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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

What does your 10 yr old eat? Am i unfair to DS?

26 replies

mrsdaz · 16/04/2011 23:23

My ds is 10 and is very fit/active. He plays football 3x a week and is always doing sports at school. He is really bugging me lately as he is always asking for 'pudding' or chocolate and seems the more i give him the more he wants!!

For example he has eaten the following today:

Breakfast - 2 weetabix with mixed fruit
Snack - 2 pieces of toast with chocolate spread (he nagged for choc spread as only have it in for cakes we made last week for an easter party)
Lunch - adult meal from local pub, bbq chicken & chips
Cornetto for pudding
3/4 of a large bar of dairy milk (friend bought it for him)
Tea - cheese sandwich, cherry scone, trifle (we were out all day and had tea with my parents).

As we got in the car to set off home at 8.30 he asked for more chocolate which i said no to and he was bordering on crying because i wouldnt let him.

Sounds daft now i have written it down as he hasnt had a lot really but its the constant asking for sweets and chocolate thats driving me mad...he was asking for additional things all day but i kept saying no.

Im just wondering what other peoples 10yr olds eat?

I have always tried to limit his junk food but feel the more of an issue i make about it the worse he is going to get and i dont want to give him a complex about food. I feel like a meanie but some days i give in to him and he just eats eats eats! He will only eat fruit at breakfast time so cant be hungry or would eat a banana when offered rather than crying because he cant have chocolate!! He has also told my mum that my husband and I hide chocolate from him in the house (my husband rarely eats chocolate so if he ever buys something he will put it in the cupboard for when he fancies it i.e. a creme egg so its not being hidden as such but i suppose it could look that way to ds?)

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monkeyplayszeebongos · 16/04/2011 23:25

yes same as my ds(9) they just eat and eat and eat

Maryz · 16/04/2011 23:29

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Loshad · 16/04/2011 23:33

yes I'm afraid he hasn't had enough to eat - especially at tea time - a cheese sandwich might be suitable as a late night snack, but not as his main evening meal.
They eat a scarily large amount (boys of around 10 and up) - mine eat me out of house and home and are all as thin as lats!

yousankmybattleship · 16/04/2011 23:34

I don't think he's eaten all that much - and most of it has been crap. Tell himif he's really hungry he can have a banana or a yoghurt or similar. Maybe he'll feel fuller longer if you give him things like jacket spuds instead of chips.

Original poster

mrsdaz · 16/04/2011 23:34

Thanks for the replies. I do offer yogurts/fruit/toast all the time but he doesnt want it. Usually he has sandwiches for lunch at school and a cooked dinner at night but as we had been out for the day and got in late we only really had time for the quick tea to enable us to get home.

His evening meals are bigger than his dads and sometimes he doesn't eat all his tea saying he is full...yet 2 minutes later he is asking for a bar of chocolate!!

I guess im making too much of it..i just worry about feeding him wrong

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yousankmybattleship · 16/04/2011 23:36

If you offer him yoghurts/fruit/toast and he says no he's not hungry. If he still asks for chocolate you say no. You are the adult.

Maryz · 16/04/2011 23:38

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Mutt · 16/04/2011 23:43

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Mutt · 16/04/2011 23:45

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Timbachick · 16/04/2011 23:49

Mine is 10, nearly 11 and can eat for Britain.

I was once asked by a very lovely GP friend who had two grown boys if mine had got "to that stage where they just eat everything". I said that whilst he had always had a good appetite I didn't think we had reached the stage she was talking about. She smiled and said "ooooohh, just wait, it's like a switch has been flicked, you just can't fill them up".

Well, here we are!! . He can eat ... and eat ... and eat ... and eat ...

I kind of get the impression that it is the "what" rather than the "how much" that you are most concerned with and, as he is only 10, it is you that has to look at that one! And act/vary your shopping accordingly.

If he has already had a 'treat' then I tend to offset it with a plate of fruit when the next request comes through . He scoffs the lot.

Original poster

mrsdaz · 17/04/2011 00:04

Today isnt the best example of his usual diet really as he normally eats really well at mealtimes but today being a day out was different. However i still had a bag full of fruit he could have eaten but he didnt want it.

He used to eat fruit up to about a month ago but is now refusing it and asking for crap. He always had grapes/yogurt and a banana in his lunchbox but hasnt been eating them saying he hasnt had time at break as he wanted to play. He then gets in from school and is complaining he is hungry but only wants a chocolate bar (i tell him eat whats left in his lunchbox or have nothing).

I am constantly saying no to him and thats the bit thats annoying, i feel like im mean to him and making more of an issue of things.

He is brilliant with veg and will eat anything given to him when its on a plate for a meal but its the snacks issue!! He has started comparing himself to his friends lately so maybe thats what it is i.e. his friends go to bed later than him or get more pocket money/more sweets etc.

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Maryz · 17/04/2011 00:12

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Mutt · 17/04/2011 00:13

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nooka · 17/04/2011 00:31

I have a 10 year old and an 11 year old, and they are both big eaters. We rarely have chocolate in the house, and when it's gone it's gone. Nothing wrong with being a mean mummy, you just need to say "tough" and move on really. It's a good lesson for him to learn. You are obviously offering him plenty of healthy food so it's not hunger that's the problem, he just likes sweet stuff. You'd be a worse mum if you gave in, and although your ds might not tell you about it I suspect there are far more parents that say no than there are that provide everything a 10 year old could think to ask for.

Original poster

mrsdaz · 17/04/2011 08:10

thanks again everyone..reading it back this morning has made me realise how ridiculous it is! I guess i was having a down/weak day yesterday and i just need to be strong with him!

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heliumballoons · 17/04/2011 08:26

I agree with Maryz

My DS (6yo) eats lots, but does eat quite healthily. He loves pepper/carrots/cucumber and breadsticks so I have been giving him phili with it to dip.

He was constantly asking for chocolate/biscuits so I stopped buying it, it was the only way. He is allowed to help himself to fruit from the bowl and when faced with that or nothing he is now back to eating lots of it.

Your right about it 'getting to you'. It got to the point where I was fed up of saying no to chocs/biccys that by not buying it I say, there isn't any, have a yoghurt/breadsticks/toast etc.

I do think though that the alternatives he's having are more filling and thats why he isn't feeling the need for a quick suger fix as much.

ballstoit · 17/04/2011 08:37

Hmm, treat te food requests from DS like you do your own. So Balls naughty brain says 'ooh, it's 11 o'clock, time for coffee and biscuits, then my good brain says 'yes, coffee and a banana'. If I want the banana I'n hungry, if not I'm craving crap and must be ignored!

Hope everyone's brains have these debates

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs · 17/04/2011 08:52

balls - you are not alone! Unfortunately naughty brain wins quite a lot!! Good brain is very tired and can't be done with the arguing!!

HipposGoBeserk · 17/04/2011 08:58

I think a more substantial breakfast is needed too. 2 weetabix is so sugary and doesn't really fill anyone up. He'd be better having a boiled egg and wholemeal soldiers.

And re the whining for chocolate - you just have to accept that you will have a tough time in the short term while you are firm and he tries to push your new boundaries, and soon he'll realise it is pointless asking and will let up on the whining a bit. IF you are firm!

gillybean2 · 17/04/2011 09:05

Is 'pudding' always sweet stuff like triffle and scones? In our house pudding is often a yoghurt, fruit or a bowl of cereal because there isn't anything else. Usually I put the fruit/yoghurt out with his meal so he's always regarded it as part of his meal rather than an extra/pudding for which there are nicer alternatives.

Ds will also refuse half his dinner and then be hungry shortly after. I point him at his dinner again first.

Agree with those who say don't have sweets/choc in the house. If you are saying no all the time you feel bad and he feels you are mean. If you say 'we don't have any' then it's not the same as saying no.

gillybean2 · 17/04/2011 09:09

HipposGoBeserk - how is weetabix so sugary? It's only sugary if you add sugar to it...

Personally I've never suggested to ds that sugar can or should be added to cereal and he's never thought of it. The advertisers certainly don't show it served that way any more. It is only when we've been on holiday with others who throw vast amounts of sugar on their breakfast that he asked for the same. I simply said no.

Chandon · 17/04/2011 09:13

My DS is always allowed to top up on fruit (bananas are filling) and savoury crackers (crackawheat, cheese crackers, cream crackers etc. I keep a big tin just for him really) and a glass of milk.

Choc or biscuits only once a day. Flapjacks are filling and contain oats which are great for energy.

For breakfast he eats cereal as well as toast. He is skinny though, but a healthy weight. And very active (sports 5 times a week)

Asinine · 17/04/2011 09:19

What does he drink?

winnybella · 17/04/2011 09:20

Don't feel mean for refusing to feed him chocolate etc nonstop.
Tell him it's fine say, once a day for a pudding and that's it.

DS is 9 but is very tall for his age and eats the same amount or more than me. Two bowls of cornflakes for breakfast, school dinner (and they are quite healthy here in France, heavy on veg), then we always have a sweet snack on the way home where we stop at the bakery and he'll have a pain au chocolat or similar. Then he'll eat probably an apple or two and maybe a Babybel and then a dinner with us. Pudding would be berries now and maybe a slice of apple or plum tart in winter, but we don't always have it.. So he eats a lot but no crisps etc (except on special occasions) and on average, one or at a maximum two sweet thing a day.

You will be doing him no favours by allowing to eat him crap. It is unhealthy and you, as a parent, need to make sure he doesn't consume it in huge amounts. It's not about giving him a complex- normal, healthy (ish) diet will include sweets etc, but in moderation.

Just say no

winnybella · 17/04/2011 09:22

sorry, allowing him to eat crap

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