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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Food and effects on behaviour

15 replies

Poogypants · 14/11/2004 19:34

Does anyone know anything about how food affects behaviour. My 2y9m old son becomes uncontrolable after eating anything with colourings in and im begining to think it might be preservatives in foods aswell. Tonight was a prime example. At a family birthday he had chocolate cake and 2 smarties on it. (becouse i didn't want him to feel left out) He got more bouncy and heavey handed then started to strip and got upset when i put his clothes back on. he ended up throwing a huge tantrum, being held down to put clothes on and i ended up in tears. Very embarresing and stressfull. we have been haveing the same display of anger in the middle of the night and are just looking for some practical advice! Thanks for your time!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

blossomhill · 14/11/2004 19:49

No advice but will be watching this as I asked the same question on special needs last week!

pineneedle · 14/11/2004 19:51

Oh dear, that sounds difficult for you. It certainly seems to be widely agreeded that food does affect behaviour. There is a list of additives that have been banned in a school in this article here ; and I guess they must affect toddlers in the same way, but avoiding all that at a party would be hard, wouldn't it.

Sorry, thats not really practical advice, is it......

unicorn · 14/11/2004 19:53

my ds is similar.(2.10) but I think it is more a case of defiant terrible two's..
ds has AWFUL temper tantrums.. but usually related to tiredness.
Food issue is very interesting and may possibly be related.. but I think some children can just be a lot more reactivevocalextreme in their tantrums than others, so what I think I am saying is that I wouldn't rule out other causes.

Jimjams · 14/11/2004 19:57

lots of stuff we have to avoid with ds1 (autistic and with a leaky gut). Food wise we avoid gluten and peanuts (not allergies- because gluten turns him into a screaming obsessve banshee and peanuts turn him into a head banging maniac). Additives wise- we avoid aspartame (that can be a big one for many children) sorbitol and other sweetners, and MSG in the main. By avoiding those we tend to avoid the things like tartrazine etc as they tend to go with aspartame!

BH missed your prost on SN!

blossomhill · 14/11/2004 20:09

Jimjams - Did you? I was really hoping you would see it as I knew you would have some good advice. I should have CAT you shouldn't I? Anyway the link is here
If you have any advice I would be so grateful. I just don't know the right way to go about it, if that makes sense!
How are you? How much longer have you got to go now? Shouldn't be long!

fisil · 14/11/2004 20:15

Ds scared us once by going completely zany for about an hour. He was not his usual self, his concentration span was non-existent and he did things at double speed. He'd had BBQ sauce and wotsits that day - had had neither before (or since). Tonight he was a bit high after putting playdoh in his mouth. We try to avoid this kind of food, but also not to make a deal about it - but I know it's hard to avoid at parties etc.

It is believable that food can do this, isn't it. Think what we do to ourselves with drink!

WedgiesMum · 14/11/2004 20:22

Poogypants

I have an email-able list of additives that the Hyperactive childrens Society recommends that should be avoided, if you want to contact me through Contact another talker I could send it to you. Colours in things (like smarties) can be particularly bad, as can preservatives (particularly in pig meat type products and squash drinks). Also my DS has an adverse reaction to chocolate and eggs.

Parties and things can be very trying and an absolute minefield for the 'wrong' kinds of foods for reactive children. With my DS he is 'clean' of the e numbers in the list as well as chocolate, but at parties I take 'calculated' risks as to what to allow him. I never usually allow him to have chocolate cake though because it just makes him react too much - chocolate, colours and eggs all in one hit!!!!. I usually have a spare cake that he can have with me so I can substitute it for him so that he has something.

If you strongly suspect that he is reactive to these additives cut them out completely and see if it makes a difference - it may take a while for any difference to show as additives are chemicals which can hang around in the system for a while.

HTH

WMxx

Jimjams · 14/11/2004 21:59

Gave a quick reply on SN BH!

blossomhill · 14/11/2004 22:03

Thanks jj

fostermum · 15/11/2004 12:14

ive had children who definatly change after colourings or other additives,from temper,being hyper going red in the face as if hot,all you can do is go back to basics and add things one at a time untill you find the triggers, health shops these days sell just about all foods and drinks with out additives so your child shouldnt miss out it is a long and frustrating proccess but well worth it if this is the cause

Original poster

Poogypants · 15/11/2004 14:22

Thanks all of you for your help on this. I will definatly be following up on your offers of adative lists. As a second thought do you know any information about the chances of this type of behaviour being linked to children born Prem. My son was born at 32 weeks and i have been told this is the cusp for problems. he was very healthy and seems to have no lasting effects from his prematurity but i might be being nieve on this? What do you think?

OP posts:

Wallace · 15/11/2004 19:25

Ds and dd both started boucing off the walls after having blue food colouring. We had been making fairy cakes, and we made blue icing - there was heaps left over so I let them finish it off...or it could have been all the sugar

whizzz · 15/11/2004 19:30

DS went rather loopy after eating a packet of Starburst - needless to say we haven't had them since. He's been OK with Smarties though.

singersgirl · 16/11/2004 10:40

Hi all
I'm new to Mumsnet - just returned to UK after a couple of years in Singapore with two boys age 6 and 3. DS1 definitely reacts to colourings, preservatives, artificial flavourings and a whole lot more beside. He's on an low food chemical diet at the moment as I try to establish exactly what his problem foods are and what his thresholds are. I did post a link in another section which didn't work, so will try again here. You might find this site either scary or helpful - I found it both! Have a look at this
(Having previewed this, I'm still not sure I can get the link right. I'm sure I'm doing what it says....
HTH somewhat! Cheers.

kittycat · 18/11/2004 12:46

My 31/2 year old daughter, currently at a montessori nursery has started to reveal her real self. She joined when she was about 11/2 and has always been well behaved, as she got older, helpful and happy. As she got older she was lovely at nursery and then when she arrived home mum would get the naughty side. Recently she has had two serious tantrums, hitting out at the adults. There have been tears in the morning about getting up and as the other children the slightest thing will set her off. I believe that most of the time it's down to tiredness - she no longers sleeps around midday (even though she is tired) and so is more sensitive. But she is very independent and bright child and feels that she can do quite a few things on her own. I only hope that it is "one of those things" as she will be going to primary school next year. It takes a very long time for her to calm down and I always question if I'm doing something wrong. Most of the time tantrums are first thing in the morning when I really don't have time to deal with it (have to get to work and drop her at nursery!). The nursery have asked me to come in for a chat to discuss what to do - I understand the situation for them (even though I know that there are children who have been naugthier more times than daughter (including the owner's child). Also anything naughty done at nursery she brings home despite knowing it's wrong

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