Problems with behaviour..possible medical problem?

[daisydoo222]

DS is 4 (approaching 5), he is a lovely little boy, kind, considerate, loving etc etc but I have problems with his behaviour at times.
The main times of the problem behaviour is in the mornings getting him ready for school and when he comes out of school.
When I pick him up from school the first thing he says to me is 'Mummy have you got anything for me?'. He's starving. I now take sandwiches for him to have when I pick him up.
But if I didn't take anything for him he has a total meltdown. He cries for no reason, hits me kicks me etc etc.
On the flip side, he's always been very sensitive to sugar. Since he was very young if he had sugary treats he gets really hyper so obviously I restrict these. I used to think it was pretty normal for kids to get silly after having treats but now that I've got another child and gained two step children I've now seen that it isn't normal.
Recently I've started wondering whether he is diabetic because of, what seems like, extreme peaks and dips of his blood sugar. But I've read about the symptoms and he doesn't seem to have any of the other symptoms.

When he was smaller I put his behaviour down to terrible twos, then when he was 3 I thought he just hadn't grown out of terrible twos yet. Then he started preschool and I put it down to him being over tired. But now I'm starting to think there's something more going on. All the other kids are in school the same length of time but they don't come out crying and kicking and hitting their Mums.

Also he is often very tired, he seems to get run down a lot too but rarely gets properly ill.

Anybody got any ideas?

We're seeing the GP next week but wondered if anybody has experienced similar problems and got any ideas what the problem could be?

If his sandwich helps with his behaviour, then I'd guess he's not getting enough to eat at school, though it's perfectly normal for children to need a mid-afternoon snack. Does he take a packed lunch or have school meals? Does anyone supervise them to make sure they're eating? How about the mornings - does he eat breakfast? Kids of this age still need to eat every two to three hours.

Also, he's still only four - a lot of children (my own DD included) are still having afternoon naps at this age and school is a lot for him to cope with. They all get ill a lot in their first couple of years of school because of the exposure to loads of bugs they haven't met before.

He has school dinners, he was taking packed lunches when he first started school (mainly because he wanted a spiderman lunch bag!) but he soon got bored with them and in the winter I thought he needed something warm. I think it probably is better that he's having a hot dinner but the trouble is I can't see how much he has eaten.
They do also have an afternoon snack, usually fruit.

He does have breakfast every morning, usually weetabix or porridge.

He definitely isn't a morning person (well neither am I), even on a weekend he hates getting dressed, even if it's to do something fun.

daisydoo - my 5 year old is just the same. And I mean JUST the same! I wouldn't say to you "don't worry it is normal" because right now I am really struggling with his behaviour (especially the hitting me and his brother part..) but I would say that I have heard of these issues enough with this age children to be able to be fairly reassuring that it is likely to be just their developmental stage. If you are worried about the blood sugar then I would say get it checked out - you have nothing to lose. I had never thought that but DS1 definitely would lose the plot if I didn't have a snack for him after school - I think they just get so tired at school at this age. He has also always reacted to sugar like you mention - I can literally count to five after he finishes a treat and he goes mental. I just have to be really thoughtful about when to give sugary things - hard when it is all they ever want! Hang in there - it is a tough time (especially when you have been hoping it would end since age 2 - same here again!) but the good times are also just so much better. He really astounds me with how much he is learning and changing and growing up. Makes me teary-eyed!