To think there's no way he can be hungry

[SlapACatFuckADuck]

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 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

He's either hungry or bored.

Both of which are entirely within your power to solve.

no way was my son ever able to go from breakfast through to lunch without eating - still isn't at 9. he is a hungry boy and he is active and he is slim. i would not deprive him of food because my head says he 'can't' be hungry. he is. i may delay him, i may check if it's genuine hunger rather than just after biscuits or some such but yes some children are hungrier than others.

if he's constantly hungry it would obviously lead to an obsession and anxiety about getting enough food.

just feed him more

Definitely needs more than just cereal, especially if going a long time through the night till gone 9am wake up.

From this age mine were having cereal, yogurt and a piece of fruit, or when we have more time at weekends, something more like eggs on toast, plus yogurt and fruit.

If mine are hungry I feed them. As long as its good sensible food it wont do any harm and Im a firm believer in kids self regulating their intake; some days they push away their plates after a few mouthfuls and thats ok, others they have 3 helpings plus pudding, thats also ok.

Mine have a large breakfast. Something like porridge, some fruit and a yoghurt or toast, cereal and a banana. They have snacks of cheese and crackers or fruit and 2 cooked meals plus pudding each day. We do have a 3 mile walk to and from school/nursery every day though, so they use up a lot of energy! Id feed him more and see if it makes a difference.

It started when my DP looked after the DS's when I was in hospital because DS would wake up want a sandwich and he'd have a sandwich at say 9am then again for lunch and chicken nuggets for dinner times that by 4 weeks with snacks ect in between!

He hasn't always been like it tbh and he eats dinner fine always eats it all and if he does he'll get a bit of ice cream for desert.

So he'll get a choice of what he wants for breakfast he picked tiger cereal (frosties) had a adult bowl of them finished the lot and immediately said he was hungry with in 0.01 seconds of the bowl hitting the side. Immediately heads over to the crisp cupboard and wants crisp obviously told no, he can have a banana but doesn't want a banana he wants crisp, biscuit or chocolate fingers. fruit he 100% doesn't want.

I think it's boredom. I'm not going to carry on feeding him he'll be the size of a house! He doesn't stop even on treat day he'll get a breakfast at ASDA one of those breakfast 9 things he'll eat all of that and when he's finished and we're walking down to leave he wants a sandwich with in minutes and as we drive home past mcdonalds he wants a chicken wrap AND nuggets. He won't stop.

In a normal day he'll have;
Breakfast so either cereal, toast, crumpets, "round toast" bagel. fruit, milkshake, sometimes more than one of those.
He'll then have a snack, fruit, maybe a couple of biscuits.
Lunch he'll have a sandwich, cucumber, crisp, fruit winder, banana, grapes or watermelon, pack of animal biscuits/go ahead bar
snack he'll have more fruit, bread stick, cheese and crackers,
dinner he'll have the same as me and the baby so he'll have meat veg and potatoes or salad and can always go back for more as it's just us 3 and most things serve 2 adults!
He'll then get desert if he's eaten all his dinner and been good.

I can't keep feeding him cause I'll be broke and he'll be fat haha! Nobody's threatened to remove lunch though not sure where that's come from tbh

I agree with PPs that your dc needs more food. My 3 year old had fruit and cereal for breakfast, will have mid-morning snack at preschool followed by lunch of ham sandwich, crisps, yoghurt, pear, strawberries and raisins. She'll have another snack as she leaves preschool and tea will be Thai red curry with chicken and veggies with rice. She will probably have dessert too.

If she ever starts to get overweight I'll reign in the amount she eats but there's honestly not a scrap on her. She never sits still, so must burn a huge amount of calories.

So long as you're offering a healthy diet, I see no problem with children eating until they're full.

How many hours does he do at nursery, does he get lunch there and is he the same on nursery days? Does he eat a wide range of foods, or is he fussy about what he eats?

Perhaps on non-nursery days he could have a bigger breakfast, then a cooked dinner at lunchtime, then 'lunch' of a sandwich etc at dinner time.

Agree with others, he is either still hungry after breakfast, or possibly he's thirsty and is mixing the two sensations up.

Cereal is a pretty unsatisfactory breakfast. I get hungry after something like Frosties! My DCs have cereal and toast or a bagel. Or porridge when it is cold.

Give him more water, give him more filling snacks. Don't not feed him for fear he will get fat .

I have two DCs. One likes to eat big meals and doesn't need snacks. The other eats smaller meals more often. That's just how they are. The one who needs more regular food is the skinnier of the two....

He goes to bed at 8:30.

He doesn't want the plain boring food He gets offered fruit, plain stuff he wants the biscuits, crisp and cake that he knows he can't have for breakfast!. He's always had a tiny waist and is quite long so think as tall as a 5-6 year old but waist of a 2-3 year old!

I've tried asking him he just says "i like to eat!" I'm not sure why he has an obsession with sandwiches I could try switching it round I guess but you can't really have lunch for breakfast can you?

Give him a choice between two healthy but filling snacks. If he refuses both he obviously isn't hungry.

My dd tries this with crisps. I say no, she cries. I offer her an apple or something similar. She takes the fruit she was hungry. She refuses and insists on crisps she wasn't hungry and just wants crisps.

I give her the apple but stand firm on crisps and say she can have them for lunch

Well my ds is like this, he's 8. He's been like it for years and I do feed him enough, his weight is spot on.

I think unless you have a child like this you don't really understand.

With ds it doesn't matter what I give him he never stops going on about food.

It doesn't matter if we've just been out for a big meal with pudding he will come out and say he's hungry, if I say well you've just ate sausage, chips, beans and chocolate cake he will say "oh yeah".

He's also obsessed with sweets, crisps, cake anything sugary, he'd eat sweets until he's sick if allowed.

Ask him to eat his roast dinner though and he'll whine and let it get cold. He wants to live on cake and cheese sandwiches.

If he's skinny I'd honestly just serve bigger portions.

It's too sugary OP. He's having sugar crashes.

All the fruit, fruit winders and GoAhead bars aren't good.

Fruit in moderation IS good.

Try peanut butter with carrot sticks, small amount of cheese, cucmbers, mini tomatoes, for snacks. Nuts too if he will eat them.

I'm not sure why he has an obsession with sandwiches I could try switching it round I guess but you can't really have lunch for breakfast can you?

Course you can! No reason why you can't. There's no rules saying no sandwhiches before 12

Same on nursery days he does his 15 hours spread over 4 days but is always home for lunch we've just moved so the new pre-school has lunch at 11:30 where as his old school had it at 12:30 which is more lunch time in our house due to the time he wakes up.

Eats pretty much most things I'd say despite saying he doesn't like dinner he does eat it all. Won't eat cooked food for breakfast unless it's cheese on toast or round toast

My DD is 8 and one bowl of cereal isn't enough for her breakfast. She has two boiled eggs and toast or a bowl of porridge and a banana.

If the cereal is something crappy like coco pops then he will feel hungry.

He'd be better with cheese on toast rather than cereal. Or porridge with a bit of fruit compote or honey on top.

I would try giving him much more protein for a few days- eggs and whole meal toast for brek, cheese and crackers for snack, peanut butter sandwiches (three slices of bread) plus salad, nuts and dried fruit as snacks. And as much healthy dinner as he can eat. Cut down on fresh fruit- doesn't fill you up. If that doesn't change things then I would speak to GP as it could be behavioural issue.

I'm no psychologies but it looks like he's trying to fill some kind of hole.

Funny how it stated after you gave birth to your other son.

ivegotyourgoat that's exactly it regarding cheese sandwiches and cake!

he doesn't want the fruit he wants the crisp hence why today I offered him a banana and he said no I want crisp I said no and he said fine crisp for lunch and walked off asking for lunch. I honestly don't think he could be hungry if he's refusing the healthy stuff and just wants shit food

FarrowandBallAche I'm glad you're no psychologist because DS2 wasn't born in March! DS2 was born last year in June so keep studying

How long were you in hospital then?

' you will give me my lunch tomorrow right mum? ' is a strange thing for a child to say, don't you think?

It says right in the same paragraph where it said Dp looked after the DS's meaning both of them

Or it could just be that he got in to the habit of eating too much crap while you were in hosp and now it's a security thing. I still say give him more protein rich food and snacks