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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think my DD's reaction to sugar isn't normal?

23 replies

SrAssumpta · 24/09/2015 21:50

My DD is four and admittedly I spent the first half of her life being a bit precious about food but I have really relaxed, though I have noticed an extreme change in her when she has things full of sugar like chocolate or a bun or ice cream etc. Rice cakes, crisps, fruit, yogurt are all fine even though they also contain sugar.

Within about twenty minutes she gets so cranky and emotional it's unbelievable! My dad minds her one day a week after school for a few hours and I'll often come home to find her asleep on the sofa after a sugar crash and he would say oh she was hard work, it will also turn out they went out for ice cream or had a cream bun etc so I filled the fridge with plenty of snacky stuff (like that mentioned above) and asked him to knock the sugary snacks on the head. The difference is obvious, she's not falling asleep and they're having a great time! Every birthday party we go to ends in tears as I let her scoff away with the other children, I had to start bringing our own snacks to people's houses as her behaviour after biscuits/bars is just so unpleasant.

I have lots of friends with children who can enjoy an ice cream or chocolate bar without these effects, I wonder is it because I limited these sort of snacks for the first 2+years? Or could it be a medical thing, when she falls asleep afterwards she'll sweat buckets and be soaked through!

OP posts:

WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 24/09/2015 21:53

I don't know, but my ds is very similar. He is 12. He hasn't grown out of it...

SiobhanSharpe · 24/09/2015 21:57

Perhaps book a non-urgent visit to the GP, just to rule various things out/set your mind at rest.

Twistedheartache · 24/09/2015 22:01

My dd is 4 too & v similar. Goes crazy with big sugar items like cake or ice cream & then whiny & tantrummy & emotional later on.
I try to limit intake - e g half cake at a time/"sharing with xxxxxx" but without making a big deal of it.
Fingers crossed she'll grow out of it...

starlight2007 · 24/09/2015 22:03

I find this with my Ds but it seems to be sweets not esp cakes.. He is 8..He went hyper on his 1st birthday the first time he tasted sugars ( except yogurts and fruit ) He did not know how to cope with it. He wouldn't eat sweets till he went trick or treating till he was 4 and got a bucketful..

I am not sure of the answer but I do see a difference.

LunchpackOfNotreDame · 24/09/2015 22:08

I was like this as a kid but only with chocolate. I would go absolutely bat shit on it. So my mum banned it from the house.

No reason was ever found and tbh even as an adult I don't eat much chocolate but that's now through taste

BarbarianMum · 24/09/2015 22:18

I don't know. My SiL has always sworn blind that her son/her nephew is like this. He isn't -he's just generally hard work (and plays her up a lot) and she's very into healthy eating. So whenever he has something sweet she just then jumps on the next bit of bad behaviour and blames it on the food. I've experimented on him with sticky buns and nothing (I'm draconianly strict) but he'll play up for dh even if you feed him celery.

BarbarianMum · 24/09/2015 22:19

Sorry

her son/our nephew

RueDeWakening · 24/09/2015 22:24

The sweating while she's asleep would concern me, I'm type 1 diabetic and do this when my blood sugar is too low. If she's had a sugar crash she might be having a similar reaction.

You could try giving her some starchy carbs after the sugar, see if that helps, but I think I'd want to check it out with the GP as well.

BarbarianMum · 24/09/2015 22:27

I missed the sweating thing (sorry again). I think I would want that checked out.

NannyR · 24/09/2015 22:30

The BBC did a really interesting experiment a couple of years ago about children's behaviour and sugary food. They set up two birthday parties and two groups of children; party one had a spread of really healthy food but very hyped up entertainment, loads of dancing, balloons etc. party two had a classic party spread, biscuits, ice cream, pop, cake but really calm low key activities.
Afterwards the parents were asked to score their children's behaviour (they didn't know which party their child had attended) and were asked what food they thought their child had eaten. Interestingly the giddy, hyper kids were the ones who went to the first party, the calmer, 'better' behaved kids went to party two, but the parents thought the giddy kids had eaten sugar and the quiet ones the healthy spread.
I know it's only one experiment, but in this instance what the children ate didn't seem to have any effect on their behaviour.

RolyPolierThanThou · 24/09/2015 22:37

That's a badly designed experiment. In only tells you atmosphere also contributes to hyper behavior. It dies not rule out the effects of sugar.

Also I think the op isn't talking about children in general, but hers in particular. It doesn't sound like a normal reaction to sugar. Maybe she over-produces insulin.

Waitingimpatient · 24/09/2015 22:50

I have reactive hypoglycaemia and after a lot if food /something quite sugary often have low blood sugar

See your gp and get your dd checked thoroughly

Original poster

SrAssumpta · 24/09/2015 23:02

The sweating while she's asleep would concern me, I'm type 1 diabetic and do this when my blood sugar is too low. If she's had a sugar crash she might be having a similar reaction.

This is exactly what I'm worried about, she'll need to sleep within a certain time frame and when she does she's hard to wake up and literally boiling hot and her hair and clothes will be soaked with sweat. She's quite warm while sleeping generally but nothing like this and it definitely does worry me. The behaviour end of things goes beyond the norm too, for instance we were stuck in a friend's broken down car last weekend and I went and got the two girls ice creams as it was hot and we had a long wait ahead of us, within twenty minutes of finishing it (after being really well behaved all day) she was whinging and not even making sense or understanding her own requests. She seemed totally out of it but in saying that she has just started school too so tiredness is also on top of this.

I'm definitely not talking about children in general, like I say I see many of my friends children about to enjoy these things without any trouble and she's usually quite well behaved.

OP posts:

Original poster

SrAssumpta · 24/09/2015 23:03

Cross post waiting I definitely will thanks!

OP posts:

PaulineFossil · 24/09/2015 23:05

I would get your dd checked out due to the sweating, the rest sounds reasonably common.

I don't think you've done anything to cause this. I was strict with sugary stuff with both DC, one goes crazy, the other has never shown any noticeable effects.

Is your dd at school yet? If not, I'd want to get it sorted before she has school dinners as some of the puddings are quite sugary, jam sponge etc.

PaulineFossil · 24/09/2015 23:13

Ah, cross posts, definitely check it out, anything that makes someone hard to wake up should be looked at I would think.

Bulbasaur · 24/09/2015 23:13

It could be an allergic reaction. I was allergic to chocolate growing up and I would bounce off the walls after eating it in a completely manic state. I'd also get little rashes. I still get a little obnoxious loopy with too much chocolate/caffeine and have to talk to everyone and their sister.

I also have adhd, so perhaps it could be a sensory thing too that your daughter just isn't able to handle?

Either way, as PP's said... get her check. Make sure all is ok. It's better to find out sooner than later.

CocktailQueen · 24/09/2015 23:18

She has a lot of the symptoms of hypoglycaemia - low blood sugar. I'd get her checked out ASAP.

sproketmx · 25/09/2015 02:08

No idea. My kids eat a fair amount of shite, they get a pack of crisps n a biscuit in their packed lunch, sweeties from the icy after their tea etc but mine play outside with their pals (3yr old twinnies and 4 5 and 6 yr old) so burn off the sugar rush fast running about playing tug manhunt and on their bikes etc. I dont really have this problem

magnificatAnimaMea · 25/09/2015 02:55

The sweating sounds really like reactive hypoglycaemia, which could also account for her going loopy after sugar.

The behaviour also does sound a little like ADHD. I have ADHD, and while I don't really remember specific effects as a child (probably because i felt so bloody awful all the time and life just just a protracted battle - I also have ASD - both only diagnosed in my 30s), I do definitely notice sugar effects now. If i have something sugary it's almost like being able to see through time - a kind of super-concentration that gives way to inability to concentrate and feeling terribly restless and anxious with a fast heart rate.

BumpTheElephant · 25/09/2015 14:14

That would concern me op. Take her to the GP just check for any medical cause.

My boys (5 and 3) have absolutely no change in behaviour after eating sugar. If it's affecting her to that extent I think it needs investigation.

Junosmum · 25/09/2015 14:55

My husbands hand, elbow and foot swelled up regularly, causing pain and lack of dexterity, reduced strength and grip. Dr tested for loads of things, gout, diabetes, even ms. He concluded a food allergy. We cut out dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs, nuts, celery, shellfish, all the usual things then moved on to anything we are regularly. Turned out to be sugar- specifically refined sugar, chocolate, cake, white bread, breakfast cereal. One year on and he's virtually pain free and his wedding ring fits again. Dr said he wouldn't believe it was f he hadn't seen it!

DepecheNO · 25/09/2015 15:12

The sweating needs checking out, but the rest of it is in line with what happened to me. I was limited on sweets a lot longer than your DD, didn't drink Coke even once until I was ten, and as an adult I'm still hypersensitive to sugar and caffeine. Was even addicted to caffeine around age 17. I'd be worried about the unlimited sweets at parties, as it teaches kids to binge rather than enjoy things in moderation. Every year, without a doubt, the uni students who suffer most are the ones whose parents made alcohol such a huge deal that move-in week is their first time or nearabouts. Learning to recognise what sugar does to them personally in the same way they'd learn about an allergy will do them a massive favour r.e. restraint as adults. If anything, experiencing a bad sugar "hangover" and understanding why it happened might help a little one make better choices next time.

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