Red dye 40 is BAD stuff!

If you know our sweet Morgan at all, you will be well familiar with the fact that she is a strong-willed little girl. She is as sweet as sugar most of the time. But when she gets mad or upset...watch out!

We have had some rough days at preschool. (Ask Mrs. Summer...and Mrs. Katherine!) Shane and I have been at our wits end at times, not knowing what to do. When she has a tantrum, it is no ordinary tantrum. It is a knock down, full-blown kicking and screaming fest.

We have tried everything we know...time outs, holding her, etc. Nothing works.

So one day a few weeks ago, someone mentioned a red dye allergy to me. I started looking around for some information. I found out that it is a pretty common thing. And a lot of the stories I read mirrored the behavior we have been seeing.

So I went to our cabinet and was shocked to find that a TON of stuff has the dye in it. Morgan doesn't eat much, but the few things she DOES eat has it. Fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups, Kool Aid, vitamins, M & Ms, Skittles...the list goes on.

We decided to cut these things out and see what happened. Sure enough, she started having better days at school. She still has her moments, but we haven't gotten on the yellow or red lights for a while now! SHOCKER!

Well, last night, she had a tantrum. And I got to thinking...I slipped and gave her tropical punch yesterday. Every time she has a tantrum lately, we can trace it back to a food. For example, the last tantrum she had prior to last night...my mom had given her some M&Ms and Skittles.

While we can't say for sure that she has this allergy, I think the evidence is pretty conclusive. So, I will be a label-reading fool for a while. I DO know that Gummy Vites are dye free. Now, if I can just find some fruit snacks, we will be all good!