My son 2 is addicted to ice poles

[meepmoop]

Hi,

This is a bit ridiculous but thought I would get some opinions.

My son is 2 and is addicted to ice poles/freeze pops. He asks for them for at breakfast, snack, lunch time etc. If I say no which is most of the time although I usually let him have one in the afternoon he throws a massive tantrum.

The other problem is he asks for them by shouting out the colour and then he can't decide which one he wants which results in us giving him the chosen colour and then he has a massive tantrum as he wants a different one (but he actually doesn't)

I've read different things that say it doesn't matter if they have ice cream before they eat the main lunch etc but I'm not really on board with it

I've decided I'm just going to not give him any for a couple days to try and break the obsession.

Is that a good idea or should i just give them to him in the hope he gets bored?

Just me with this issue, not surprising really!

Stop buying them? Just say they’ve run out in the shops. He’ll forget about them.

He's two. Just say no.

They're full of sugar and or sweeteners. There must be other things to give him.

Its not like ice cream though is it? It's just flavoured water, made into ice. I wouldn't be bothered too much. All toddlers throw tantrums over random things, this happens to be his.

But who gives the ice poles?

Yes, say oh they are just a summer thing, it's autumn now, once this packet is gone that's it until next summer.

By next summer if he remembers then maybe get a couple of packets, but he will probably have forgotten.

As stupid as this sounds, my son had the same obsession. As it turned out, he was displaying PICA. It’s effectively a craving for ice. My son had anaemia ( which we hadn’t realised until he got pneumonia)
With severe anaemia, people can crave, ice, dirt, Clay. Thankfully we don’t have a garden. Now he’s better again he’s completely lost interest in ice lollies etc...even on a really hot day.

Don't buy anymore. Show him that you haven't got any, so he can't have it. It might be tough for the first day or so but it will be fine. The youngest use to want to drink milk all day long when he was that age, it got so bad that he was losing weight as he wasn't eating as much food. We ended up hiding it and he soon got over it

Does your son drink a lot of cows milk?
Calcium interferes with the absorption of iron, so despite eating a varied diet, it’s possible to be anaemic.

My eldest went through a phase of this, turned out he was anaemic.

Ooh good point about the craving for ice. Try making plain ice cubes and see if he wants those? If so maybe it's worth a trip to the gp.

I crave ice and ice poles and I have pernicious anaemia. I eat a bag of ice every 2 days and I would easily eat 10 tiptops (ice poles) on top.

I'm really interested to hear that anaemia causes a craving for ice. When I was pregnant with DC3 I wolfed dozens of ice cubes which I put down to a craving.
I was also given iron as I was anaemic.
Nineteen years later I discover that connection!

Sorry OP - off topic.

Sorry off topic but why would being anaemic make you crave ice? Genuinely curious

I would either use the summers over thing or switch to home made ice cube trays and lolly sticks then you can control what's in them and less plastic

Thanks everyone,

Interesting about the anaemia, it's something to look at. I think it's probably that he's learnt how to say it so enjoys asking for them.

I'll keep telling him they've run out. I wouldn't buy them but my husband is also addicted although is less prone to tantrums

Low iron and sugar addiction probably, I'd just stop buying them and ride out the tantrums (I'm addicted to ice cubes btw)

Just how the body asks. There's charts with different cravings and what your body might be asking for.

I’m not being funny, but I’d take your son to Gp. Severe anaemia can cause all sorts of problems, ie immune system vulnerability, delay in cognitive and speech development.
People assume with anaemia there would be obvious symptoms. With my son there wasn’t a single one ( except the ice) It was only he had pneumonia the blood test showed why

Hi,

I have had very severe anaemia and until my iron got dangerously low, my only symptom was craving ice which I ate by the tray 3 or more times a day.

When I went to the doctor they were very worried about heart failure and I ended up having a blood transfusion and iron tablets. I would strongly recommend a trip to the doctor just to rule this out.

I hope all works out well and it isn't anything serious.