Sick of my greedy daughter

[Orangeanddemons]

Dd is 7. She has always been greedy, but she is just intolerable now. We don't have any crap or junk in the house, as she was unmanageable around it.

She has eaten a large roast dinner 2 hours ago followed by yoghurt. She is now mithering and screaming that she is hungry. We try to ignore, but eventually you have to take a stand. She is like this every single day. Obsessed with food, nagging for food all the time.

I have had endless conversations about mouth versus tummy hunger, but it makes no difference. Nothing does. She just wants to eat all the time. I have tried to bring her up with a healthy attitude to food, but she is just obsessed with eating, so I have to restrict her.

We have 3 ds's too. None of them are like this. I am at my wits end

This is a really horrible way to talk about your poor dd imo.
Is she even overweight?
If so have you had a specialist opinion?

Oh and yes, he asks for food every couple of hours normally.

It may be a horrible way to talk about her, but I am sick of her never ending nagging, hounding and asking for food.

She has just had another banana and some cheese. She just cannot be that hungry all the time. I found her eating icing sugar straight out of the bag the other day.

She gets the odd treat, but she is like a bottomless pit, always wanting more food. She is probably very slightly overweight, but only slightly. She was born very tall (98th percentile) but not the same percentile for weight. She was much lower.

I don't know what to do for the best tbh. I don't think she is hungry all the time, I think she just likes eating and that is whats driving her.
When she was a baby she used to smack her chops if she saw you eating something

She wasn't actually screaming, just shouting and insisting she was hungry. An hour after eating a childs portion of Sunday dinner and yoghurt. Everyone else was still full

But what has she done today? Has she been racing around outside, or for a walk? 7 year olds can burn up a lot of energy and be "starving" all the time. I would try a breakfast with eggs or other protein, or maybe porridge, which would keep her full for longer. DD1 was a bit like this, and was very active. Scrambled eggs or beans on toast did keep her going for longer in the morning than a bowl of cereal. We only offered dull snacks like apples or cheese if she claimed to be hungry, and her response to this offering would show us just how hungry she really was!

My ds is 7, and short, and eats more than that. He is borderline underweight.

Your daughter's nagging isn't weird behavior if you just accept that she's hungry.

Your attitude needs looking at though.

How is she at school? Can she concentrate and last til lunch on breakfast and the fruit school
Provide? Or is she distracted a lot and teachers say she constantly says she's hungry?

If she's not very overweight, then just let her eat! Your reaction to her is more likely to lead to an eating disorder tbh than anything else is.

Maybe you should take a look at your own feelings around food? It sounds like what bothers you the most is that she really enjoys it, which is worrying.

Some people are more 'into' food than others, and suppressing it can be really unhealthy.

Then you need to up her protein and full fat intake.

Full fat milk, yoghurt and cheese as snacks.

Lentils, beans, legumes.

She clearly needs food. She might have issues with it, but it seems as if you do as well. You are both in a fight neither of you can win.

As the parent, you need to give her more sustaining food. Maybe try eggs and bacon in the morning, rather than fast burning light carbs.

A cheese sandwich if she needs a snack midday.

Feed her. For a week or so on high fat/protein, then see how her behaviour is. She might just have a metabolism that burns carbs too quickly. Or she might have another underlying thing. Take her to the doctor after two weeks of a change of diet for her.

My son is 13. And a bean pole. He doesn't stop eating from the moment he gets in after school until bedtime. I pretty well do two dinners for him, and he snacks on healthy snacks as well. He needs it.

I'm not sure why you think it is wrong to feed her if she is hungry. A cheese sarnie if she is hungry won't kill you.

I don't think my attitude does need looking at. She is completely unlike any other child I have met, or brought up.

She would eat constantly if we let her. She had a friend round for tea the other day. Dd was asking for pudding all through the first course. Going on and on about it. Friend refused any pudding! This was a real eye opener to me, as dd never refuses food every

Some children DO overeat. I found myself nodding knowingly at the poster further back who mentioned her autistic child not having a stop button. My DS is the same and I also recognised the "eating the icing sugar" stuff.

Obviously you have spoken to her about this. Woukd she be happy to meal plan with you and choose her snacks?

it might also be worth asking if she coukd be referred to a paediatric dietician.

Her weight sounds okay though so you are getting things right. It's just about looking at WHY she wanta to eat all the time. if not a medical issue then possibly an emotional one.

So? Why is this an issue? Is she fat?

Why not see your GP or ask for a referral if you are concerned?
I feel sorry for your poor child. She's presumably not behaving in this way to annoy you.

I would always feed her if she was hungry. But what I am trying to say, is she is never ever satisfied. She always wants more. Never turns it down, always asks for seconds, etc etc.

I do know how to feed children, we have had 3 others! None of them were like this

Some people may not agree but for a couple of days put a routine in place with clear structure - you can put it in a visible place and it has breakfast then 2hrs later snack then lunch then 2hrs later snack etc and see how she responds to following that - I would also keep a food journal with exact measurements such as two wheetabix with 200mls of milk - this will help GP and you see if it excessive food intake.

Is it the effort of clearing up and serving food that is getting you down?

Do you have a good relationship with food? Do you eat together?

Can you get her involved in the food prep? Table setting? My 4 year old cracks the eggs for scrambled egg and sets the table (in his own way).

I think it is really important to give the right foundations for our children's future about food, not commenting on how little or how much is a really good habit to get into - and not commenting in a negative or positive way about eating.

It sounds like she is having too many empty carbs for breakfast. I'd be a shaking hungry mess by 11 if I had toast and cereal. Could you try ff yogurt and something like babybels instead?

If she's overweight she may have food issues. How tall is she? How much does she weigh?

My ds2 is a skinny scrap and I worry about him constantly.

I would alao echo upping her proterin intake. ...larger portions of meat or fish. Protein is known to be an effective appetite suppressant.

It's the shouting that'd piss me off. Did she start shouting when you said she wasn't allowed more food? Or does she shout for snacks across the house?

No, she isn't fat, but she is well covered iykwim.

Fine. You are right. She is a nightmare.

Take her to the doctor. But do try not to use negative language in front of her.

Children are different. Maybe you are all little birds when it comes to eating. You say she had a full roast dinner. Two hours ago. Many children need feeding every two hours or so, rather than big gaps between meals.

Don't feed her carbs, or at least do low gi carbs.

You are the adult. You make the food choices. Try tweaking them in case she is not getting WHAT SHE NEEDS, rather than what you think she should need.

For all we know, you might consider a roastie, a brussell sprout and a slice of chicken a nourishing meal.

Remember that children need nearly as many calories as a grown woman, they do not eat half as much because they are half the size. My dd is a botherer for food. I offer her unlimited fruit and carrots. If she is really hungry she readily accepts, it also means I am not saying no all the time, I am saying 'of course, would you like an apple or a pear' for example.

There are people that lack a chemical is it lecithin? that tells their stomach when it's full. Maybe she's like that. That would cause her to be constantly hungry. But as it's rare, I don't know how you could find it out.

And yes, I do wonder when you use terms like greedy daughter, if there isn't some kind of projection going on from you, which kicks off your daughter. Hungry and despised. Great combination. No wonder she kicks off. If she has any sense of self to preserve.