To refuse to give my son more food?

[HecateQueenOfWitches]

He's had his lunch. He's had seconds. Two hours ago.

Now he wants choc spread on toast.

I said no.

He insisted he was hungry.

I said after the huge lunch you had? I don't think so! If you are, go and get some fruit out of the bowl.

No. He doesn't want fruit.

Yoghurt?

No, he doesn't want yoghurt.

So I said if you were hungry, you would eat fruit or yoghurt, so you are just being greedy and wanting to eat because it tastes nice. You aren't having any. Go and play.

Now he says he's got a headache and needs to go to hospital!

[pozzled]

YANBU. Children that are not hungry enough for fruit are not hungry.

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

yy kitchen is SHUT til suppertime

lol at needing to go to hospital

[kalo12]

two hours ago is ages. however if he's got a headache and needs to go to hospital then choc is ve bad for headaches and hospital will prefer an empty stomach in case they have to operate

[gapbear]

Bless. My DS is like this too, except he would eat yoghurt until he is sick, so fruit / dried fruit on offer only.

YANBU, although don't be surprised when he crayons a picture to ChildLine...

[MrsFC]

Glad to see this is not just me! DS is just the same. Boys are greedy eating machines - they just love food...

[HecateQueenOfWitches]

yup. Now he's got a broken arm.

Oh, and apparently I am mean.

I said "yes, I am. I am trying to ruin your life."

Then ds1, bless him, piped up "no you're not. You're trying to make him healthy."

[DramaInPyjamas]

YANBU..

My DS was eyeing up the remains of my lunch whilst still only halfway through eating his own!

[redflag]

My ds just turned his nose up at a roast dinner, he will be in for a shock when no pudding comes out of the kitchen for him!

[discobeaver]

It's awful isn't it? My daughter has just entered the non stop eating phase. She used to be quite a small eater, except for roasts, but now she is an eating demon. Especially chocolate, she is absolutely possessed when it comes to Aero bars or buttons.

Saying no sounds and feels really mean, but logically when they have had a good meal and then some, it's only sensible.

And if it prevents them from a teenage hell of beng teased for being overweight, then it's kind and good parenting.

[pointydog]

I dunno. It's a cold, dark, wet November afternoon here. A cup of milk with hot toast would be a nice snack.

[CubaCat]

Well they do say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! My DS (4.5) is exactly the same. Today we had dinner (what us Northerners call lunch), then he had pudding (what us Northerners call desert), then he claimed to be hungry an hour later. I always say 'if you're hungry have some fruit, if you don't want fruit you're not hungry'. Usually he declines and waits until snacktime but now and again I'll be met with tears and am-dram style wailing. I think he will be an Oscar-winning actor when he's older.

Try distraction - get a game out or go for a walk or something to take his mind off his stomach.

[onceamai]

Growing?

[activate]

fruit between meals is not ideal dentally

personally I'd let him make his own toast or sandwich

if someone says they're hungry, the chances are they're hungry

[TrinityTheTwattyRhino]

gecko is having supper now, bed in 10 mins YAY

she is eating cold roast pots,stuffing and brocolli

[activate]

my 9 year old eats more than the 16 year old - there are horrible hungers between the ages of about 8 and 13 IME

[FreudianSlimmery]

I would do that, but DD is mad about fruit. I've had to limit it a bit as it was affecting her tummy.

Don't know what snacks I can use as a "this or nothing" she is a friggin dustbin!

Maybe I should get more veggie sticks or something...

[deliciousdevilwoman]

TBH-I can't stand fruit as a snack between meals. It's just not filling. If I am peckish between meals, I opt for a carb based snack like a small bowl of cereal, a flap jack or a slice of toast with jam/marmalade.

[mrsruffallo]

Threaten to take him to hospital then!
My son is like this, he seems to be permanently hungry, but he will eat lots of fruit so I let him.
Sometimes you can just have enough of the 'I'm hungryyy' wail on the hour though, so sympathies

[Oblomov]

My nearly 7 year old eats a huge amount.
He can easily eat a huge lunch at 12, eat a snack then have a huge dinner and pudding. No problem. If I told you how much he eats in a normal day, you would be shocked.
Skinny as a rake.

[cece]

My 7 year old would eat non-stop if he was allowed.

He went to a friends for tea. He had seconds of the main course and a pudding. Within 5 mins of getting back home he had also eaten a bowl of grapes and quite a large slice of chocolate cake.

He often has two large meals with snacks inbetween. There isn't an ounze of fat on him. Clearly he doesn't take after his mother who would be a barrel if I ate as much as he did.

[mrsruffallo]

pointydog-DS just said 'I'm hungry!' (knew it wouldn't take long) and I have made him toast and hot milk. He is delighted

[LadyOfTheFlowers]

Sorry, but thought I would add, much to my own disgust, when DS1 kept announcing he was hungry, I carried out some investigations after dark and discovered all 3 of the boys had worms!

Was so gross and I was preg with DD at the time so was really winding myself up, but got the stuff and lo, next day, he went from dinner time to bedtime without asking for snacks.

He started again asking for food all the time, so without checking, I dosed us all up again last week.

But saying that he would eat anything , wasn't picky, but then they aren't in general.

[glasscompletelybroken]

activate I'm not sure I agree with that - if we all only ate when we were truly hungry then very few people would be overweight. Lots of times when children say they're hungry they are just bored. I would go with CubaCat's idea and take him out for a walk or play a game.

[activate]

healthy children are different to adults IMO - my kids turned into ravenous wilderbeast around the age of 8 - normally towards the afternoon / evening although they can go without breakfast and lunch.

and grazing is far healthier than the 3 meal a day construct

[CubaCat]

Worms!!! How did you find that out, may I ask?