She ate all the biscuits

[Imissmusic]

I got a pack of chocolate chip cookies for today after dinner for everyone to have a few-Dd has a balanced diet but we don’t have a dessert or biscuits, crisps etc every night or in the house that often-more on weekends or if we bake something.
I hid the rest of the biscuits away for another day.
I went to have a shower, when Dd came up to bed, she told me she looked everywhere for them, found them and ate them.

Would you be cross? She’s 7

Id honestly hand something out and she misses out next time. It’s really greedy and I’d want her to understand she was eating everyone else’s share.

Don't waste your time on people who haven't lived a life with a SEND child. Or if they have and not have it on the same scale as you, they'll never get it.

I used to be that judgemental when I was a younger mum when I had my 3 boys in my 20s who are NT.
Then I had my last boy at 37 (implant issue) & he is autistic. We have locks on all doors, kitchen cupboards, triple locks and bolts on any door that leads outside etc. I cringe at my younger self for being so ignorant x

I would be cross, not because of the biscuits per se but the selfish behaviour, other people being deprived. I remember around that age there was a greedy child in my class, took more than her fair share of e.g. birthday treats, stole things from people’s lunch boxes etc. and as a consequence no one liked her and she had no friends. That’s the sort of behaviour I’d be worried about, and want to cut off at source - no one wants to be friends with a selfish person. I’d likely go and buy more biscuits for the next day but not let her have any as she already ate her share the previous night. Actions have consequences.

Because this kind of food is literally designed to be addictive. Particularly something like Maryland chocolate chip cookies.

So it's unsurprising when a 7 year old finds it....addictive!

Some people will be way more predisposed to it than others. I wouldn't expect those who can tuck the packet away & make it last a fortnight to understand!

It's not necessarily about lack of willpower, although is ADHD is a possibility, reduced executive functioning & a lower tolerance for 'deferred gratification' than same age peers might well be a part of it.

I know which particular triggers I have (MSG definitely, maltodextrin absolutely, anything combining fat/sugar/salt in general, yes). Typically I deal with it by not having crisps & biscuits in the house. I make cakes & sometimes biscuits with the children. But have to fill the cupboards with better options to eat.

Rules about asking for snacks will get you so far. Sensible conversations about healthy & balanced eating are essential, of course - without demonising any one product, but helping DD to understand that the food industrial complex literally WANTS her to overeat this kind of stuff of a regular basis! But helping her to know herself is the biggest thing.

If she came to you to 'confess' eating them all in one go, the most appropriate punishment might be to ask HER what you think you should do about it (together). She may already recognise it's a problem for her without knowing what to do about it, so helping with some practical suggestions might be a sensible path to give her the control to prevent things from spiralling into an eating disorder later in life. (Removing things from the house or diet altogether is unlikely to achieve this!)

How have you responded before when she’s eaten a whole pack in one go or eating bday cake all day?
I think it’s more about letting her know about boundaries and the effects of eating too much junk food. At 7, she would be able to understand those in the context of sweets/treats as PPs said.

Wow!

Couldn't think of a better way to make the hidden food feels like forbidden fruit if I tried.

There are very good responses in this thread. Personally, I would’ve done what the two posts before my earlier post said: understand as a parent that these food products are designed to be addictive, talk about what should’ve been done next time with dd, make her understand wider implications like actions have consequences.
also I must add, get your partner to be involved in supervising and instilling discipline as well. He was downstairs that time with her, if she was able to eat a whole pack of biscuits without your partner realising, then he’s not supervising enough is he? What if it was something poisonous from the kitchen that she ingested?

Hi sorry but I have many grown up children and my twins are 7 they will eat ALL the biscuits. You should be proud your 7 year old told you she eat the biscuits. Is there a reason why she is not allowed them every night. Mine have crisps on a daily basis and are happy active healthy children. Some times its the taking away thats the problem....are you on a constant diet/healthy eating plan. There are ways and means of healthy eating but at 7, thats a bit much

I think the point is that they were hidden, which even a 7 year old will know that is because she isn't allowed to just help herself. I would be angry, but more about the searching for something hidden

Hmmmm I don't think 'cross' applies exactly. If I was you I'd be very careful. When I was that age, and later (always) I'd take all the biscuits I could lay my hands on. I'd sneak them. Not all but as many as poss. I got away with it cos there were 5 of us kids. Many many many years later I realised I'd had an eating disorder, Binge Eating Disorder, as far back as I remember. I'm now in my late 60s and still it's a problem, a constant struggle to not let myself get completely enormous, and a big issue with only partial success. Also, looking back at old photos (the few I didn't manage to destroy) I realise I had genuine body dismorphia. But unlike you, my (very busy) mother didn't give us a balanced diet. She clearly did her best but we had a lot of sweet carbs etc at meals. (I'm lucky insofar as I never heard about the techniques that Bulimea sufferers use, or I'd likely have thought them a good idea.) So I'd suggest being careful, and in particular to not over-regulate your daughter's 'balanced diet'. I still, despite all my self-education and my experience, see sweet snacks as being treats rather than savoury things. I think the power of habits incredibly strong, and certainly I see myself as an addict. When I was a child, these things weren't known about and so one. Absolutely no one noticed and I thought I was just a greedy pig. You have the good fortune to be bringing up your DD in more enlightened times, but also the pressures on kids are more. Good luck.

My hiding place is at the bottom of the ironing basket . No-one ever goes in there .!

Of course it isn't. My eldest girl (out of 3) was constantly after food from the age of three months and if I had allowed her to eat everything she wanted when she was still a baby (loaves of bread, grown up dinners - this is the absolute truth) she would have been obese by now, so of course I hid the biscuits. But she did show some ingenuity when looking for them (or similar) and finding them later. She shared them with the other two though! Best thing I could do was just not to have them. Some people I know had secret Mars Bar sessions after their children were asleep.

Incidentally my daughter is now 49, beautiful, talented, clever, with immense drive and initiative and originality, and not obese.

I have to admit @Imissmusic that I would have been annoyed, but the one thing I am not seeing from your posts are consequences. If I had done this as a child or if my child were to do this, then they would not get any biscuits from the next packet and it would be explained why to them. Learning to share is a life skill and by not being consistent you are setting her up to fail.

If I had attempted to eat chocolate chips or chunks during cooking, I would have been told to leave the kitchen, however it would not have happened as it would have meant that I lost out on the treat of the last scrape of the bowl. You are at a point when you need to be teaching deferred gratification, I have friends whose children are allowed to open Christmas presents days before the event, I will only open on the day itself but that self-discipline has to be taught and learned, it is part of the joy of the occasion, the anticipation is part of the process.

I'd be cross too.

I'd never deny a child food if they say they are hungry but I wouldn't be giving them all of the "treats" which are for everyone.

No.. Not really.. It's not exactly terrible.. Maybe have them in the biscuit tin more often and make it clear that biscuits are like sweets.. only OK occasionally and if they dissappear from the tin they won't be replaced...!! So always ask first as it's not OK to just take .. she knows this doesn't she.

Because it's a treat food children shouldnt guzzle too much of and children aren't well known for regulating themselves very well with this sort of thing?!

I'm amazed so many think so little of this - I'd be very cross, she had already had some and they had been put away for another day, she knew that and helped herself anyway. That's stealing!!

Teach her at this age that if she has to search for something hidden then that is wrong.
Tell her to try to be honest.

I would say let her have them as a treat more often as this behaviour is usually when you are restricted and then crave the biscuits/sweets etc which can backfire when they do then have access as they gorge as you found out , also having worked with many anorexics over the past 30 years , making foods that "bad" and maybe making a child feel shame around food is a huge no no ,food should be enjoyed and not used as punishment , not that I'm saying what you did or how you responded was wrong just that to be aware of how this could spiral in the minds of some children is good to think about , absolutely right in not letting her have a whole packet ! But maybe ensure she does have a treat sometimes to take the novelty away to the point of her gorging like that , and its our first time as parents So all of us get things wrong or wish we had known stuff years later , we like to beat ourselves up! Shes lucky to have a mum that cares about her health x

Leave a packet of chocolate biscuits out on the counter in most homes and the kids will devour them. OP's child did not eat a whole packet, she ate the remaining biscuits - probably half a packet or 5 or 6 biccies.
Just about every child I've ever known would have finished the packet if left to their own devices.

We're all hard-wired to like sugar.

Food issues?? Bit harsh. I am not sure - in our home weekend treats bought during the week are kept mainly out of sight until then. Quite a few sensible parents we know who don't want their kids eating too much sugar do this. Perfectly logical. If I left them out or easy to find they would quite understandably get eaten by the kiddos and their friends in a flash...

I’m the opposite, I never ever restricted any food, so there was always a cupboard of biscuits, chocolate, crisps etc freely available, and so mine never did this, as it wasn’t ever seen as different to other foods available. When coming home from school they’d want something like mini sausages ior scotch eggs and the same for other kids I know.

in fact one mother restricted olives and when her daughter came to my house, saw them in th4 fridge wanted to gorge them all. I had to stop her.

kids over eat what they see as forbidden, restricted, treat foods. If you never treat it like that, they don’t tend to gorge on it.

I remember doing similar things at your daughters age, sneaking biscuits and crisps. I was being greedy and liked the taste of the food, it certainly did not develop into as eating disorder.
Can't it just be the case that kids can be oportunistic and not that they are on a one way ride to an eating disorder.

kids over eat what they see as forbidden, restricted, treat foods. If you never treat it like that, they don’t tend to gorge on it.

My description of broccoli, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms as lovely treats that they only get if very good has absolutely not worked.

Letting kids eat what they like is poor parenting.

Stealing is quite a strong word.

The biscuits are communal biscuits, in a communal room.

The mother making a huge issue out of hiding a few leftover biscuits is resulting in child seeing them as a forbidden thing.

If the child used too much toilet paper,would you accuse her of stealing toilet paper?