[Kemma]

Hi there,
I am just trying to get a handle on something going on with my DD 2.5 yo.

I think that she has some kind of reaction to sugar. Not physical like a stomach ache, but as in behavioural.

It's becoming apparent that on days when she has more sugar than normal, like today at a playgroup party, her behaviour changes. She's very contrary, angry, sad, tired, generally just very tantrumy.

I guess I'm not sure whether to blame the sugar (as in she has an abnormal response) or if it's just a normal 2.5 year old reaction to what's probably an excess of sugar.

Do any of you have any experience with this kind of thing? I hope I haven't been too vague.
Thanks for any tips/advice/knowledge
K

[Soprano-Cat]

Sugar raises your stress hormones, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if she got angry/tired.

It's completely normal, but a very good reason to avoid it as much as you can in every day life.

[Ehill]

You probably need to share a bit more detail about what type of sugar. If my DD ate a big slab of homemmade chocolate cake, no there would be no reaction but if she shovelled in a big bowl of Allens Snakes (like last Christmas day!) then yes she is a total loon!

So is it sugar, flavour, colours, additives etc?

Try and narrow it down a bit maybe.

[tenar]

How much extra sugar are we walking about?

If DD has a small cup of juice, no problems.

If she has a small cup of juice, a heap of sweet biscuits and a piece of cake covered with icing, she'll be pretty feral for the rest of the day. I think that's normal.

[Bam1]

My DD was like this and I someone said it could be sugar but I said it couldn't be as I knew her diet was very healthy (1st child of course). I soon realised it was the days that she had grapes that made her like this!

[Liadan]

If my DD has a lot of sugar, we will have a massive tantrum, tears, screaming, etc when she is going through the sugar crash.

It's not much fun, especially if she is tired (as happened on her birthday... my ex's parents decided it would be a great idea to give her a big chocolate frog, jelly and icecream after dinner then give her back to me to deal with).

[Livsh]

The link between behviour and sugar has been pretty comprehensively dismissed. The fact that she was at a party is probably the more realistic explanation. She probably got hyped up and is now tired.

Of course it might be some other additive that she is reacting to, if this happens often when she has a certain type of food then it's worth looking into.

[Domestic Goddess]

If DS has a cup of tea (decaf ocourse) with half a spoon of sugar, he's fine. If he gets a hot chocolate with 2 spoons of sugar, I need to put the household in lockdown.

Also, I have noticed that DS is worse with white processed sugar than with raw sugar.

[Bluenomi]

The link between behviour and sugar has been pretty comprehensively dismissed. The fact that she was at a party is probably the more realistic explanation. She probably got hyped up and is now tired.

Of course it might be some other additive that she is reacting to, if this happens often when she has a certain type of food then it's worth looking into.

This. Parents blame sugar (and red food colouring) for a lot of hyperactivity when it isn't to blame.

[kreme]

I agree with the PP that it's just a myth that kids either "get high" or "crash" from sugar. I've certainly never seen bad behaviour from my kids that I could attribute to sugary food.