DS, mood swings and food- does this sound right?

[pantshavenames]

My DS (4 years) wakes up in tears and gets hysterical about every little thing- too much fruit pot, not enough fruit pot, DH coming down stairs dressed, pyjama-d, you name it it could spark him off. Once we get him to have his breakfast he's like a manic ball of energy. He's the same in the afternoon (he's at nursery in the morning), he's either too tired to do anything but cuddle on the sofa or he's running around at 100mph. He's always asking for snacks- he has lunch at nursery, then a snack when he gets home cos DH and I are having our lunch then, then a snack at 3 cos that's officially snack time (but is asking for one from about 1.30) tea at 5 and then a small supper at 6.45. When I write it all down that seems stacks of food, tho' it's mainly healthy-ish stuff. But should food have such a dramatic effect on him? I try to give him big main meals but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

oh good another 4 year old gone mad thread.
Sounds like my DS, it takes at least 1/2 hour everymorning to calm him down once he has woken up in tears.
My Ds eats like a bird so don't know if its food related or just 4.
I wonder if its just lack of sleep, Ds also wakes between 2-3am without fail so is shattered before nursery even starts.

I wish it were lack of sleep, but he goes to bed at 7 and doesn't wake up till 7 the next morning. He does wake up once in a while yelling that his duvet isn't straight or he can't find his train that he insisted had to go to bed with him . Can't really see he needs more sleep than that. It'd just be really lovely not to have him wandering into our bedroom wailing every morning.

My ds is just 4 - he goes to school nursery 5 days a week until 3.20 - but he still really needs a bit of a nap - so at the weekend he will often have a 2 hr (sometimes more!) nap to catch up. This is on top of 7pm - 6am. However, he is on-the-go all the time when he is awake - even the teacher has commented on it.

He eats as much breakfast as me - mainly porridge oats with a small sprinkling of more 'normal' breakfast cereals such as rice pops or shreddies. At the weekend he will often have a snack during the morning - quite often a sandwich (2 slices of bread). At lunchtime he gets through 2 slices of bread (sometimes more), cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, fruit. He will then have a snack during the afternoon (grapes or banana or a biscuit or two) and then eats an adult sized portion of supper - often with a huge bowl of yoghurt afterwards.

We do try to keep him on a relatively low-sugar diet, with plenty of things that are low GI to keep him going without giving him a big sugar rush, but he does have the occasional sweet or two or some chocolate. That's the only thing I would say you might think about - otherwise yours seems much like mine really!

Thanks for the comments- I'll try more carbs at snack time to see if that makes a difference- I mainly give him fruit or rice cakes, something like that because I don't want him to get too full IYSWIM. Have bought him a scooter for his birthday which he loves and it's amazing how he quickly becomes un-tired when I suggest going out for a scoot.