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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think there's no way he can be hungry

257 replies

SlapACatFuckADuck · 25/05/2016 11:04

Ds is 4 everyday we have the same discussions regarding food today for example he woke at 9:30 (didn't have nursery) we go downstairs i give him breakfast.

He eats all his breakfast puts the bowl in the kitchen and immediately wants lunch I of course say no. He then goes on continuously about how he "wants to eat" "I want lunch" "I'm hungry" "I want my sandwich" this has gone on for an hour and a half! when he gets lunch at lunch time the cycle repeats itself apart from it's not dinner because he doesn't like dinner Hmm he wants lunch as soon as he's finished his dinner the "he wants to eat" chorus pipes up again until bedtime where he will continue to go on about lunch until he falls asleep with the occasional check in that "you will give me lunch tomorrow right mum?"

I have no idea what his obsession is about lunch but inbu right? The kid can't possibly be hungry all the time especially after he's just eaten Angry

OP posts:
barbarossa · 27/05/2016 09:22

Having raised three sprogs and having now 4 grand-sprogs, I know all children go through eating fads.
Our eldest grandchild has the appetite of a fly but is a happy, healthy, 16yr-old.
Our youngest grand-daughter ( 3 ) used to have such an appetite that it earned her the nickname " Two Bellies ". No matter how much food you gave her, she was never satisfied. It was common to find her picking food off plates in the dishwasher if the door was open, eating any food she could scrounge off anyone else at mealtimes and once she even climbed into the large fridge and sat there eating sliced meat from packet. Yet she was healthy, lively, thin as a rake.
Her insatiable appetite disappeared after a heavy cold about 6 months ago and is now what I would say is what you would expect for a 3 yr-old girl.
Your son's eating habits are probably just a phase too. Feed him when he wants it and I bet his excessive eating habit goes away all on it's own.

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 18:55

Yesterday was

Breakfast - raisin and cinnamon bagel
snack - milkshake and `breadsticks
lunch - didn't want any
snack - yoghurt and fruit
dinner - ham sandwich

So today we had

crumpets with dairy free butter (ds2 is milk intolerance)
Ham sandwich, strawberry yoghurt, cheese
dinner was meant to be chicken wrap, he ate the cucumber, lettuce and a wrap and left the rest.

He's had orange juice, water and milk/milkshake for beverages! bedtime is in half an hour!

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Artandco · 28/05/2016 18:59

Tbh that just sounds like a day of snacks. Sorry, but there's virtually no veg,no protein bar a slice of ham, no carbs apart from bread

Artandco · 28/05/2016 19:00

Two days of snacks

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:09

He didn't want to eat it, what was I suppose to force him?! Every day he gets meat veg/salad for dinner. Normally he eats it today he didn't that's life. Tomorrow he'll have pork and veg for dinner if he eats it he eats it if he doesn't then he doesn't get anything else.

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Artandco · 28/05/2016 19:11

But you say yesterday he had ham sandwich for dinner, then chicken wrap today? That's not exactly meat and two veg you describe is it?

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:13

He has more than two veg he'll have at least different kinds . However since he didn't go to school Friday due to being ill I did him something I knew he'd like and would eat. Is that okay with you?

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SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:14

and I also said veg/salad (/ = or)! so today he had salad, lettuce, cucumber, tomato and his chicken.

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TrollsAreCunts · 28/05/2016 19:16

His diet is full of sugar and processed food that is designed to make you want to eat more. You've had loads of good advice on this thread. Ditch the Frosties!

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:17

HE HAD FROSTIES ONCE!

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Artandco · 28/05/2016 19:18

I don't care what you feed him. Your the one who asked for advice starting the thread. Hundreds gave advice, and you choose to ignore. Your issue if he's still complaining he's hungry not mine. Again, it's a sugar laden diet. You know it's not appropriate day in day out.

NeedACleverNN · 28/05/2016 19:23

I don't see a major problem with those two days slap

Sounds a lot like what my dc eat hrs without the milkshake

Yesterday was:-
Cereal for breakfast
Ham sandwhich, sausage roll, cheese,grapes,Apple and half a packet of crisps each for dinner
Hot dogs for tea

Today we was at a party so they had cereal and toast for breakfast, similar dinner today that they had yesterday and then party food for tea.

Tomorrow will be roast beef

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:24

Then why are you commenting?! Ive taking advice of those that where helpful and I've thanked them for that, so no I haven't ignored it! I've ignored comments of people who either haven't read the full thread or keep insisting that he must live of frosties day in day out!. He hasn't said he's hungry since Friday however he has been ill so I'm still doing the dairy. I won't be responding to you anymore and wasting my time! Ta-ra

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TrollsAreCunts · 28/05/2016 19:25

Even ignoring the Frosties his diet is FULL of sugar. He'll either end up obese, or toothless, or both.

It's not a bad thing to be clueless about feeding a 4 yo healthily, there's too much contradictory information out there. As I've said you've had some really good advice on this thread. But carry on deluding yourself if you prefer.

Artandco · 28/05/2016 19:28

Ignoring Frosties

Breakfast - raisin and cinnamon bagel -sugar
snack - milkshake and `breadsticks -sugar
lunch - didn't want any
snack - yoghurt and fruit- sugar
dinner - ham sandwich- sugar

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:29

And as I've already said trolls I've taken some of that advice and have been doing it. Despite what people say he gets offered fruit first and if he refuses he doesn't get i.e crisp as he's obviously not hungry as I've said many of times before.

how can he end up obese when I'm apparently starving the poor child?! Yes I've had some good advice, haven't denied that however some of that advice hasn't been good like give him eggs when he doesn't like eggs. Hence why I'll adapt it to his needs

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Flisspaps · 28/05/2016 19:37

More fat, fat is filling.

Most carbs will leave him feeling empty pretty quickly.

PenguinsAreAce · 28/05/2016 19:38

Breakfast ideas from the NhS

Eating well for 1-4 yr olds from the Caroline Walker Trust -despite what it says you do not have to donate to download it.

SlapACatFuckADuck · 28/05/2016 19:39

Thank you Flisspaps What fat do you feed your kids if you don't mind me asking? and Penguins Will check that out

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NeedACleverNN · 28/05/2016 19:44

I know you said he doesn't like eggs but could you trick him with eggy bread?

It's not eggy and you can call it toast since it's technically French toast

TormundGiantsbabe · 28/05/2016 19:49

Have you dealt with your idiot of a dp? There's no excuse for not feeding a child properly for 4 weeks when you are a parent. I'd have gone apeshit at him. He's not some teenager who was asked to babysit ffs, he's a father!

lalalalyra · 28/05/2016 19:53

My 8 yo has a sandwich for breakfast a couple of times a week because he doesn't like the texture of toast. The others have toasties.

My fusspot will eat anything in a wrap if it's a quesadilla. Warm wrap, melted cheese and a good dollop of whatever healthy thing I'm trying to get into him that day.

Pasta is also my go to when he's in a phase of eating like a bottomless pit as there are so many different things to do with it and lots of the sauces can hide vegetables that he'd never dream of allowing pass his lips.

It might not help you, but we do treat boxes. Each person in the house has a box and on a Sunday we put in 7 things to last the week. I vary everything so they contain a mixture of crisps, chocolate, oranges (DS would just demolish oranges until his teeth were ruined and his stomach upset if allowed free access) and other bits and bobs. The rule is you can eat from your box whenever you like because you are a big boy/girl now, but it only gets filled on a Sunday so if you eat it in one go then there's nothing for the rest of the week. I've found it really helpful with mine, DS was 5 when we started and it gives him a good amount of control over his snacking, stops us all having a snack because one person fancies one and we only had one week where everything was eaten on day 1 by one of the kids - it was a tough week, but it was worth it. I have a couple of friends who've taken it on and one has put 12 things in it I think, 5/6 treat type things and then fruit for the rest if just one thing per day wouldn't work.

Flisspaps · 28/05/2016 19:59

*Slap
*
Mine will have full fat butter, cheese, Greek yoghurt - I try not to feed them low fat anything if I can help it. I appreciate the butter/cheese/yoghurt may be tricky with your DS but there may be high fat dairy alternatives?

DS particularly likes cashew butter as peanut butter upsets his stomach.

There's absolutely no reason why you can't give 'lunch food' at breakfast either, so don't restrict your thinking to traditional breakfast foods.

If he'll eat mashed potatoes, put butter or cheese in.

Will he eat tuna mayonnaise?

DS (4) is a bottomless pit but since I changed to full fat stuff for me and started giving it to him too, I've noticed a distinct drop in the amount of times he says he's hungry. I've discovered he loves strawberries, so instead of ice cream he has strawberries and either full fat yoghurt or cream.

ps are you in the north west, DH is a scouser and also insists on saying crisp rather than crisps? Grin

WiddlinDiddlin · 28/05/2016 20:11

More fat, more protein... Fat is full fat yoghurt, cheese, cream on sliced up fruit, butter and oil in cooking - a lot of the stuff we are told as adults to do without or avoid or use fat free alternatives, but kids NEED that fat.

You are the one asking for advice and whilst some people have been ... stroppy, shall we say... there is a lot of good advice here, some of which you seem to just discard for no good reason..

For example you said a few pages back something along the lines of 'oh we won't be trying that hummous, we are not a 'dip' family'...

YOU may not like dips - but you've no idea if your child would like hummous, its a good source of protein and fat - but you have entirely discounted it because its not something you eat.

I get the distinct impression that your own diet is pretty limited, and you are not actually entirely aware of which food groups each food falls into.

Bread, pasta, starchy veg like spuds, fruit juices, fruit - these things all break down into or contain a lot of, sugar.

Kids do need some sugar, but when the diet does NOT contain much in the way of real veg (btw, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, all basically = water!) or protein, you will get left with what you currently have, a child whose blood sugar swings around wildly and feels hungry all the time.

Pick a meat he likes - make an omlette with it - call them breakfast pancakes he won't know or if he REALLY will, make him pancakes instead. Put cheese in them as well as meat. Serve with wholegrain toast if you get away wtih the omlette 'con', and a piece of fruit and a full fat yoghurt.

Make him cheese and ham on toast, fruit and yoghurt.

Make him smoothies - fruit, milk, cream even, and hide a handful of oats and some nuts in it. Serve that with toast or cheese on toast.

Batch cook stuff like mild chilli con carne (you can make it REALLY mild), stir in a little full fat yoghurt or cream cheese once its done and serve that over a baked spud, chips or toast for lunch (if you batch cook it, you can portion it out and zap it in the nuke for quick lunches).

Ditto spaghetti bolognese - it takes just a few minutes to cook some pasta and zap some bolognese.

Both those things you can make with beef, or lamb, or both, or a vegetarian alternative, hide TONS of proper veggies in, use oil and butter in the sauce if you like.

Another good batch cook and freeze is roasted med. veg - roast courgette, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, carrots etc in some olive oil and some garlic and pepper or whatever you like - bag it up into meal sized portions - reheat and serve it on a baked spud with a lump of cream cheese or a dollop of hummous, on toast ditto, in a pittabread (use the cream cheese or the hummous to glue it in there).

And no he won't end up obese right now whilst you can keep him out of the fridge and the cupboards - but he will find ways of getting food for himself and pretty soon, and if he is still feeling starving all the time and craving sugar/salt filled rubbish because of it, thats when he will get fat.

Iknownuffink · 28/05/2016 20:17

Eggy bread is a good nutritious breakfast.
You could make a batch up give it a cartoon character name. Tell him that good boys get this for breakfast/lunch/dinner...
Add different toppings, cheese, cold meat, fresh fruit, ketchup.
You could make a batch of it and freeze it. Reheat in the micro or dry frying pan.

Let him help make fruit salad and store it in his special container. GE can snack on that.

Grate cheese and again tel him it is his special cheese.

Let him feel that he has some control over what he eats.