Toddler begging for fruit

[lisa]

I've heard most on this discussion board say that they or their children have an aversion to sweet food. Nate is actually begging for it. I have to watch when getting into the refrigerator if he is around because he will actually step inside and try to grab fruit out - even if he can't reach it. He doesn't know too many words yet, but "apple" and "nana" are his standard requests from anyone he thinks might be able to give him one. While we were trying to figure out what the problem with him was, he was on the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) diet quite frequently. Both of those foods were allowable and he ate them every day.

He is developing into a behavior problem at daycare because of his desire to eat what everyone else does. He used to be such a good natured kid, despite his health issues and he is much more moody now. We're only 10 days into the diet - please let me know if this gets better over time or if any of you have experienced this problem. I know I need to be strict if it is going to work, but that is HARD! As an added "bonus" Nate was sick with a stomach virus for 5 days and hasn't kept down much of anything. I'm hoping some of the moodiness is due to that and will disappear when he is 100% recovered.

Also, do any of you have other children in the household? How are they coping? Have their diets been altered in any form?

[Tammy]

Once all the fructose is out of the system, I think you'll find that if they "sneak" something, they will get sick from it. Once they get sick, and you get them to understand that is what they got sick from, it should be better. It's not worth eating if you're going to be sick.

Regina has an older brother. I have never altered his diet in any way to be like Regina. It wouldn't be healthy for him. He needs fruits and veges. So we always have 2 kinds. Regina's chocolate milk, and Stevie's chocolate milk. Regina's cookies, Stevies cookies. This has helped Regina in the "real" world, too. Once she understood that some foods make her sick, if she picks something up she'll ask me if it's her kind or Stevie's kind. And if it's Stevie's kind, she'll just put it back and wait until we get something that is her kind. It doesn't have to even be the same thing, just so she has "something" she's happy. This has worked well, and like I've mentioned before, the only time I have a hard time with it is when we go to the local ice cream shop in the summer. We all get cones and she gets potato chips and diet soda. She's ok with this, she gets her ice cream when we get home. Sometimes it is hard, But it's even harder to see her so sick.

If you're starting to see reactions to eating something, then I agree that you must be doing a good job and just keep it up. Sometimes being a good parent is hard, but it'll pay off in the end.