The Answer to Noah's Shirt Chewing...

NOTE: If you came across this page by googling "Shirt Chewing", please click here for the most recent post on Noah's shirt chewing. Thanks!


Sugar.

Who knew that five little letters could wreck such havoc?

As I've mentioned before, Noah has a terrible shirt chewing habit. I can't quite remember when it all started, but we all noticed that it STOPPED completely when we were in Austin. The only thing that was really different was his diet - since we were living out of a hotel for a week. When we got home, we racked our brains to figure out what it was.... what food triggered Noah' s shirt chewing.

We were home about 2 days when Noah started chewing again. Agave Nectar. Sim had put agave nectar on Noah's waffles. We took the agave nectar out of his diet and the next day, the chewing decreased. A few days later, I gave him a peanut butter and jelly rice cake. He started shirt chewing. It had to have been the jelly.. which goes to show that just because it's organic or natural doesn't mean it's good for you. So, we took that out of his diet and then today... well, let's just say I had a weak moment. Noah had his first ever donut today. I have no idea what possessed me to buy a donut, except that they were calling my name from behind the glass case. And I was hungry.. and I completely caved. Guess what Noah's doing right now? (Oh, and he scarfed the donut down in 5 seconds flat). He's chewing up his $15.00 Mardel shirt that I bought the other day.

I'm feel so defeated. I'm glad we've found the culprit, but I hate having to do the sugar-free diet again. Granted, we try to stay away from high fructose corn syrup and things (well, Eli gets lots of the forbidden treats) and we use either sugar substitutes, like agave nectar, or only use organic sugar, but I think we're just going to have to go cold-turkey and completely wipe all forms of sugar out of the house. Hey, maybe I can finally lose those 10 pounds I've been trying 4 years to lose. Glass half-full. Glass half-full. (Christine, I think I'm going to have to read the Feast without Yeast book).

It's also really wild to see how quickly Noah's behavior changed after inhaling the donut. Within 3 minutes he was whiny and weepy. He started banging on the fridge and throwing himself on the kitchen floor and rolling around and whining. I cannot believe I did that to him.

We have friends coming up from Irving today. They'll be here in about an hour and I'm so mad at myself right now. I've been bragging about how much progress Noah has made and they're really anxious to see it. They have a 6 year old son with autism, too, and I really wanted them to see how much Noah has changed since they last saw him. And it only took 5 seconds to completely ruin it all. Aaargh. Lesson learned. Lesson seriously learned.

Noah's Mom

Comments

Deb Schiff said…
So sorry to hear that agave nectar (and other sources of sweet) drive Noah to chew his shirts. First time at your blog (found it as a result of a google alert for agave nectar).

Thoughts and prayers are with you.
Recovering Noah said…
Hi Deb, it's nice to meet you! Agave nectar is very good. I hope I didn't scare you away from it. It's wonderful stuff. Unfortunately, Noah develops an allergy to anything he eats for more than 2-3 weeks at a time - and we really pushed our luck with the agave nectar. We've been using it for 2 years now, and really ate a lot of it this summer on waffles. I never put two and two together (with the agave nectar) until now. But, honestly, it's a fantastic sugar substitute and works really well for people with diabetes, too. Best wishes, Leslie
C said…
Spend the $20 on a tub of Stevia to add to some foods. Use honey. Use applesauce. There are all sorts of ways to sneak in some sweetness.

However, cutting out any refined sugar (we don't even use organic or raw sugar) really will help you all.

Hey - the Feast Without Yeast guy talks about how his diet has worked really well with kids that were thought to have to be on rotation diets. You'll have to read more about it, but I thought of you when I saw that!!

I've had to remind myself that eating allows me to live. If it's required to fill me in any other way, then I have some serious growing to do (spiritually, emotionally ... even physically). Just remind yourself that it really is "just food." However, you would never say, "Ah, it's just Noah!"

Perspective makes allllll the difference!

OH! I'll be in town this coming weekend (and the few shirts we had were all big - size 6! Sorry!). I'll be at my parents' house in Mesquite Thursday night and Saturday night (speaking at a retreat Friday). They live off Gross Road and 635. Email me and let me know if you'll be around! (christinemoers@hotmail.com)
Dreama said…
Did you watch Dancing with the Stars tonight??? if Mark Cuban gets the boot, I may have to boycott!!!
Recovering Noah said…
Dreama, you know I did! I thought he did great - and he's got such dedication. Wayne Newton is the one who needs to go!

Christine, I would LOVE to meet up. I can only do it on Saturday, though. (?). I'll email you and maybe we can set something up.

Leslie
Dreama said…
How were the garage sales???
C said…
Sorry I didn't even call you last Saturday! I ended up yacking with a bunch of the women (big surprise - I know - ME?!? TALK A LOT?!?). So, I didn't make it back to my parents until MUCH later than I thought.

Hope you guys are GREAT!

I'll be back through in two weeks. Have a friend at my former church with an 18? month old. No diagnosis at this point, but they are pretty positive it's autism. I may hook you two up, seeing how you have the "been there done that" t-shirt! :)
Anonymous said…
Hi, my name is Gina Tillman-Young, and I sm the pastor of Genesis Christian Church at Everything Jesus Ranch www.genesischristianchurch.org. Thank you for sharing about Noah. I have a 23-year old son named Noah. Your blog caught my eye when I was researching a healing diet for autism. OK, I'm wandering...I just wanted to let you know that we are located on a 100-acre ranch in Seguin Texas, where we sell raw milk, butter, cream, raw yogurt, raw cheese, rice bran oil, stevia, coconut cream, rapadura, agave, fresh certified naturally grown produce from the ranch, sprouted nuts and seeds and salad sprouts. I believe God has given us every leaf and seed for healing and am excited and blessed when we--in any way--can be part of God's healing process. We are really a church and tuition-free academy, so we only do the "store" on Tuesday evenings and Saturdays. If you are interested, look up our website (which, by the way doesn't have anything about the MooJesus Raw Milk yet--we were just licensed a few weeks ago) and give us a call. My cell is:(830)491-8557; my husband Edward is (830) 491-8893. Right now, we are the only licensed
HAND-MILKING dairy in the state of Texas. Proceeds from sales of all the great raw stuff help support our tuition free K-12 academy. Beginning tonight I am praying for your Noah when I pray for mine. Which one is he in the picture on the banner up top? I'm assuming he is the beautiful little boy on the left. God Bless You! Gina Tillman-Young
I found you via "shirt chewing," but I laughed out loud about the search terms... One of the more popular ways to find my blog? "How to neuter your husband."

Yeah, I'm a preemie mom blogger. ;)

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