Influence of Diet & Food sensitivities on you DC behavior?

[wimama]

Update-October 2010

This is an old post, but I wanted to update it so we can let others know just how much the Feingold Diet has changed our lives. My son’s health and behavior have improved tremendously on the Feingold Diet and our family life has improved as well. Our son is such a joy to spend time around now. I am so grateful and feel very blessed that we were able to find the Feingold Diet and I am grateful to all the Feingold families, like you all, who have helped us along the way.

Since starting Feingold, my DS respiratory symptoms have disappeared. He used to have to take Zyrtec daily and yet he still had a runny nose and nightly cough. I was convinced he would be diagnosed with asthma next if I didn’t get to the bottom of what was causing it. But, since starting the diet, all those symptoms are gone. He can pay attention, get to sleep easily and he is well behaved. He is one of the best behaved boys in his K4 class. I am so proud of him. Not only can he pay attention to us reading to him, but he is reading. And, I guess he is reading well enough for his friends at school to notice. Evidently, he read to his friends at after-school care and some of their parents commented on it at drop off in the morning. This is the kid who, we had to threaten multiple times with stopping reading at bedtime book time. I have also seen a big improvement in his fine motor skills since starting the diet.

Feingold has made a huge difference in our lives.

When we initially were starting, I pulled the obvious artificials from his diet, while we were waiting to officially start the diet. I just didn’t want to feed them to him while we were waiting to start. His daycare teachers commented to us that he had been so well behaved, quiet and was napping without difficulty, in those two weeks prior to starting the diet. So, when we mentioned what we were doing and how we would be sending food for him to eat during the day they were totally on board, because they had already been seeing a big improvement in him. Now that he is in K4 his teacher seems very receptive. He has a stash of Feingold approved treats and frozen cupcakes in the teacher’s lounge freezer, so he never misses out. His new K4 teacher was even telling one of his classmate’s parents about our DS’s diet and she called me over to explain more to them. I think they might be considering the diet for their son now.

To those considering this diet, I know is seems like so much work. It is time intensive in the beginning, while you are figuring out what stores you can buy what products at. But, after a few weeks it gets much easier, you will be back to just pulling the products you use off the shelves in the stores. Really a little extra effort shopping and cooking pays off in much less time spent in disciplining and trying to control your DC. I know it seems like one more thing to do in your already crazy life, but the diet has made our lives much less stressful. If the diet works for your family you will be able to enjoy spending time with your DC and what a wonderful gift you will have given your child.

Anyway, I just wanted to update my post, for all the posters that helped me out and for any families considering the Feingold diet for their families. Thanks everyone!

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Initial Post-

Is you child sensitive to certain foods?

Do you notice behavior changes with certain foods?

If you child is sensitive to some foods, what are they?

I am becoming increasingly concerned that my 3 1/2 year old son's diet is contributing to his behavior problems. Sometimes he is calm and collected and can focus well. Other times he has a hard time controlling his impulses and paying attention. He is having problems napping at daycare and has had problems settling down to sleep since he turned two years old. He does participate well in group activities in daycare and seems to focus well there and he plays well with the other kids. Also, he has season allergies and has had ear infections, bronchitis twice and pneumonia. He takes Zyrtec and I read on here that some kids are sensitive to their Zyrtec medicine.

I am concerned that both the respiratory symptoms and behavior may be due to certain food sensitivities. His behavior is not always bad, sometimes it just seems like he can't help himself and control his impulses. We have noticed chocolate cake is a huge trigger, more so than just a piece of chocolate. He also seemed to be avoiding milk for a while, so I switched him to lactose free milk. So, I worry about a possible milk sensitivity. I myself am lactose intolerant and noticed his avoiding milk and his belly aches. The belly aches improved by switching to lactose free milk. But there seems to be something else going on here.

I am thinking of trying the Feingold diet and maybe doing a bit of a elimination diet after that if the symptoms are still there.

Any advise?

[kcandz]

Yes. We don't do Feingold but in some caregiving situations DC eats better than with us, which often turns into a power struggle. DC is much more together when not eating white sugar, white flour, etc. DC has lactose senstivities too. Now that DC is older and maturing we can communicate better about tying together food choices and behavior. DC is starting to get it. So no advice, but encouragement.

[JBaxter]

YES! We do the feingold diet ( no food dyes for us) It causes extreme ADHD like behavior for Nathan. We choose to do a large part of our diet organic.

[wimama]

Any hints on starting the Fiengold Diet? Did you buy the whole program and "Why Can't my Child Behave" book?

[ThreeofUs]

My DS1 started acting just like yours whenever they had a sweet snack at school. He'd tell me his stomach didn't feel good, too, and his face would have an odd cast to it.

I know from Feingold. We had him off cow's milk and on as much whole-grain, organic, non-colored, unprocessed, etc. food we could - but it turned out he had a RAMPANT corn allergy. And what was he getting in those sweet school snacks? Corn syrup.

My advice to you is to get on the Feingold diet - I've seen it make huge differences for kids - but also to get allergy tested asap.

GL!

[happymom]

I teach in a special ed preschool. Some of the therapists are big believers in eliminating cow's milk when there is a behavior problem in a child. Although I havent seen this with any of my own students, it has been very successful with some students in the school.

[JBaxter]

Any hints on starting the Fiengold Diet? Did you buy the whole program and "Why Can't my Child Behave" book?


Yes when we started we did the whole progarm starting with phase 1. It wasnt to bad but Nathan was only 3. We still follow phase 2 modified. BOY can we tell if he gets something hes not supposed to have.

I loved the shopping guide in the begining now we buy a lot organic

[daisymommy]

We have done Feingold for many years now with my oldest DS Joshua. If you do a search here in the Lounge, as well as in the Kid Food forum for Feingold, you'll find several long, good threads about food sensitivities.

FYI...Feingold is cutting out:
-food dyes
-artificial preservatives
-artificial flavoring
-sometimes high fructose corn syrup

My son goes bonkers whenever he would eat/drink anything with those ingredients in it...for like 2-3 days! Feingold has saved our family!

Edited to add: Yes, the whole "kit" with the books and shopping guide was worth every single penny I paid for them.

[lizzywednesday]

The eldest of my youngest cousins is on what seems to be something very close to the Feingold diet to manage her ADD and it works very well for her.

If I had known more about it before I was responsible for her the night before my wedding 2 years ago, I would have enforced it a bit more closely and had better snacks on hand for her than the candy and crackers we had in our guest-bags at the hotel. (I had no idea that there were resources available; I just thought it was something crazy my aunt had come up with. Obviously, we don't always see eye-to-eye on things like this.)

Cutting down on preservatives & processed foods is never a bad thing, IMO. (I am doing a lot of that right now because the preservatives and processed foods make me feel so icky ... I think this might carry over into our "real life" after Baby arrives in March because of the differences I've noticed in my own system.)

[wimama]

Thank you everyone for all your responses. I am sorry it took so long to get back here and post. I got busy with visiting family and then got busy with Christmas.

Christmas day I let him eat cookies and chocolate and bedtime was a huge headache. He had trouble paying attention, when I read his new book and then when he was supposed to be sleeping, he ripped up one of his new books. Then, he got up a second time and was changing his clothes. He pulled the dresser drawer completely out and it landed on the floor with a thud.

I expect he to be stubborn little boy he is and do typical 3 year old things. But, it seems like he can't control himself, when he eats some food. He just loses his impulse control. You can see it in his face when he gets like that. He was as sweet as can be the two days prior, and he can be such a sweet, well behaved kid. The more I pay attention to his behavior and diet, I am seeing links between the two.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I showed my DH the Feingold website and he was concerned about how we would implement it, particularly at daycare, where they provide food for the kids. But, after last night he says that he is now on completely on board with trying the Feingold diet. So, that is a huge hurtle. We live with my MIL, so we need to get everyone on board with the diet and start packing lunches and snacks for him at daycare.

I owe it to my little guy to figure out if food sensitivities are causing these problems for him. And I think our whole family will benefit from some changes in our diet.

Thanks so much everyone for sharing your experiences.


If you do a search here in the Lounge, as well as in the Kid Food forum for Feingold, you'll find several long, good threads about food sensitivities.


Thanks, for reminding me. I did several searches, but I didn't do on for just Feingold.

[JBaxter]

At my son's preschool and everyplace we go I take his snacks. Let your daycare know. When I started it my preschool was very much on board with our decision it took a week and they noticed a BIG change.

You will just have to put your food down and advocate with for you child. Tell them to treat him as if he had a food allergy to these products.

[elliput]

I didn't get a chance to respond earlier, but yes- there are some things that really just crank DD up. It was other threads on food sensitivities that got me to consider what was causing DD destructive and wild behaviors (over and above her autism) and her sleep issues. We have found Red 40 is a big one.

DH wasn't thinking on Christmas Eve and gave DD some cranberry flavored soda which, of course, has Red 40 so she was wired up all night. This was after he specifically hunted down organic candy canes with no red dye. :banghead: She was wide awake at 2:30 in the morning, and at 5am on Christmas morning had wandered out to the living room, turned on the lights and was checking out the toys.

[JBaxter]

I didn't get a chance to respond earlier, but yes- there are some things that really just crank DD up. It was other threads on food sensitivities that got me to consider what was causing DD destructive and wild behaviors (over and above her autism) and her sleep issues. We have found Red 40 is a big one.

DH wasn't thinking on Christmas Eve and gave DD some cranberry flavored soda which, of course, has Red 40 so she was wired up all night. This was after he specifically hunted down organic candy canes with no red dye. :banghead: She was wide awake at 2:30 in the morning, and at 5am on Christmas morning had wandered out to the living room, turned on the lights and was checking out the toys.

We found the orgainc candy canes too! We've gone through 3 boxes

[wimama]

At my son's preschool and everyplace we go I take his snacks. Let your daycare know. When I started it my preschool was very much on board with our decision it took a week and they noticed a BIG change.

You will just have to put your food down and advocate with for you child. Tell them to treat him as if he had a food allergy to these products.

I think his preschool will work with him. I think there are a few kids, whose parents bring in some special foods. Right now they are at their wits end, trying to work with him at nap time. He has licked and even kicked his teachers at nap time. All the kids are required to stay on their mats and be quiet for 15-20 minutes. I just think he is too riled up to sleep. I know that pretty soon the birthday months will be coming up at daycare. All the kids will start turning 4 soon. We will have brace ourselves for all the cupcakes that his friends will bring into daycare. But, I am thinking too far ahead.

I was all set to order the Feingold program, but I realized that the new 2010 shopping guide is probably coming out soon. I emailed them, to find out how soon. I might just buy the book on Amazon to get started, and wait for the new shopping guide if it will be out in January. I am itching to buy the whole program, though.

[JBaxter]

I bought special things for Nathan to keep at school for "party" days that I forgot about. We used zbars from Cliff or I usually made big batch of muffins and kept some in the freezer It would usually thaw by the special snack time.

Nathan calmed SO much ( agressive out bursts) in the first week.

[wimama]

I just bought the Cliff fruit snack ropes for Joey.

I am hoping they are on the program. I love them. I saw they were organic and had no corn syrup in them, so I bought them. Joey loves fruit snacks. So, I bought the Cliff and Whole Foods ones. I have been trying to wean him off the corn syrup fun character fruit snacks.

I have the Kid Cliff bars for him too, are they OK for him to eat?

[JBaxter]

Nathan doesnt have any problems with them. I cant remember for sure if they are phase 1 or not. We do a lot of organic. Lets do organic has gummy bears that or ok. Nathan doesnt like the cliff fruit leather or ropes ( I do LOL) we also do Annies gummie bunnies.

Annies chedder bunnies , graham bunnies, chocolat bunnies and chocolate chip bunnies are also ok. ( they replace goldfish and teddy grahams) Pirates bootie and Cheetos Natural white cheddar cheese puffs are ok

There is NOTHING I have not found a natural replacement for. Oh we dont do soda but Sprite is ok.

Im looking for my shopping guide I havent used it for a long time Im in a no dye groove!

Oh the black box of bryers icecream is ok

PM me if you want :)

[wimama]

Excellent info. I guess it is Annies bunnies fruit snacks we have. They are definately bunnies.

I told him last night that he lost rights to all cookies and chocolate from his book ripping episode last night. He was upset about it last night when he was all riled up and today he hasn't even asked for them. I will offer him the Cliff fruit ropes and look at the label more closely. I am thinking when we start I will sit him down and talk to him about the diet changes and then make a trip to Whole Foods and let him pick out some approved treats. So, he will not feel like we are taking away too much of his favorite foods. I think we need to buy him some new toothpaste. We are guilty of buying him the toothpaste with the dye and sparkly things in it.

I see that I can read the first 50 pages of the book online for free. So, I can get started with my reading. I am determined to get to the bottom of all this.

[Elilly]

DS is gluten and casein free and he is a much more sensible child while on the diet. DD is not on that diet although I do give her these digestive enzymes to help break down the gluten and casein that she does consume in her diet:
http://www.klaire.com/K-VCH_proddetail.htm
Above and beyond that we do mostly organic produce, no HFCS, and steer clear of food dyes.

[JBaxter]

We tried the food dyes first. We would have gone gluten free as the next option. I just didnt want to tackle that diet unless we had to That one IMO is much harder

[daisymommy]

There is a stage #1 that lasts for 2 weeks, and it is the hardest part because many things are not allowed. But then stage #2 starts and you add back in certain things to see if they are "allergic" to them or not (citrus fruits, ketchup, strawberries, & apples to name a few things).

But starting in stage #2 they can have Goldfish crackers (which are cheaper than the Annie's bunnies). I can email you a list of all sorts of things I have found that are "safe". Actually, maybe I'll post it here in case someone else needs it as well.

BTW...the Cliff bars and ropes are fine. But possibly not in Stage #1 while you are trying to get everything out of their system, because the ropes contain apples I think? And anything organic is fine, unless you find out in stage #2 that there is a certain allergy to one of the fruits. The book explains all this.

[June Mommy2]

Just wanted to chime in with our experience. My DS has some behavior issues and developed some tics several months ago as well. I started Feingold with him this summer and the tics stopped almost immediately. Well, I had slacked off the past month or so with the holidays and all the parties, etc. He had been getting stuff like juice boxes, icing, candy, etc. His behavior was getting more and more atrocious, but it wasn't until he started having some tics again on Christmas Day that I realized that the diet was probably the problem. We're back on Stage #1 now! I think the hardest part for us has been the fruits that are not allowed, b/c my DS was a big fruit eater. We are not near a Whole Foods but I have been able to find approved replacements for most things at our regular grocery store.

[JBaxter]

We were ok with most fruits except oranges. We are just now re introducing oranges and ONLY one a full stomach.

[MamaKath]

We were ok with most fruits except oranges. We are just now re introducing oranges and ONLY one a full stomach.
This is us too! Oranges make him visibly BoUnCe!!! It is crazy! We can not do food dyes at all. Feingold is great! I was just going to look for the 2010 shopping guide.

[wimama]

Well, I just ordered the program.

I am totally impressed with how quickly I received an answer from their customer service about the Shopping guides. The person who answered me stated that the 2010 guides are out and that the guides are updated and reprinted several times a year. The last printing was in November. I think it is awesome that they update the guides more than once a year. So, far I am very impressed.

I ordered two shopping guides, since we are now living with my MIL. Both my MIL and myself do most of the shopping. I am excited to read everything and get started.

I also wish Whole Foods was a lot closer. Our only Whole Foods is downtown, which is pretty far from where we live and I tend to get lost when I go downtown. Now, I will have to get over that. LOL.

[daisymommy]

Also, if you have a Trader Joes near you, they have a TON of safe stuff for kids to eat (cookies, crackers, snacks and candy, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese, pizza, etc.). And it's cheaper than Whole Foods.

I have also found that for some reason, many of the store brands are safe to eat and don't have anything weird in them, but the name brands do.

[wimama]

Also, if you have a Trader Joes near you, they have a TON of safe stuff for kids to eat (cookies, crackers, snacks and candy, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese, pizza, etc.). And it's cheaper than Whole Foods.

I have also found that for some reason, many of the store brands are safe to eat and don't have anything weird in them, but the name brands do.

Awesome! Our Trader Joes is even further away but in the same direction, kinda. I guess we can just take some coolers with us and hit both on the same shopping day. We have a smaller healthy/organic coop grocery stores but they are even pricier, which is unfortunate because they are closer.

I am so excited to get started. I paid for priority shipping, so hopefully I will have everything soon. I am reading the first 50 pages free while I am waiting.

[wimama]

Our program materials are here! Yeah! Now I have some reading to do!



When one joins the Feingold Association, the foodlist IS up to date no matter what time of year one joins. The only book you can buy on Amazon is Jane Hersey's Why Can't My Child Behave? To get the Feingold materials, it is directly through www.feingold.org

Going on the diet can be a lot of work if you don't do it right. Only eliminating the dyes just isn't enough.

I didn't realize how up to date they were until I emailed the association. The update the guides several times a year. We will follow the program completely, I just couldn't stand by and not change anything in his diet while we were waiting to get started. So, I have been eliminated what I feel the biggest culprits for now. His behavior has improved considerably until yesterday. He reacted to something yesterday.

[MamaKath]

Our program materials are here! Yeah! Now I have some reading to do!
:cheerleader1: Yay! Isn't it exciting? Hang in there as you start the process.