Anyone elses children constantly pester for food?

[allhailtheaubergine]

It's only small niggle really, but I am getting fed up.

They are 3 and 5.

Constant refrain is "I want a snaaaaaack"

They get 1st breakfast
2nd breakfast
Morning snack
Lunch
1st afternoon snack
2nd afternoon snack
supper
Bedtime snack

And they STILL whinge that they're always hungry.

They eat healthy stuff - snacks tend to be fruit / nuts / cheese and crackers / peanut butter toast.

Meals are one hot meal per day and one meal of sandwich or eggs or soup.

They're not fat. They're very active.

They just seem to want to graze all day and it's doing my head in.

[QuincyMincemeat]

My 3 yo ds is the same at the moment, I'm putting it down to a growth spurt!

I figure that when their stomachs are so small that they need little and often.
I try to offer high protein stuff, like a lump of cheese, boiled egg or oatcake with peanut butter.
But in reality I more often than not reach for the biscuit tin or he has bread and Nutella .

Ds always says, "I want sumfin else" x10000. Arrgh.

[BelleEnd]

Yes, mine are 6 and 22m and they are foraging all the time.

[crazynanna]

Yep. My grandkids have hollow legs.

[allhailtheaubergine]

Yes, better to want to eat that not to eat enough. You're right.

I posted because I was grumpy because they just woke me from a precious 20 minute lie down for ANOTHER snack - it's only bloody 40 minutes since they had lunch!

And I have foul, vile morning sickness so I am not enjoying all this food. Opening the fridge makes me retch.

Quincy - if I make the mistake of reaching for the biscuit tin they then know there are biscuits and I get triple the nagging until the biscuits are gone. I bought some fancy cakes last week and nearly threw them out of the window in the end - if there are yummy things there they HAVE to eat them. It's greedy! No, if they're hungry they can have boring, nutritious things.

[SoCalledFeminist]

same here. ds is 4 - my main concern about him starting school is how he will cope with not being constantly eating

[lu9months]

my two eldest (boys) are exactly the same. I think people overhearing them must think I starve them! the older one eats meals with gusto too, but the younger one snacks then doesnt want meals which is not on. I am thinking of getting a big fruit bowl, putting it somewhere they can reach, and saying they can help themselves whenever they like, but they cant have anything else. hopefully this might stop them pestering me, and I assume the novelty of helping themselves will wear off. plus I think partly they just like to have me running around!

[ShowOfHands]

When going through a growth spurt, dd (4) is constantly hungry. Last week she was fine on just normal meals and a couple of snacks. Thus far today she has eaten shreddies, 2 slices of toast, a banana, an apple, a yoghurt, a chicken sandwich, a piece of flapjack, some nuts and seeds and is currently in the kitchen mumbling about soup. In about a week she'll stop doing it for a while but I'll spend the money saved on food on replacing all of her bloody clothes again.

[Popbiscuit]

Mine too...it's NON-STOP. It's SO frustrating when you spend a large portion of the day cooking/preparing and cleaning up meals and then they want yet ANOTHER snack. My kids are very slim and very active so I suppose they do need it but it's bloody hard work keeping up with all the snack requests. I try to give them things like boiled eggs, peanut butter/cheese and crackers etc. that will make them feel full but it doesn't seem to work. Have also switched to higher fat milk in the hopes of providing them with a bit more satiety. I do notice that they are more "snacky" when they are bored so try to avoid that situation. Cannot imagine what it will be like when they are teens! Will have to take out second mortgage.

[DeWe]

I think it gets to be a habit. One of mine went through a stage of anouncing she was hungry and needed a snack just as you were saying bed time. Dd2 is presently in a phase of asking "what's for pudding?" "Oh no I don't want that, can I have XXX instead?"
I'd go for the bowl of fruit out for them to snack on, and remove it when it gets towards a meal time. Now mine are old enough to help themselves they generally have less snacks.

[KoolAidKid]

Nope. I have the opposite problem in that 4 yo DD rarely asks for food, and rarely finishes her meals. She is also becoming increasingly fussy which she didn't used to be. AND she doesn't drink much either.

But apparently I was the same at that age.

[deaconblue]

my 3 yr old is currently sitting in front of a plateful of lunch screaming "I want crisps". I am ignoring

[deaconblue]

p.s I think the whinging for food can often be boredom rather than hunger??

[msbuggywinkle]

Yes, me too. Both of mine are underweight on the charts (they're both fine, we're just all tiny people) and eat constantly from about 10am onwards. They eat very healthily, snacks are similar to what others have mentioned.

OP, you need monkey plates. Plate each with a big selection of snack food (mine like cubes of cheese, cut up fruit, dried fruit oatcakes and crudites) that will last them for a few hours and save you having to get up and down all the sodding time. I sympathise, I have to hold my breath to open the fridge or I throw up (and I'm 19 sodding weeks and it should have GONE by now!)

[Skimty]

My two are the same (almost 3 and almost 5). On Friday DD was eating at the same time as whinging about being hungry.

Agggghhhh

Also, DS (the 5 year old) is greedy. There's no other word for it. It worries me because DH and I tend that way and have to struggle to keep it under control. I don't want him doing that.

[emmanumber3]

Yes, so much so that I have banned the word "snack" from my house because I am soooooo sick of hearing it! .

I have 13 & 10 year old DSs & absolutely have to have a policy of "no food without asking first" or a week's shopping would literally be gone within the day it comes home! They are not starved & neither are they overweight - just active boys with hollow legs! They cost me a fortune .

[LeaveYourDignityAtTheDoor]

I sympathise.

DS1, who is 8yrs, has been like this for approx 3.5yrs. He is constantly hungry and will eat pretty much anything.

At one point, I was so concerned about his constant hunger, I demanded that my GP to have test carried out for Prader-Willi syndrome which came back negative.

GP thinks his constant hunger may be down to his constant movement which maybe ADHD related (currently going through CAMHS for a diagnosis).

[rainbowtoenails]

Let them graze and let them get their own (healthy) snacks. When ds was 3 he could use the microwave to scramble an egg, bake a potato and heat beans/spaghetti. Put cereal and milk where they can reach. I dont limit my dcs access to bread/fruit. Maybe also try keeping cut up carrots/cucumber/peppers and hard boiled eggs in fridge.

[emmanumber3]

rainbow - sounds great in theory but do you not have a problem with mess? I'm imagining blown up scrambled egg in the microwave, spilt beans (which would be very hot I imagine), spilt milk & cereal on the floor etc. etc. & my children are a lot older .

[MoreBeta]

Just a thought.

If children are thirsty they often say they are hungry.

Make sure they dont have fizzy drinks or jucies (as that just causes blood sugar to peak and crash) but free access to plain water in a non drip beaker. Let them eat as much as they want at their main meals and make sure it has plenty of protein in it not just starch and sugar. TBH a soup does not sound enough for a second meal.

[allhailtheaubergine]

Yes, boredom is a part of it. They manage just fine with Breakfast - snack - lunch - snack - dinner - snack during term time.

And yes, growth spurt. 3yo ds in particular is like pacman at the moment; if it's in his path he eats it.

at a 3yo using the microwave to heat things! My word, I'm fully signed up to the school of benign neglect but my toenails fell off at the very thought of that. Far too dangerous for my liking. Anyway, my 5yo can't even crack an egg yet despite giving it a go every time we bake.

I am going to just say no a bit more. They'll hardly starve if forced to go from their 3pm toast to their 6.30pm sos and mash without sustenance .

I sometimes say to my 3yo "Kitchen's closed!" and he looks puzzled and demonstrated helpfully that "it isn't Mummy, look, I can walk right in!"

[Meglet]

Mine too. DS is 4.9 and growing tall with hollow legs, there isn't a food he won't eat. DD is almost 3 and due a growth spurt so I'm upping their snacks this summer.

Their current favourite snack is 2 oatcakes with cottage cheese sploged in the middle like a macaroon.

Next summer I'm going to grow more raspberries and pea's and let them forage in the garden when they're peckish.