Diet and behaviour?

[Roseii]

Not meaning to start a debate, I'm wondering if you notice a link between diet and behaviour in your LO?

DD1's getting more and more...difficult  And I can't help wondering if it's coinciding with me being more lax with what she eats.

She's always eaten well so I've never refused her treats, on the basis that if she eats a good meal, a biscuit afterwards is ok.

She rarely asks for any sort of sugary snack, but she loves squash, can't get enough of it. I can't stand it myself but I buy Robinsons fruit and barley (the pink one that tastes like soap imo) for her and DH. Up until DD2 was born she only really drank water but the juice became more frequent and now she won't have water  And throws a fit if I refuse juice.

I know I should maybe switch to whole fruit juice?? Just more expensive 

So typical day would be:

cup of milk
Rice krispies and milk
Banana
Bit of toast and butter (white bread)

Ham and cheese sandwich (white bread)
Cucumber
Blueberries

Pasta and meatballs (all home made) with parmesan
Yoghurt (like petit felous)

Snacks are generally berries, raisins, sometimes crisps, sometimes biscuits. Drinks  3 cups of milk, around 4-5 cups of squash (v diluted but squash all the same)

What do you think?? Should I be making changes to potentially help her behaviour?

TIA x

[~*Nicole*~]

I made almost this exact same post about my DD awhile back. Let me see if I can find the link.

(UGH, I can't find it, sorry)

Only difference is that DD's diet was far worse than what you have described for your DD's. I am super lax about foods and I feel horribly guilty for that. I do notice a correlation and when she is eating and sleeping well she behaves MUCH better. Her sleep isn't amazing right now, but it's not terrible so she shouldn't be handling things as terribly as she is right now and I guarantee you it's her diet. We need to get back on track over here.

[Roseii]

Same here Nicole- I def can't blame it all on sleep.

What foods do you think affect her? Sugar?

x

[~*Nicole*~]

Yes, def. sugar and things that have tons of colors/preservatives, etc. She does a lot better when I make more things as opposed to use a lot of convenience/pre-packaged stuff and also when she drinks water and milk over juices. When she has the "bad" things in moderation (rather than avoiding them completely) she is MUCH better. We've just been having our kitchen worked on and with her baby brother being so little and refluxy and MSPI it's been HARD to get her eating well. I can't wait until our house is back in some kind of order!

[deb]

I was just about to log off when I saw this post. I will ABSOLUTELY be back.

short answer: YES YES YES!!!!

Start here: http://www.diannecraft.org/article-001.htm

[*Amy*]

Ha ha this is so weird! Dh got home from work and ds was hyper! Dh asked did he have any sugar and he and just eaten a mini pack of haribo jelly bears! With my ds it is almost instance the difference in his behaviour after he has sugar! I haves recently stopped yogurts and he only gets plain with fruit added. He is a good eater and eats most things. He still thinks that a digestive is a treat....long may that last! He discovered juice late on like when we was almost 3 and recently it is all he has wanted, so I bought him a new water bottle and told him it is only for water. This seems to have worked and he can fill it himself from the water machine which he likes to do!

Just read that article....very interesting! Ds has only ever had one antibiotic and his attention is quite good for a three year old. But I don't give him any supplements....does anyone give their kids a supplement?

[EllenS]

We discovered our DD#1 is sensitive to artificial food coloring, especially yellow.  She does not go "hyper" like you normally associate with sugar, but very belligerent, physically aggressive, angry and irrational - screaming, kicking.  When she has sugar she just wants to run and jump.  we had to change brands of yogurt, even mac & cheese, some crackers/cookies, only natural fruit juice, jam, etc.  Fortunately, we are crafty, so making our own Easter Egg dyes and such is a fun project.

[~*Nicole*~]

deb-That reminder about the antibiotics and overgrowth of yeast made me realize that I was on IV antibiotics during labor/delivery of DS as I was carrying Group B Strep. I wonder if that has anything to do with our possible yeast issue and his food intolerances?

[*Amy*]

Yes perhaps I should explain my "hyper" def physically aggressive, demanding, more stubborn, when he hugs me or kisses me he squeezes me and kisses me hard on the face. He can't play quietly on the floor it has to be some physical game that involves something daring....like jumping from couch to arm chair! He is completely irrational and will get angry very easily. He def talks in a much louder voice as well.

[deb]

I teach private music lessons at home. Yesterday my clarinet student was even less focused than usual, remarkably so, which was pretty problematic when it came to my trying to actually TEACH her anything.

Finally on the way out the door, mom revealed to me that it was Free Slurpee Day at 7/11, as the date was July 11th (in the States we write that 7/11, not 11/7). Aaaahhhh..... the light dawned.

When I volunteered at the girls' elementary school, I was appalled at the lack of focus by the kids I was desperately trying to teach the alphabet to - and then I saw school breakfasts: starchy foods, topped with pretend maple syrup (which was high fructose corn syrup with maple "flavoring") and washed down with pink strawberry milk, colored w/artificial colorings and sweetened with MORE HFCS. *shudder*

Nicole: when Nat was born, she would let out these HUGE horrible farts. The only thing I could think of was my IV during labor. Gave her probiotics and they cleared up THE NEXT DAY. I didn't know about infant probiotics at the time so they were my adult ones (oops) and she was still less than a week old, but the difference was dramatic.

The article I linked to was one I found when Josie was having horrific rages at preschool, and the thing that got us started on the dietary journey and on probiotics in the first place, so I link to it often.

We've since found that when the girls have sugar, especially HFCS, when they have fructose in general (meaning that well-meaning teachers and parents who give my kids 2 or more juice boxes), or when they have artificial colors and stuff get WAY hyper, and weepy, and combative. (We have this issue with dairy, BTW, along with horrific flatulence.)

I'll try to comment more when Josie isn't waiting for the computer.

[~*Nicole*~]

We don't seem to have much of an issue with dairy. I find I can give her regular cow's milk, store bought yogurt, cheeses, etc. and she is fine. It's more the processed crap and the juices and the candy that seem to really get her going. Once my stupid kitchen is functional again and I can stock up on better foods I think we will see a dramatic improvement in her behavior again.

The LOUDNESS and the AGGRESSION are really doing a number on me at the moment. I wish she would stop SCREAMING.

[Katet]

With the wanting other drinks, one rule we made was the "2 sugar foods/day" rule & that included juice/cordial etc & so I had a whole heap of pictures (I took photos) of the foods that were sugar foods & stuck them on magnets, then had a chart on the fridge & I'd put the pictures up in the chart when they had had the foods & that was it for the day. Now they are a bit older I don't count juice/cordial in the sugar foods, because they rarely have more than 1 of either a day, but when they were preschoolers I did limit the whole sugar food & with the chart it took the individual arguments out of the equation in the long term.

[rach321]

We found that's ds1 reacts really badly to chocolate so we try to avoid that at all costs - not always possible when he sees all his friends having some but we do our best. He also is a squash fan and we also saw a behaviour improvement when we switched to the ones with no artificial sweeteners, he has it really dilute and us very good about cleaning his teeth.

[Mortish]

You are definitely right to assume diet and behaviour go hand in hand.  I gotta say I had to really take a long hard look at my girls diet, I found that throughout the day they were having too much sugar in their diet...I found them way too hyper and over the top with their behaviour...so looked at their diet....pulled it right in and the difference is astounding....so yeah, definitely take those sugary drinks out of the equation and just go back to plain old water...never killed us when we were growing up:D  I even started making my own cakes and biscuits and lowering the sugar content.  Gotta say I am not an advocate for artificial sweetener for children, I just think we just have to limit the amount of sugar, preservatives and food colouring and it can make such a huge difference.

[Shiv52]

I haven't noticed a direct link but I know since R came along things have slipped in terms of healthy eating.  M only starting getting juice before her 3rd birthday and loves it.  Same with biscuits and chocolate.  Loves them.  And while I don't notice a big difference in her behaviour  I had noticed she gets much grumpier after sugary snacks where she would have had a yogurt and raisin.  

This last months I have have finally got it together.  There is no longer juice in the house.  Its just gone.   In a few weeks I'll get some more and we'll discuss that its for weekends and she can have a glass with dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Its smoothies and milk and water through the week. I think the problem is I was finding that the rule bending where treats were concerned just didn't end it.  Where she was only allowed chocolate before she has since has jelly sweets and my gran has started giving her those hard sweets etc which are just so bad for teeth.  Same with drinks, used to be milk or water, now juice.  Whats next?  Fizzy drinks?  I just know I don't want Rosa to be having  so much junk and that will be so much harder to do if she's see M always having it so I've made the decision to cut the junk both to help M  eat healthier and avoid the grumpiness and also for Rosa.  


In general I find if its not in the house its  much less of an issue.  It is much harder to get DD to accept she can't have something if she knows its in the cupboard.  So you  could just let her see the last of the juice be used and explain that this is the last of it and you won't be buying any more.  DD and I talk alot about how it is my job to make sure she eats well to grow and to help her look after her teeth.  THen in a few weeks you could get more juice and start the 'weekend rule' or 'one glass a day'.  I've started having treats in the cupboards again now and DD1 will say 'oh they are treats for sometimes' and thats it.  Alot better than the constant demands!  I'll get juice again at some stage and it'll be the same rule.