How to Handle the Post-Halloween Sugar Crisis

It’s almost a rite of passage. Your kids scoff as many lollies at Halloween as they possibly can, reveling in their successes at trick or treating. Then inevitably, they spend the rest of the evening in a sugar-induced coma wishing they’d never left the house to begin with. They can’t even bear to look at the remainder of their Halloween haul and begrudgingly let their little sister have it.

As a parent, you never want to see your kids feeling awful and rolling around on the couch – there’s plenty of time for that when they are teenagers. What you can do (if total restraint from Halloween goodies is out of the question) is make sure they make a quick recovery.

To start with, it’s always best to try and reason with your little monster (whether they are dressed as one or not) to take it easy with their sugary intake. You will probably be laughed at, but it’s always worth a try! They will enjoy their stash more and over a longer period if they space it out in moderation, and they never end up feeling sick.

So, onto the next stage. Damage control. It’s now too late, your monster has not heeded your warning and eaten their weight in lollies and chocolate. Groaning, clutching their stomache and general complaints about them feeling like they are dying ensue. Their blood sugar levels are skyrocketing and their body is having a field day producing excessive amounts of glucose. But once all that glucose is gone, their blood sugar plummets – triggering the dreaded sugar coma.

The best thing to do is drink plenty of water. Their body will try to get rid of the extra glucose by filtering it through the kidneys and passing it through urine. So the more water they drink, the more their glucose will be flushed out of their system.

Giving them something protein based to eat will also help as this is digested slowly, as opposed to the manic digestion of sugars. Then the only thing left to do is wait for it to pass.

You secretly hope that your child has learned their lesson. But unfortunately, memories fade and there is a strong chance your little monster will be doing the same thing next year. But you will be there, with a bottle of water and a raised eyebrow.