Does anyone elses dc react badly to squash and sweets with colours?

[Dragonhart]

DS (3 at the end of the month) has mostly had water since being a baby. He has had fresh juice diluted with his breakfast but I havent really given him squash as 1. he is happy to drink water and 2. to save me a bit of money.

I dont have a problem with him having it but I am finding that now he is socialising more with other los he wants what they have to drink ie squash. I have been giving it to him, but it seems to make him really really hyper. I am not sure if it is the sugar or colours or something else but it makes it very hard for me to control him and he can get quite physical too.

Now if he does not have it (when others are not having it happy to drink water) he still gets excited as he loves playing with other children but nowhere near as bad.

Anyone else with dc with similar reactions to things like squash or sweets with colours, what do you do? DO you just let them have it and take the cocequences or do you face the tamtrum when you say no?

[MsDemeanor]

My son goes mad if he has stuff with artificial colours in or benzoate (preservative) so I no longer let him have it. He completely understands (he's six) and doesn't like what they do to him either so I think it's quite mean to let him have stuff that makes him manic. To avoid difficult situations, bring pure juice with you or give him water. Those pure juice in soft cartons with straws look quite bright and tempting when the others are having squash. And fortunately more and more sweets are now formulated with natural colours and flavours, inc smarties and jellytots, so it's not usually a problem to choose an alternative.
On holiday recently he had a lurid green mint choc chip ice cream (bought by dh ) which made him totally insane. He now realises that unless the ice cream is organic he can only have vanilla or chocolate, which is hardly child abuse!

[pagwatch]

umm
my kids arn't allowed any thing like that DS1 had some problems but Ds2 had huge issues but DD has never had it.
Of course don't give it.
And at 3 he may still tantrum when told no but that will soon stop as he gets older and he will get used to not having it.

my view was always that the behviour is only the visible bit. If it is changeing their behaviour it is acting on their brain. Why would I give them something that may be damaging them?
Most kids can cope with stuff in moderation but some can't.

[Pinkranger]

i have always been open minded about these kind of things but we see it in full action the other night with ds who is 5. He is a Very active child, chatty and outgoing. We took him out for a meal for a family birthday, all the way through behaves very well, no telling him off etc, After main course nanny gives him a pack of smarties ( we normally let him have these) Within 20 mins he is bouncing of the walls, be loud and very Hyperactive, i tihnk because we only took him out and not our yongest aswell we was able to see it. All Sweet have been banned ( esp colour) and can only have them on a special treat, he seems ok with this ( so far)

[MsDemeanor]

Smarties contain no artificial colours or flavours.

[Fennel]

One of my dds has always become hyperactive when she's had lots of sugar. She's 6 now and is less like that but it happened this week when she had some high cocoa chocolate (70%) which was probably the caffeine + sugar.

Not sure about the squash or additives as they haven't had loads of squash, I haven't noticed it with that. It seemed to me to be the sugar istelf. At parties, or other times when she eats a load of sweet stuff, she used to go wild. and it was what she ate not just the party atmosphere.

[Littleface]

I wasnt allowed squash as a kid, apparently it sent me hyper, I still dont drink it so ds (22m) hasnt yet had any so not sure if he'll react the same but if he does then id just say no and put up with tatntrum.

[PinkTulips]

dd goes completely loopy after dinking cordials or having certain sweets.

she gets really hysterical and manic and can't seem to calm herself down. she ends up having screaming hysterical tantrums over absolutely nothing.

if they give them stuff in playschool i tend to allow it as she already can't have milk or wheat so her poor teacher does enough label chacking every time there's a party but if i can avoid her having them i will (ie by bringing juice for my 2 to the end of year party where i knew they'd be giving cordial)

like pagwatch said, some kids can cope with these foods but if your can't i think it's quite important to try and cut them out altogether, there will always be the odd time someone else gives your kids something that they may not normally be allowed but hopefully as they get older they'll understand that they feel bad after those foods and learn to refuse them themselves.

[Pinkranger]

i dont think it's the "smarties" but sugar in general

[Dragonhart]

Pagwatch- Hadnt thought about it like that. Scary what ingredients can do, especially when you start looking into it. Suppose the tantrum is worth putting up with and hopefuly he will get used to it soon.

Dont think sugar is a problem in moderation as he does have biscuits (quite regularily) and choc (occasionally). It seems to be the cheaper squashes, and ones with sweetner in that affect him. The type they get at toddler groups. Hadnt thought of just taking diluted fresh juice in a cup so might try finding a cup with a lid that comes off (like old style tupperware).

Thanks everyone. Glad that ds is not the only one who has a problem with these things as everyone I know seem to make me feel like I am being neurotic about it. Then when I do let him have them, I feel like the worst mum as his behaviour is a nightmare. I think if it had an outward effect, people would understand but I feel they just think he is naughty. Mind you I could very possibly be abit paranoid about it all!

[pagwatch]

dragon
the good thing is that if you look there are lots of nice alternatives .
If you look at the hyperactivity support group ( sorry can't remember name ) they can help with things to avoid.

I found some nice cordials that were nicer than squash, some nice sweets which are fine too. There are increasing amounts of options out there.

[mummyeme]

Dd has the same reaction and the fruit juice in a carton is a really good alternative. Dd likes it and its her special drink then, ends up she'd rather have it than the squash. If he's like that then I'd also really avoid Fruit Shoots, although they're meant to be good and healthy they drove dd potty

[bergentulip]

Always. Runs around like a lunatic. Avoid sweets and squash at all costs, and certainly never anything sugary after about 3pm....

It is scientific fact, I am sure, that bad diets full of e numbers create unruly children.

Ok, "lunatic" a bit strong, perhaps a little more boystrous than usual. I think he has a normal reaction to all these things though.

Get quite cross when DS1 comes out of kindergarten with a party bag full of haribo and lollies that one of the mothers has brought in for a birthday. Ggggrrrr..... he just does not get these things at home, so I think that contributes to the behaviour change as well.

[EffiePerine]

Re: no artificial colours, tartrazine counts as a 'natural' colour and many people react badly to it.

[MsDemeanor]

I don't think tartrazine does, actually. Certainly no products advertised as 'no artificial colours' contains tartrazine - just vegetable and mineral extracts.

[TheArmadillo]

watch out for medicines as well.

The only thing ds seems to really react to is calpol. It sends him bouncing off the walls.

[misdee]

tartrazine isnt a natural colour. its banned in my house as it causes allergic reactions in dd1, which then has a knock on effect for weeks afterwards with her eczema and asthma.

[MsDemeanor]

God yes, had some antibiotics for poor ds which were bright yellow and made him deranged. Very upsetting. Had to stop them.

[Dragonhart]

Dont talk to me about medicines. DS is also allergic to antihistamine! So god knows what we will do if he gets hayfever. It makes him absolutely hyper, so that he is twitching and cant even keep his jaw still, makes his heart race for a day then he crashes and is a zombie for a day and his eczema comes out at its worst.

He cant have calpol either so I give him medinol which has no colours in which seems to work.

Luckily he hates fizzy drinks though so that is one battle we dont have to fight. Yet.

[mumeeee]

DD3 16 used to getvery excitable and her concentration would go to pot when she had foods with artificial stuff n.
She is now a lot better but if she has a lot of this stuff in one day it can still afect her.

[Booboomum]

ds (4) goes crazy on chocolate - always has. Within seconds it sometimes seems. Runs around bouncing off the walls and then it seems to wear off fairly fast.Wish I had that much fun on chocolate!!

[Dragonhart]

Thanks again everyone. Nice to know, as I said that ds is not the only one. Wil try the suggestions and let you know!

[Ivegotaheadache]

Tartrazine is not natural, it's synthetic (azo dye) and is one of main colourants that can cause a reaction, linked with hyperactivity.

I wouldn't give my dd1 any colours mainly E100 -150 though others cause a reaction too. Also bezoates are a common reactor, which is usually found in squashes.

Try high juice, as some flavours don't have benzoates in them.

DD2 can have anything with no apparant reaction.

[rubytwokids]

DD reacts badly to some colours, although I'm still not sure which ones. (She's 5.) Annatto is a natural food colouring and she reacts to that. (By bad reaction, I mean running about and shouting like a mad woman - far, far more than you would expect of a child her age and completely different to her normal self!) She seems to tolerate annatto a bit better now, which means we can giver her custard, but just brace ourselves for the 20 mins or so of giggling loudness - vast improvement on earlier days!!

Many squashes have either sodium benzoate or aspartame in, which many children react to. Try either Rock or Bottlegreen cordials - delicious and free of 'nasties'.

I, too, hate the sweets from birthdays at school thing, but at least Haribo have taken the artificial colourings out of most of their range, so life is getting easier!

[Memjem]

Hello,

I've found this thread when having a bit of a mooch. I'm fairly interested in nutrician and been thinking about sweetners and suger recently.

I have two daughters ( 4yrs and 21months) I try to apply the 'everything in moderation' rule but believe sugar in moderation is better than artificial sweetners.

However my interest was pricked when calpol was mentioned. I'ver found that calpol sends my youngest hyper, at bedtime it has her bouncing around the cot.

Have many of you found this? Is it the colour or the sweetner (or both) I think the ibuprofen one has the same effect (not calprofen).

[ChopsTheDuck]

One of mine is the same. I have four, but only dt2 reacts badly. He gets set off by most artificial things. Aspertime and MSG are the worst culprits. He goes very hyperactive, if I try to calm him down he thrashes out at me. He also gets dry sore looking skin.