To let my 8 year old have a snack supply in her room?

[jilllanguage]

My DD is 8 and a couple weeks ago she asked if she could have a snack supply in her bedroom. I said yes but she still needed to ask if she was going to have any out of it. It's unhealthy snacks, mainly chocolate I admit.

She's had it a few weeks and most of it is still there. The bits she's had she has asked me and I've said it's fine. She likes to set it up all nice and just know it's there more than anything I think.

When she told her dad though he phoned me saying there is no need for it and it's encouraging bad eating habits. He thinks she's too obsessional with food as it is at my house. I suppose he does have a point. She is always thinking about what she'll eat next.

However, she's not overweight at all, she's very active, she eats her vegetables (fruit not as keen on), she will leave breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert/yogurt etc on her plate so she knows when she is full, in fact she never finishes a full meal to be honest.

I don't see a problem with the snack box, if she was eating it without permission etc then I'd take it away but she's not.

AIBU?

Yeah, I wouldn't do this. I don't think it could achieve anything positive in terms of her relationship with food.

We also have a no food upstairs rule, but that's more to do with paranoia about rodents.

Ginghamstarfish I agree, but I'm in my 50s so older than most on here. I didn't snack as a child and neither did my friends (although we were given food if we were hungry) and I don't snack now. I'm amazed when I go to the cinema and people have trays of food and buckets of popcorn and coke to watch a one and a half hour film!

I accept mine is probably a minority view though.

If a child has free access to snacks I can't see much difference between them being downstairs and in the bedroom as long as the parent knows what's being eaten.

@RedToothBrush

An 8 year old? In her bedroom?

Good god no.

This has to be a wind up.

Why? If you've rtft you'll see some of us have done this with our kids and everyone survived the experience without piling on weight, getting cavities or choking.

However, she's not overweight at all, she's very active, she eats her vegetables (fruit not as keen on), she will leave breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert/yogurt etc on her plate so she knows when she is full, in fact she never finishes a full meal to be honest.

Maybe she doesn't finish a full meal because she's been snacking. Even small amounts of chocolate can take the edge off appetite for a meal.

My SIL is healthy and slim and carefully controls her calorie intake, she cuts out meals and eats 1600 cals a day, mostly consisting of chocolates and crisps .

There's some real dramatics out today...

Rats, mice, awful smells, choking, nobody ever eats alone... crikey!

I can't see the point in doing it, OP. Nor can I see how it leads to anything good but all this FUSS?!? How do some posters deal with life with this level of outrage and fear?

Snacks in her bedroom
Food upstairs
Absolutely not !
Mice !!!!!

Unless you live in a bungalow

Better in the kitchen.
You can keep an eye on what she's eating.

Keeping food in your room isn't a habit would encourage
For me old fashioned but think food goes in the kitchen
That's what the kitchen was designed for
It's an odd request to make
If you met a bloke who kept food in his room, you wouldn't date him
Would offer her to have a special snack shelf in the kitchen instead
I'd talk to her about vermin & mice, so she understood why it's a no
It sounds like she has been reading old Babysitter Club Books
Claudia kept her junk food stash hidden in her room too!

Claudia kept her junk food stash hidden in her room too!

Ah, loved those books. And they all thought Stacy and Dawn were weirdos for not eating endless crap 😂

Such dramatics on this thread. No surprise though, this is MN after all

She doesn’t eat full meals but you let her keep a stash of chocolate in her bedroom at age 8? Yes YABU.

No way would my DC be filling themselves up with snacks in their bedrooms if they were leaving their dinners. She’s not finishing her meals, because she knows she can eat chocolate in her room instead. Most 8 yr olds would rather eat chocolate than vegetables, but it’s obviously not good for them.

Nobody eats food in bedrooms in this house water only upstairs it's a filthy habit

I wouldn't have it in a bedroom. Just because all eating in our house has to be done at the table! A snack box in the kitchen would be okay though, I don't think a few treats need a be a big deal.

Nobody eats food in bedrooms in this house water only upstairs it's a filthy habit

Filthy habit! 😂😂😂 More dramatics.

My kids have fridges in their rooms. They keep snacks and drinks in them. The oldest keeps some alcohol in his fridge. The fridges look nice, my kids don’t eat any more than they would if they didn’t have them, youngest still asks before eating chocolate even though we don’t make her, they’re both healthy weight, one child is very into fitness, no fillings at 18 and 13. They both clean their rooms weekly. Hard floors, no carpet. It’s just not even an issue. It’s neither a good or a bad thing. It hasn’t taught them self control, nor has it meant they’re constantly tempted by ‘bad’ food and resulted in them eating crap at midnight. No mice either. 😂 It’s a total non issue.

Sometimes I feel like I live in an alternative universe.

Food in bedrooms is a 'filthy habit'?! Give over.

Smoking is a filthy habit.

Spitting in the street is a filthy habit.

Sitting in bed eating a KitKat bears no resemblance to a 'filthy habit'.

I want to know which brochure these dc who don't have ANY food in their bedrooms came from?
My teen ds has a mini fridge!!

It seems wasteful to give snacks if meals are going uneaten. I'd never suggest anyone should be forced to 'clear their plate' and it's good that your DD is self-regulating rather than over-eating, but the net conclusion is that you're providing too much food.

@ClariceQuiff

It seems wasteful to give snacks if meals are going uneaten. I'd never suggest anyone should be forced to 'clear their plate' and it's good that your DD is self-regulating rather than over-eating, but the net conclusion is that you're providing too much food.

I have to agree with this. I imagine ops daughter isn't finishing her meals so she can also eat snacks. Whilst it is great that she can self regulate, and stop herself, it's not building a great relationship with food. Your meals should be plenty to keep you going for a few hours. I'm all for snacks, and have no issues with them but if you're wasting normal food but then eating snacks that just doesn't sit right with me.

Fridges in bedrooms?!

Wont someone think of their electricity bill and the planet?

Clearly not.

Parallel dimension indeed.

No mice either. 😂 It’s a total non issue.

Where you live maybe. Round here they need very little excuse

Where you live maybe. Round here they need very little excuse

Well yes, I was talking about my house, not yours. Obviously.

I don't think it is a good idea. Apart from bad eating habits becoming possibly ingrained, it reduces contact with your DD. If you have to visit the kitchen for food, you will have more conversations, even if short ones.

Well yes, I was talking about my house, not yours. Obviously

😂

Even a small fridge is going to make a humming noise - that would drive me bananas if I was trying to sleep.

Fridges in children’s bedrooms - really??

Are you running a lodging house not a home