Halloween is tomorrow which means a lot of kids are going out trick or treating and getting more chocolate than they know what to do with. Most kids will get a stomachache when they eat too much chocolate but when you have a disability that makes you more prone to constipation it can be difficult to enjoy Halloween because you can’t eat as much candy as non-disabled kids can. I am at the age where am too old to go out and trick or treat but as a child I did activities at my church where I got a lot of chocolate. My bowels have never worked properly, and I have always struggled with constipation because I don’t have the muscles that most people use to go to the bathroom and have to be extra careful when I eat high sugary things such as chocolate. Halloween can be fun, but it can also be a little stressful for disabled kids who aren’t able to eat three candy bars and only worry about a stomachache. How can you enjoy Halloween when you struggle with constipation? In this post, I am going to talk about a few things that parents can do on Halloween to help their disabled kids who struggle with constipation avoid severe pain.
Teach your kids how to eat intuitively- Disabled people who struggle with constipation are not able to eat as much chocolate as non-disabled kids without negative consequences and it can be difficult to explain that to a child. If I had a disabled child who struggled with constipation I would never that they can’t eat the same things as non-disabled kids and the only time, I might do that is if they were allergic to a certain type of food but we still need to teach our kids out different foods affect us. People sometimes think that if you want to improve your health the only way you will do that is by severely restricting yourself but there is a better way. What is intuitive eating? Intuitive eating is a self-care framework that focuses on reconnecting with your body’s hunger and fullness cues and eating in a way that feels good to you. We are born intuitive eaters but as we grow older a lot of the time, we are affected by diet culture and lose our ability to eat intuitively. Intuitive eating is more complicated than eating whatever you want and if you are eating multiple cookies to the point of feeling sick and never touch a vegetable you aren’t actually eating intuitively and are just not dieting. I started learning how to eat intuitively a few years ago when I stumbled across a few accounts on Instagram and it was the best thing I did for my health. There are a lot of studies that show intuitive eaters have better health than dieters who severely restrict themselves. We can teach our kids how to be intuitive eaters because you don’t have to deprive your child and put chocolate off limits to be healthy and you just need to teach them that eating ten Reese’s a day is not going to feel good.
Do a different activity- Halloween can be difficult if you have a child who can’t eat chocolate for medical reasons, because it would be cruel to take someone trick or treating who can’t eat any candy. Halloween doesn’t have to be canceled when your child has dietary restrictions, and you just may need to change the activity. If your child can’t enjoy candy, decorate a pumpkin with them or watch a scary movie that is appropriate for kids. Trick or treating can be fun, but not all kids will find enjoyment in trick or treating, and that is okay because there is no rule that says you have to make it about candy. If your child can’t participate in trick or treating, I don’t think we need to deprive them of the experience, and we just need to do things in a slightly different way so they don’t feel left out.
Drink some water-When I eat something such as chocolate that makes me more prone to constipation I try and drink a cup of water because sugar can cause constipation and water can help prevent it. If you are letting your child eat a large amount of chocolate a cup of water is probably not going to work miracles, but it can help prevent severe constipation when you eat it in moderation. Disabled kids are not going to understand the negative health outcomes that can happen when you eat too much until it’s too late and it’s so important for parents to teach their children good health practices.
Make sure they understand why they have to eat less- As a disabled person, I know that I need to have some level of restriction to prevent constipation, but a child is not going to know or understand that, and it’s the parent’s job to explain that to their child. If you tell a child that they can’t eat as much candy as the other kids without giving a reason why, they are going to think you are favoring the other kids and being mean, even though you are trying to help them. It is so important that parents sit down with their disabled kids and explain why they have to eat less because when kids understand why, it helps them make better choices.
Monitor how much your kids are eating- I am a big believer in teaching kids how to listen to their bodies and eat intuitively, but that is not something that is going to happen overnight, and it can take full-grown adults several years to learn. I don’t think that parents should be isolating their disabled kids and putting food off limits that they would allow their non-disabled children to have, unless they have some kind of allergy, but there is nothing wrong with having some level of restriction. Parents should know how much chocolate their child is eating because kids don’t have a filter and will eat until they become sick. Kids will learn from that experience and won’t do that again, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to hand a disabled kid with constipation problems a bag of Snickers and let them eat as much as they want because they will be more negatively impacted than non-disabled kids. I am not a fan of severe restriction, but I do think that parents need to step in and monitor how much their kids are eating until they learn how to eat intuitively. In my opinion it is bad parenting when you let your kids eat as much as they want knowing it’s going to cause them a lot of pain.
Buy your own chocolate– On Halloween, you get more chocolate than you know what to do with, which is every kid’s dream. When you have a disability that makes you more prone to constipation, sometimes getting large amounts of chocolate is stressful, especially if you have no self-control and can’t stop yourself. If you feel out of control with food, you don’t have to go trick-or-treating if you don’t want to, but you can still have the Halloween experience and go to the store and get your child a healthy amount of chocolate that they can enjoy. As an adult, I don’t go trick-or-treating, but I do eat chocolate on Halloween because you can still enjoy the Halloween experience and treat yourself to some candy without dressing up.
When you struggle with constipation holidays such as Halloween can be hard because you are surrounded by a lot of sugary treats that you can’t eat a lot of. Disabled people should not be deprived of the Halloween experience but if you have a child who struggles with constipation, I think parents need to monitor how much chocolate their kids are eating to some level because kids don’t have a filter and do not always know when they should stop eating. Halloween can be fun but if you have a child who struggles with constipation it’s so important to remember that these challenges do not go away on holidays, but they can become worse if you eat too much of the wrong kinds of food which can turn a fun holiday into a miserable one. Kids with medical conditions can still enjoy holidays but sometimes we do have to celebrate them in a slightly different way because we don’t get as much enjoyment as non-disabled kids do. How do you celebrate Halloween while living with constipation? If you liked this post, please, leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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