didn't even like sweet stuff.

[joepegcamp]

My son does the same thing. That's why we took sugar and processed carbs out of his diet. AFter talking to his pediatrician, we put him on a higher protein diet. This works so well for him. I'll give him bread, but only whole grain bread that is minimally processed. (No high fructose corn syrup. Ingredients I can pronounce, etc.)

The only "treat" he can have is ice cream. (We give him Bryers, because it's all natural and none of the ugly processed stuff.) The fat content keeps his blood sugar in tact.

Play dates are problematic because other kids don't have the same reaction to sugar. I have to tell the mom's that he can't have ANY. At all. That sometimes puts a damper on things. Luckily, I've only encountered understanding moms who understand the sugar thing.

My son has terrible tantrums when he has sugar. We used to "punish" him for such behavior, but I don't know how well that works if he's in a sugar stupor. Now, we do time-ins in my arms while he eats some higher-fat, high protein foods like a cheese stick or chicken nuggets. A glass of whole milk also calms him down.

No sugar is the only way we go these days. We're all much happier for it.

[guatparents2be]

Originally Posted by joepegcamp

My son does the same thing. That's why we took sugar and processed carbs out of his diet. AFter talking to his pediatrician, we put him on a higher protein diet. This works so well for him. I'll give him bread, but only whole grain bread that is minimally processed. (No high fructose corn syrup. Ingredients I can pronounce, etc.)

The only "treat" he can have is ice cream. (We give him Bryers, because it's all natural and none of the ugly processed stuff.) The fat content keeps his blood sugar in tact.

Play dates are problematic because other kids don't have the same reaction to sugar. I have to tell the mom's that he can't have ANY. At all. That sometimes puts a damper on things. Luckily, I've only encountered understanding moms who understand the sugar thing.

My son has terrible tantrums when he has sugar. We used to "punish" him for such behavior, but I don't know how well that works if he's in a sugar stupor. Now, we do time-ins in my arms while he eats some higher-fat, high protein foods like a cheese stick or chicken nuggets. A glass of whole milk also calms him down.

No sugar is the only way we go these days. We're all much happier for it.

It is so sad to me that this eating healthfully is the anomaly and that it puts a "damper" on play dates. Children don't need sugar. In the end, these kids will be better for it in so many ways.

And to OP, it is pretty common for this to occur. Some kids end up on ritalin or antidepressants for it. And remember often the response is physiological and they can't help it...I think a time-in with protein is a brilliant and perfect way to handle it!

Maybe it's an opportunity for your whole family to be healthier...

[NJRach]

Shelbydog - you poor thing!!! I can imagine what you must have felt when Mia went ballistic. You must have wanted to lose it when she was shaking the car. Yikes.

Sugar affects Manny in a bad way also. When he first came home at 14 months, I don't think he'd ever had much junk food with his foster family. So we had some friends over to see him, and we *stupidly* fed him a big gooey cupcake and a large box of Arizona iced tea. We all remarked on how adorable he looked eating the cupcake and how much he seemed to be enjoying them. Well, that night he went ballistic, and was up until 3 AM. He was running, spinning, crashing into things, throwing stuff, screaming and even banging his head on the oven door. It was bizarre. I was ready to take him to the ER for a sedative. He finally fell asleep at 3 am, face down on the kitchen floor. The kid just collapsed. It was the saddest and scariest thing I've seen.

So we've tried to limit his sugar since then, as it makes him hyper and aggressive. We try, but it's a tough battle. It's in everything and also everywhere you go. I met a woman who had just moved here from Poland and she was shocked at the amounts of sugar in our food, and also how we hand kids candy and cookies at every turn - treats at people's homes, lollipops at the bank, Skittles at school, candy bags as party favors. It really made me think about how crazy our US eating habits are.

Rachael

[joepegcamp]

Talking about sugar in kids' diets. My sister-in-law re-vamped her kids' diets. Mostly natural, whole foods. Sugar is a treat saved for birthdays and Christmas, and even that is limited.

Her son was diagnosed with ADD a few years back and is now symptom free. She said that it makes her think that the vast majority of our health problems are from poor diets. (You think?)

Since we eliminated sugar from our home, we're skinnier, feel better and don't get sick all that often anymore. (Knock on wood.)

How does everyone else handle the sugar thing when well-meaning people offer them sweets? I often say that he CAN'T have sugar, and leave it there. If they ask why, I say that he has a bad reaction. Some folks (and they are rare) have asked if he has diabetes or something. I just smile and say that we don't discuss our health in public. I'm sure there's a better way.

[mommytoEli]

Originally Posted by joepegcamp

How does everyone else handle the sugar thing when well-meaning people offer them sweets?

sometimes i will let the boys (3 and 6) have it. but i have taught them to say, "no thank you." anytime a food is offerred to them at all. the ones that REALLY bug me are the supermarket, doctor, dentist, and swimming teacher offerring suckers. yes, please give my kid sticky sugar on a stick. lol. they begrudgingly say, "no thank you." and we move on. i've had a few agressive candy givers say things like, "they're sugar free." but really all it does is teach my kid to want candy. the answer is still no.

i do allow for the occassional sugary treat when we are out and about, but really i'd rather come home and cook something up using agave, which is supposed to have less of a "sugary" impact on the body. or at least something i know is low in sugar bc i made it.

[Suzeb1]

We've had the same kind of reactions, and for my dd it's not the sugar (although we've minimized that) it's the dyes in food. That means we stay away from things like colored goldfish as well as things like gummy bears. It seems that most sugary things have lots of dyes, too. My mom thought I was going way overboard until she saw one of dd's meltdowns...she doesn't give her food with dyes anymore

In terms of discipline, when dd has had an episode (because things sneak in occasionally) I will have her clean up things that she threw (after she's calm again), or apologize, but that's about it usually. I feel like anything else would be the same as punishing her for throwing up or having a fever. I want to help her learn to manage her behavior, but I don't want to make her feel worse than she already does by being out of control As she's gotten older (4), and we can talk more about it...I've learned that she hates feeling that way.
At that point, my job is to help her not feel worthless, because she's so confused by why she is acting so crazy.

Good luck! Now that you are getting it figured out, it will get a lot better!

Susan

[KKR213]

My son just turned 4 and he had the same reaction to dyes. Mainly from fruit snacks. Now I am vigilant about reading labels. I found Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit snacks that have no dyes and he really likes them but even they are now just a treat. Thankfully, he doesn't really have too much of a sweet tooth!

Oh, and like Susan...my mother also thought I was overreacting until she gave him a fruit roll up and he pitched a fit with her!

[Slatond10]

My DD's behavior definitely is effected by sugar and dyes ( red esp.!)... I had noticed and adjusted @ home and advised Nana and Papa. However, Nana treated her w/ a red airhead one day and got to witness 1st hand. Teehee.

Although it is so so so hard to control. We are on the major birthday circuit (which we love) but the cake / icecream and goodie bags filled w/ sugary treats we don't. Then @ daycare they get candy when they are good. ( ie. starburst or jellybeans.)

Luckily DD (almost 5) has figured out that it makes her feel bad. She even said the starburst gave her a tummy ache. One day she was out w/ cousin's w/o me and when she was offered candy she said I can't have red and I can't have much. I was SO proud of her for self monitoring. She loves healthy food especially fruit and "RED" watermelon is ok! . She already makes tons of GOOD choices so having her understand the reason behind the other choices felt like a WIN !!!

[AdoptAmiga]

I can understand limiting/not having the obvious sugar stuff - candy, cake, etc. But how do you handle everything else that has sugar in it?? I perused my pantry. This is a sample of what contains sugar: anything in a can (tomatoes, beans, corn, etc), spaghetti sauce, dry pasta, taco seasoning, milk and (store bought) bread. Do your children have a sugar reaction to these foods too?

[Summer95]

I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. When my son was three years old he would do the exact same thing as your daughter after he ate any food that contained Red 40. This dye is in a lot of different foods. Once I eliminated this dye from his diet, his extreme tantrums stopped. I hope this helps.

Good luck
Cindy

[joepegcamp]

Originally Posted by AdoptAmiga

I can understand limiting/not having the obvious sugar stuff - candy, cake, etc. But how do you handle everything else that has sugar in it?? I perused my pantry. This is a sample of what contains sugar: anything in a can (tomatoes, beans, corn, etc), spaghetti sauce, dry pasta, taco seasoning, milk and (store bought) bread. Do your children have a sugar reaction to these foods too?

We started with the obvious stuff. Then we moved on to the processed stuff found on the shelves. We only buy things that have less than 6 grams of sugar listed in the nutritional info. Nothing with high fructose corn syrup and nothing with artificial dyes.

It was hard to switch, but once we did, we decided to never go back. We're healthier and skinnier.