6 yo sneaking food

If you use google, you may find some recipes out there for treats that fall into her dietary restrictions. I admire a co worker of mine who has a daughter with severe allergies, including nuts. She makes a point to have options for her daughter that still allow her to be part of the celebration, but safe.

You know what is best for your child, but I would say that right now, she doesn't have food issues...she has food wants. At a young age, children find it difficult to control impulses without consequences. At the same time, if she is not able to have the treats she desires in moderation, and begins to feel that eating is bad, she may really truly develop some food issues...if that makes sense.

I am wishing you and yours health and happiness!

Now you should know that candy is absolutely not allowed into our house.

Well there's your problem. Maybe she wants to eat like the other more 'normal' kids at school. You are not compromising your childs health by allowing them a piece of candy or chocolate if their diet is otherwise in order.

Re-read the OP.

Her 6 yo can't have candy due to the corn in it for medical reasons.

OP, I'd look into corn free candy. There have to be sweets out there that are medically safe for your daughter.

So you restricted the foods to keep your daughter's eczema in check, but she is sneaking them anyway... how is the eczema? If she's not flared up, maybe you could consider loosening the restrictions a little? If/when she does have another flare up and she is itching like mad, that would be a great time to explain to her how her food choices affect her body.

^^ This. As a child with eczema I just really didn't "get it" or the connection when it wasn't bothering me. Fortunately I outgrew it until my 30's. Now I make the decision to still eat certain foods knowing that I will pay for it but I do it in moderation. Perhaps you could also try something like the Unreal candies that are made with out corn syrup etc.

I have eczema, my kids have eczema. It's not junk food that's the problem. It's LOW FAT food that contributes to eczema. I learned that the "low fat" way that we were taught in the 80's was wrong and luckily my kids have benefited from it. NONE of them are overweight, one is actually underweight and I have to make him drink Pediasures sometimes! I'm the one with the weight to lose from my pregnancies. So hard to get that off!

My solution to having almost NO eczema at ALL anymore:

Full fat food, just watch portions.
Lots of water.
WATER SOFTENER IN THE HOME!! Hard water is a major culprit!
ONLY use Dove white soap. It's not real soap and it's the only one all of us can use without breaking out.

Did she have any noticeable reactions to all of that candy once it was deemed to be contraband? I'm not sure if I understood the timeline.. If she hasn't had a flare up after all that candy why can't she have a bit? If she doesn't have a severe reaction and you ban everything she could develop an unhealthy relationship with these treats.

I understand your ban is to help her. It seems like she's trying to tell you something. She may be young but she knows that she's being deprived and doesn't understand why. Whenever a child with severe allergies was in class with one of my kids the child's parents provided the teacher with alternative treats. This way the child with life threatening allergies was able to have a safe treat without feeling deprived.

Find or make some candy that she *can* have and let her have some. Teaching her to eat healthy the vast majority of the time and that occasional treats are normal and okay actually sets her up for a much better relationship with food than restricting her diet severely.

If you make candy, you can do it as something that you and your DD can do together.

Thanks so much for your replies. I agree that banning candy isn't working and is having a bad effect that has me pretty worried. I was also a binge eater due to food restrictions. My sisters were allowed to have desert because they were thin, but I was chunky and was constantly told I should eat a smaller piece of cake or forgo the cookies. I also rebelled and my eating got totally out of control as a young adult when I was on my own with control of the shopping and budget. This is the niggling doubt that is worming around in the back of my mind, that the restrictions are doing more harm that good.

It sounds like you know what you need to do. I know you care, but some times, when we care, we go too far. It sounds like you did. Education is key, but you need to educate her to have a healthy relationship with all food and this includes candy. The healthy relationship will stop the bad habits.

My 6 year old daughter has some food issues. She is intollerant to corn and milk and a picky eather to boot. The allergest says she is not actually allergic to anything but that we should stick with the exclusion diet that helped clear up her extreme exema (think so itchy she scratched her whole body raw in her sleep even). Due to these issues our family's diet is radically different from other kids her age in that it contains almost no packed or processed foods. This kid is thin, but not an unhealthy weight and I have reviewed her diet with a nutritionist to make sure she is getting what she needs. There are plenty of healty foods (fruits, veggies, PB, home made muffins, etc.) to eat around our house and the older kids are generally free to snack as long as it not right before a meal. We do let the kids have an occasional treat as well.

Getting to my point, the issue is that I have been finding candy wrappers stashed in various places around the house, including a pile of them stuffed down into the air vent in my daughters' bedroom. Now you should know that candy is absolutely not allowed into our house. It is filled with corn and corn derivatives and just not fair for a 6 year old to watch other family members eating stuff she can't have. In my search to find out where this stuff was coming from I've been surprised to find that there are multiple sources including people who should know better. I have told various people off for comprimising my child's health and been labeled as a bit of a fanatic and accused of depriving my children of fun (insert rolling eyes here). Since my 9 year old daughter was one of the sources of contaband she will now be banned from candy as well. Unfortunately since she does not have dietary restrictions it is more difficult to get people to stop giving it to her.

Since my kids are at school all day and I be in control all the time, I think my best option is to educate my kids regarding healthy eating while providing them with better alternatives to the super sweet junk food. So, I'm looking for some more yummy, corn and milk free snack ideas that will reassure my kids that they are getting "the good stuff", without sneaking candy. Suggestions are welcome.

I agree with what you are doing 100%. My son can't have nuts, soy or dairy so there are alot of things that can't go into his mouth. We would never make him sit and watch everyone else eat something that he can't have. Its not fair. So the food in our house is safe. Our other 2 dont even think twice about it. I do make sure that we sneak some chocolate to them every once in awhile though.

I wouldn't ban candy/treats entirely though. Find some safe alternatives, and let her have those. That doesn't mean she gets them wheneverh she wants, put rules in place and stick to them. My kids usually get one treat a day, a cookie (baked by me), an organic lollipop, or a homemade popsicle, and we have dessert on Sundays. Once a month we do a movie and chip day on a weekend. There has to be a balance between having whtaever they want when they want it, and never having anything. That balance is whatever feels good to you.

Have you ever tried the Enjoy Life products? Everything they make is free of the 10 to allergans, corn and dairy included. Some special granola bars or cookies might make her feel better while everyone else is having a different treat, and they taste pretty good.

You are NOT a fanatic by any means, you need to watch this video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA&feature=player_embedded

It has some very valuable info on why so many if us are corn, dairy, soy, peanut, intolerant. GMO's. Genetically Modified Foods (organisms for "O").

It is hard to get other people to understand the restrictions some kids need to be healthy. Hang in there!

I am a developmental psychologist and am helping on some research on kids' eating (and how they fight with their parents about their eating). You sound like you have a challenging situation. But I'm not a clinical person at all, so take this just as informed parental advice.

Leann Birch's research at Penn State suggests that kids who have been on strict healthy diets tend to over-indulge when they get a chance to eat things they normally aren't allowed. (That's the bad news.) So given a chance, yeah, they will eat more than kids who are allowed candy or chips or whatever all the time. The good news is that they usually have internalized all the good eating habits you've ingrained in them.

Since you can't watch her all the time, a couple things that should, in theory help might include . . .

a) finding some sweets/treats/candies that she can eat. They might not be your best favorite food for her to eat. But if they are within the tolerable limits of things she can eat without making her sick/worsen her condition you might think about letting her have them as treats. There are a lot of different types of sweets out there. I make some sesame honey sticks that are just honey and sesame seeds and almonds that my kids think are candy.

Letting her have that treat may take the edge off of the desire and decrease the temptation.

b) frame your discussions with her in terms of health - which is something parents have a right to set rules about. I just wrote a piece in Psychology Today about this, that talks about the general idea: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201209/should-parents-impose-dress-code

If you frame it in terms of your ideas v. her taste, then she's going to believe that you have no right to set the rule and disobey/lie (that's what my research is about). But health is something kids think parents should set rules about.

c) Frame it positively, not negatively. Kids - especially older kids, but younger ones too - are way more responsive to what makes them feel good than what makes them feel bad. So saying - you feel really good when you eat apples and avoid corn syrup is much more compelling to them than saying you feel really bad when you eat candy.

It's how the reward center of the brain works. (Another Psych Today post: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201110/teens-respond-pleasure-not-pain-parent-accordingly).

Good luck!