Warning: Low Blood Sugar Turns Your Kid into an Alien

We had kind of an odd experience this morning. Well, it started yesterday, really. We had a cold make the rounds of the house, starting with Little Jacob (who probably got it in nursery, ugh). He seemed to be doing much better, except for a persistent runny nose, but yesterday, after having been ill for a week and a half, he suddenly refused to eat anything. Normally he has a very healthy appetite, so this was a little weird for us. He ate a couple of Cheez-Itz in the morning, refused to eat anything for lunch, and then had some applesauce and chocolate pudding around four o'clock in the afternoon. He had a four-hour nap, and still around 5:30 he was telling me he was tired, he wanted his pajamas, he wanted to lie down. I insisted he drink at least a glass of milk first, and then put him to bed. He slept until close to 9:00 this morning. That's nineteen hours of sleep since he got up the day before. Pretty weird for an almost-two-year-old.

Anyway, this morning he got right up out of bed and started crying at his closed bedroom door. Dad rescued him and brought him to me, and the first thing he asked for was a banana. I took him to his highchair and got him a banana, but they're a little old so I cut off the worst brown bits and cut it in half. He F-R-E-A-K-E-D out. I have never seen him do anything like that. He started screaming, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" with his face turning red, throwing banana halves as far as he could pitch them. His dad and I stared at him with big eyes, wondering what on earth was going on. He NEVER acts like that. I asked him if he wanted applesauce--"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" And so on like that while we thought of all his favorites. Finally his dad offered him Pero, one of his favorite drinks, and he interrupted his tirade long enough to look up at dad with big eyes, and say, "Pero?" like a question, in a shaky voice.

Jacob made him some, and by the time he got it he was shaking all over. His hands were shaking, his head was shaking--he could hardly get the cup up to his mouth, and he downed the whole thing in one starving rush. Poor kid. I think he must have been starving, and probably dehydrated too. He then ate a bowl of cereal, a slice of cantaloupe, and drank another cup of Pero and a cup of apple juice. He acted a lot more normal after that.

But then, as I was writing this, I learned another lesson. Even if your kid is really, really hungry, don't give him too much. While I was writing this post he threw it all up on the chair next to me. So now we're back to square one, and I'll have to do it all over again, but I'll be more careful this time. At least it had been an hour or so, so I'm pretty sure he had absorbed most of the liquid he drank. Poor little boy. He really hates throwing up, and got really upset when he did. He started shaking again, and crying, and saying, "Yucky puke. Yuck! Yucky mess! Sorry, puke." I got him some water and told him he didn't have to be sorry, throw-up happens. He is now sitting cuddled on my lap, finally comforted after I sang him endless renditions of the Mockingbird Lullaby.

Now he's asking to go in the car, so an hour late I finally get to run my errands. Some of this stuff I just never really anticipated. I guess I did in a nebulous sort of way, but it's weird being the actual mum who cleans everything up and kisses to make better and sings lullabies for comfort. It's scary when I think of how much this little boy depends on me for everything.

But, anyway, beware low blood sugar and dehydration. It makes your kid go bonkers.