Dd8 is starving all the time, even wakes up hungry in the night

[Normalornotidunno]

I have older dc, but none have ever done this.

She is a sporty girl, sports clubs every day, and she eats well, she's pretty much the perfect weight, she is tall though.

The last month or so she is starving all the time, and has taken to getting up at 2/3am telling me she is too hungry to sleep.

She eats well, there's a constant source of fruit and veg and homemade flapjacks that she has access to, I'm even giving her an extra meal not long before bedtime, and it's still not enough.

My older ds went through a hell of a growth spurt at her age (had a consultant to keep an eye on it as the pain was so bad and he was growing so fast) and he's now 6ft 5, and he was a bit hungrier at that point, but with dd it's a whole other level.

She is growing a lot at the minute (the pains are fairly minimal thankfully) but what should I be doing about her appetite? Is this totally outwith the realms of normal?

what does her daily diet looks like?
school meals tend to be on the smaller side.

she needs plenty of protein (eggs, nuts, beans) so make sure you get the balance right.

How much and what sort of stuff is she eating?

Usually porridge with fruit for breakfast.

I put 4 pieces of fruit and veg in for snack at school, plus flapjacks. She usually eats the flapjack and at least 3 fruit/veg, and whatever is for school dinner.

Straight after school she has a bowl of cereal or a sandwich for a snack before her club.

Tea is substantial, lasagne, salad and garlic bread, or meatballs and pasta, or 2 large baked potatoes with filling and salad, roast dinner etc.

Then supper will be a smaller meal, sometimes leftover from tea, or I make her chicken kebab and rice, scrambled eggs on toast etc.

She has access to fruit, veg and I make protein flapjacks which are always available too.

I honestly can't keep up with her, and the getting up in the night thing is concerning too, she will have a snack and go straight back to sleep, but it can't be good for her to keep waking.

I also said up hungry sometimes and can't then go back to sleep. I take a banana and something fairly boring up with me (like a few plain biscuits) so that I can just eat and go back to sleep. I also have quite a big bottle of water in case I get confused between thirst and hunger.

Up her protein. Loads of chicken, fish, eggs, etc. Tuna sandwiches, eggs,and bacon medallions or turkey rashers for breakfast.

Any possibility of Type 1 diabetes? Hunger was one of the symptoms that my niece had.

I used to know someone (20s colleague of dh) who was always super-slim, but a very big eater - evidently had a very high metabolism. He told me that when he was a child, his mum would make a sandwich and leave it by his bed before she went to bed every night, since he’d invariably wake up hungry.
He used to have 5 spoons of sugar in his tea or coffee, too.

So unusual, but not unknown.

I'd be checking her for worms I think... that is a LOT. I also have a tall and active DD (she's 6) who goes through hungry periods when she's growing, but not to that extent.

I was going to ask if she's maintaining her weight, very thirsty, weeing a lot too?

The option for nighttime is having a drink of milk by her bedside (you can buy small 200ml chilly type bottles) so she can have that when she wakes.

Protein and fat, not carbs and carbs.

But I'd also take her to the doctor just in case.

I was just going to advise I would take my kid to GP with similar symptoms - especially as it’s unusual in last month.

another common symptom is being very thirsty.

Health MOT from the GP then up the protein and fats. Peanut butter sandwich and a banana before bed

I think that's unusual and I would take her to GP for a check up just in case of diabetes, thyroid etc.

How do you check for worms

Treat for worms and do blood test for thyroid and Diabetes

Exactly. She needs fat and protein in her diet. Carbs will make her blood sugar spike and then drop quickly leading to hunger. Make sure her last food of the day is high fat(especially) and protein. Full milk, cheese, greek style yogurt with nuts or nut butter. Eggs etc.

More protein definitely; as good for you as porridge is, she's need protein in the morning. Fats too

I'm afraid I wouldn't be feeding my child at 2 or 3am! They would have to wait until morning. This sounds extreme and very costly to feed her.

That is reasonably unusual so I'd get her checked by the GP just to rule anything out.

If it's just that she's going through a growth spurt I'd give her a banana and a glass of full fat milk immediately before bed.

I’ve got a very tall, active 7 year old who has growing pains during spurts and variable appetite. She has had moments of being absolutely ravenous where I’ve been worried she’s almost binging but those really hungry moments have been pretty short-lived (few days at a time) and she returns to a more normal pattern of eating. I’d be a bit worried if your daughter’s hungry periods are continuous as that does sound a lot.

Agree strongly with those who say up the protein and ensure much of it is animal protein— meat and eggs. I say this as a pretty much lifelong veggie who knows about nutrition but has had to revert to eating meat and increase the egg intake.

Fruit and veg is all well and good but it won't fill her up.

Protein and fat. Greek yoghurt, apple and peanut butter, apple and cubes of cheese, frittata, flourless muffins etc

My first thought is diabetes or worms.

Thanks all, it does feel unusual, I didn't want to waste the GPs time if its common so I'll call and get an appointment for her to get checked over.

She was very, very unwell a few years back and had extensive testing, no diabetes showed up then, would it develop suddenly in an 8yo? She is always thirsty, but always has been really, I put it down to always being on the go, she's up at 6am every day and on the go constantly from the second her eyes are open.

I will start with protein in the mornings too, she has protein snack and then at lunch and also either tea or supper too, but worth upping it if it helps.

I'm not going to leave my child hungry at night, so not feeding her when she is waking hungry won't be an option.

I actually never thought about leaving a banana or sandwich beside her bed at night, so obvious, can't believe I missed that, thank you.

Now the fun of getting through all the hurdles for a Doctor appt.....

I would increase the protein in her diet.