sugary foods = stomach pain?

[nilatti]

So, my little guy is going to be 1 this week. For the most part, we avoid sugary foods with him. He eats fruits, but not "desserts." Well, from time to time, a well-meaning friend or family member has given him a little bite of something sugary. At 8 months, it was a bite of my step-mom's ice cream. Last month, a nibble of wedding cake (with icing!) from my brother. Yesterday, a piece of brownie from my neighbor. 

EVERY time, I say to the person, "Please don't give him that. He doesn't handle sweet foods well. He'll have a tummy ache at three o'clock in the morning." And mostly, people just listen, or I really insist...but on the three occasions mentioned above, I, out of politeness or exhaustion with arguing, give in to their "what could one bite hurt?" logic. And each time, I live to regret it.The past few nights have been awesome. We're doing the Dr Gordon thing, and DS has only woken, BRIEFLY, twice each night. Last night, DS and I got about 3 hours of sleep...maybe. He seemed like he was really in pain. Wouldn't nurse or take a bottle or a cup of water. Wouldn't use the potty. Just writhed and screamed and moaned. I'm sick of people insisting that it's just a coincidence that he has bad nights when he's had a sweet treat. The same thing happens when he eats tomatoes, and people don't seem to have an issue with me not giving those to him until his little system matures a bit.

So, point one, yes, I need to be rock solid about this whole "NO SWEETS REALLY I MEAN IT" thing. I think my new rule is going to be, "Sure, you can give him just ONE bite of that cookie...and then YOU can keep him tonight."

The second thing, though, is that I'm a bit concerned that his reaction might point to something more serious. I am talking about VERY SMALL bites here...maybe a teaspoon each time. I get why people think I'm crazy. It's hard to imagine that such a tiny thing could have such a big effect on him.

Third thing...am I crazy? Maybe it really is just coincidental. 

heck, I don't know.

[tooraloora]

My DD couldn't handle sugar well at ALL when she was little. She's 6 now, and it's much better, but up until she was nearly 5, a little sugar made her very, very ill. She still doesn't do well with large amounts, but a small dessert here and there isn't the nightmare it once was. Once on a sleep over, her friend's parents gave her a slice of chocolate cake and she got so sick I thought I was going to have to take her to the hospital. She wasn't herself again for 2 days. People fought me on it, too. Certain folks said it was abusive not to allow her sweets, and I had people sneaking her stuff behind my back. Every time DD went to throwing up, if I asked what she'd had to eat, it was almost guaranteed I'd hear something along the lines of a run down of everything I fed her and then "And so-and-so gave me a cookie." If I caught someone giving her candy, without fail I'd be spending the night beside her holding a basin for her and holding her hair back while she cried and puked. We had a couple really tough years over it. I had her tested for everything imaginable, and her doctors never found anything out of the ordinary. I still don't know what caused it, but I do know it was not a coincidence, and you aren't crazy. 

[nilatti]

Thank you so much for sharing about your daughter. I'm glad to hear that she has largely grown out of it. 

It makes me feel better to know that we're not the only ones.

[luckiest]

How awful!  Does he otherwise tolerate gluten and dairy well?  Either/both of those would be more likely candidates than sugar, but it's obviously possible!  You know your child better than anyone else.  If it were me I'd tell everyone that he had a severe sucrose allergy (which may be the case anyway!) - but people might take it more seriously if you say he's allergic rather than saying he doesn't tolerate it well.

[nilatti]

He's definitely fine with gluten, and he loves yogurt and cheese (haven't tried regular cow's milk yet). I asked his doctor about it, and he said that since we basically never give him sweets, his system might just not be primed to have them yet. He suggested that we try again in 6 months.