Some kids are like this, I think some posters don’t realise what it’s like to have a kid with no ‘off’ switch. At some point, you have to put in some restrictions, whether that’s a healthy way to think about food or not. Plus, they do need to develop an awareness that eating all of the biscuits/whatever means that other people don’t get a share, and that’s selfish.
My DS is like this with certain snacks/foods. Not biscuits but say we had raisins, dried mango, satsumas or a certain type of cake in the house, he would eat vast quantities left to his own devices. And we let him have a moderate amount of something sweet each day, served up just like any other food, and say ‘that’s to last the whole family for x days, so no more today’ instead of framing it as a treat. Obviously I have never framed satsumas as a ‘treat’ as to me they’re just a regular food and not something I could ever imagine overindulging in. But he likes what he likes, and was still highly motivated to eat large amounts of his favourite snacks. Dried fruit is a particular issue, but I don’t want to
just stop buying it altogether because it’s his favourite food 🤦🏼♀️
I would stop hiding the biscuits, that’s almost turning it into a game and sending the message ‘you are unable to resist eating the biscuits, so mummy has to hide them’ and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’d have a conversation with her about boundaries, explaining that eating all of something that is meant to be shared is unkind because then nobody else gets their share. If she says well just buy more, remind her that food costs money and the food you buy is meant to last the week. Explain that there will be a consequence if she hunts down and consumes food when you’ve said no more today, stop hiding the biscuits and follow through if she then eats them all. I did something similar with DS, saying that the raisins/whatever were meant to provide a whole week of lunchboxes, so there would be consequences if he ate the lot when I’d told him not to. One of those consequences might be a very dodgy tummy. You don’t want her to develop shame over eating so maybe make it clear the consequences are for ignoring your instructions, not for eating per se. But she is old enough to understand why it’s not on to eat a whole packet of biscuits meant for everyone.
I also wonder if she’s eating enough at mealtimes. My DS found sitting at the table boring and would say he was full quickly, plus he’d rather have snacks later. This became a big problem because it carried over into school, he was barely eating at lunchtime and came home ready to snap with hanger. It was tricky to deal with as I have eating issues from being forced to clear my plate. We dealt with it by serving up a week of his favourite dinners and saying even if you’re not eating, you need to stay at the table and participate in the conversation. By the end of the week, he was back in the habit of eating a full meal and that has majorly reduced his preoccupation with snacks.