Author’s practical guidance
It was the sleep, not the sugar
Source named in the book: sleep, behavior and the sugar hypothesis (AAP)
Birthday parties are followed by difficult children and the sugar gets the blame.
Say this now
“Yesterday was late and loud. Today we're slow.”
Names the real cause. Children accept a reason that matches what they experienced.
“Bedtime is early tonight. It's not a punishment.”
Said plainly, so the early night does not read as a punishment.
Do this
- Protect the nap on the day of the event, not after it.
- Move bedtime earlier that night rather than the next one.
- Leave the following day empty when you can.
- Watch sleep before the food — it explains far more of the week.
- Keep the wake-up time steady even after a late night.
Avoid this
- Cutting sugar and expecting the behavior to change — the thing you removed was not the cause.
- "He's fine, he just needs to catch up on sleep." — catching up is not how sleep debt works at this age.
- Scheduling the second event the next day — the cost of the first has not been paid yet.
TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR IF
- They snore most nights, or sleep mouth-open.
- You have noticed pauses in breathing, or gasping.
- They are exhausted despite enough hours in bed.
- They wake many times a night, for weeks.
- Nothing helps and it gets called temperament.
Why the book suggests this
Birthday parties are followed by difficult children and the sugar gets the blame. Controlled studies have looked at this repeatedly and do not find the effect: when parents do not know whether their child had sugar, they do not report a difference in behavior.
What was actually present is unmistakable. A late night, a missed nap, two hours of noise, a room of faces and a long stretch of excitement. Any child would be depleted by that combination. A sensitive one will be, reliably, and the effect shows up the next day.
From this collection
Same Words: Deep Feelings
45 prepared situations in this family area.