She ate all the biscuits

Yes I know.

You shouldn't have to hide food!

I'd tell DD she should have asked first, but not make a big deal out of it.

I think you should be concerned about her eating that much sugar at one time as it leads to poor health in the long run. Maybe talk to her pediatrician about what’s driving her craving for sugar. In the meantime, the only solution is not to have it in the home. Try bringing home only a serving for each family member and leave it at that. It’s more expensive I know but it’s not something you do daily.

I would be cross, yes. But DS(7) would never take food without asking if he could have it first, it just wouldn’t even occur to him. We have a fruit bowl that’s open access for snacks in between meals and he still checks it’s ok to have e.g. an apple, incase it’s close to a meal time. I would however caveat that we don’t limit “treat” foods at all, he has a small dessert every day after dinner, whether it be a couple of squares of chocolate, ice cream, rice pudding, or similar. He can have these irrespective of how much of his main meal he chooses to eat, as we also don’t have clean plate rules because I think it’s unhealthy.

This. My mother hid anything sweet or snacky because she was so worried about us getting fat. She made sweets the forbidden fruit so of course we wanted them all the time and searched high and low. As a parent I didn't do that at all and my kids are thin and athletic with very healthy attitudes toward food since nothing was forbidden or hidden.

She ate all that were left!

She’s 7, I wouldn’t be getting into calories or sugar content with her. Kids eat things, it’s easy to get carried away, cookies are like crack for kids.

OP. Just tell her that they were supposed to be to share, but don’t be too cross with her. I am sure there are many adults that would have scoffed a pack of biscuits in a evening without a thought.

It would bother me. Hiding things along with a child who searches for them until she finds them, realising they are hidden. She then eats them all up and tells you she has. There is something very wrong with all of this.

She didn't eat a whole packet of biscuits though.

Me too!
Also ice lollies in empty frozen pea bags.

A whole packet of biscuits isn’t sensible for anyone. It’s greedy a bit greedy and selfish imo. OP, I must admit I’d be irritated by this.

So many people hiding food from the kids 🤣🤣🤣 my kids know not to help themselves to unhealthy food without asking first. I don’t need to hide biscuits etc (my children are 6 and 7). However, if one of them had ate a whole packet that they didn’t know was off limits I would tell them not to help themselves to biscuits etc and that eating that much could make you feel sick. No need to go overboard. Children need to learn that just because there are cakes, biscuits in the cupboard doesn’t mean they all need to be eaten. If you don’t learn that as a child you will carry it on into adulthood.

My kids would of expected a telling off for this, if they finished a packet and didnt share.
But our allocation of sweet stuff is quite high compared to yours

My kid did that kind of thing around that age and I was quite worried and angry about it as she took cooking chocolate and hid it in her room! It seemed a bit sneaky and not even all that nice chocolate! She was overweight at that age according to the school check-up and I was pretty worried. It's the taking it all and not wanting to share that's a bit sad. She's ok now but we had a big chat about it all and why she did it.

Mother of four here. Just explain a few things:-
a) how many calories are in one packet and what she could have eaten instead
b) that she doesn’t live alone and it is a bit selfish to eat them all herself (so nobody else can have any). It’s better to share.
c) that eating too much sugar is bad for her health (and her teeth)
d) that if she was hungry, she could have asked you for something else.

I’m sure you can think of many other reasons and logical arguments to explain that it’s not ok without going it to it being greedy etc.!

It is very cheeky of her since they were meant for sharing And that’s what I’d say .

I’m not saying the shower was a problem, it wasn’t, her DD is 7 not 2 she’s old enough to be left to entertain herself. Even if there is another adult in the house a 7 year old doesn’t need 24/7 watching. 7 is old enough to go get a snack by themselves, 7 is also old enough to know if mum puts something away for another day they’re not to be touched. The DD didn’t take herself to bed OP called her upstairs

Hide more successfully? You can hide them, but only time will tell if that’s successful or not.

I do wonder what sort of free for all home some people live, in where food is eaten unless it’s hidden.

Learning about deferred gratification and house rules is an essential part of growing up. As is respecting boundaries. This child was perfectly well aware that she shouldn’t have taken it. That’s why she told her mother that she had.

You keep things out of the way of dogs, cats and toddlers. Everybody else has to learn that just because you see it, you do not take it.

Yes, I have audhd, but late diagnoses, so all the behavior that was classed as weird or naughty when I was a child in normative terms were down to the fact that I couldn't regulate, or was seeking some kind of relief.
One instance was I was made to wear clothes that made me feel ill because I couldn't cope with the sensory discomfort, but I couldn't push back because it was the seventies and my mother didn't understand, I was called ungrateful and spoiled.
It is worth pursuing if there's a lot of other behaviours apart from the biscuit stealing, not least because it's soul destroying to be constantly told you're naughty, or anti social, or weird when all you're trying to do is regulate.

When my 1st DC was a toddler we would hide the fruit bowl if we went anywhere that kept fruit out. I realised quite quickly that wasn’t the answer. Had to go through the process of teaching DC that taking food is not okay regardless of what it is. I think DD needs to learn what a healthy relationship with food looks like. Hiding things or not buying them isn’t the answer.

This is why children and young adults are self centred and have no resilience these days.

He probably helped her 😂

I expect he’s forbidden from the treat food too 😂

It is a bit unusual OP. It’s the sneaky behaviour, not just having a pack in front of her and eating it. My child will always ask if she can have one more etc. She always has, but then I’ve never hidden food and cakes and sweets have never been treated as a novelty.

Perhaps she just needs some help with self control, and you need to relax a bit to make “treats” less of a novelty.