5 year old secret eating?!

[Frozenheart]

My lovely 5 year old DD has always been a very good eater ever since she was weaned.
The last couple of months, I have come downstairs to find my fridge and cupboards raided. All of this is being eaten before I wake up in the mornings.
Yesterday, her morning raid consisted of:

6x small petits filos yoghurts, 1x dairylea dunker, 1x apple and 1x satsuma.

This morning, she ate 6x more small yogurts, 1x packet of wotsits and 3x plain tortilla wraps

We always make sure we have filling, healthy meals during the day, but the words ”im still hungry still come out after finishing her meals and when we put her to bed!
In reception class last year, she was weighed and measured and it later came back to us that she is overweight. This wasn’t a surprise to us, as she has always been ahead of ages in clothes for her age. and her dad and I aren’t the slimmest of people!

So my main question is, would any see this as a cause for concern and to contact the gp? Is there anything we could change?

The easiest solution imo is to get up with her.

Your 5 yr old is up for up to 2.5 hours whilst you are sleeping in bed?? You aren't aware she has got to the kitchen (gone downstairs?) and eaten a large amount of food??
You need to be up when she is unless she has just come into your bed.
No 5 yr old should be unsupervised like this. Apart from the safety aspect, maybe if you were up to give her a healthy breakfast at the time she needs it, she wouldn't need to help herself 🤔

I think you might need advice from a paediatric dietitian.

If she is already overweight, having a free range of the fruit bowl probably isn't the best. It's great for skinny kids.

5.30pm is awfully early for the final meal of the day. Do you all eat at that time?

No one in your house eats after 6pm? No wonder she's hungry.

Prader -willi?

But more likely that you are just not meeting her emotional needs. Get out of bed ffs. And don't have the stuff she binges on in the house so she has to make good choices. We only have plain yogurt which the kids have with fresh fruit for example.

@nomoneytreehere is there really any need to add ‘ffs’ st the end of that?

She's clearly not having her nutritional needs met and potentially emotional needs too. Get up with her in a morning and make her breakfast. What does she eat for lunch/tea. For example what were her meals yesterday and today? You said you and your other half are overweight. Does she see you binge eating too?

Oh and ditch the free range fruit bowl. Fruit is packed with sugar and no one should eat it in large quantities, especially not if you are overweight.

She's awake up to 2.5 hours before you. Of course she is hungry and helping herself to what food she can. And no it isn't usual to leave an unsupervised child for that long in the morning.
It sounds like she needs a filling breakfast. Mine tend to have porridge with various toppings on in the morning to fill them up. If they had those mini packet cereals they would be complaining they were hungry 10 minutes later.

What does she eat at meal times OP?

If you post what she eats we might be able to help with some suggestions of how to fill her up for longer.

You can't stop her so you'll have to rethink what food items you stock from now on for her to access.

Who looks after her when she gets up and you're still asleep? Seems obvious that if she was properly supervised (as she should be at 5) she wouldn't be bingeing.
I can't imagine being in bed, much less asleep, while my daughter is up in the morning.
I want to be all "horses for courses I guess". But I can't. It's just a bit slack of you, you know?

From a quick skim through, it seems her last meal of the day is before 6pm, is that right?

And then she's waking 6/7am, but you're not getting up until 8.30am?

If I've got that right, it seems you are expecting her to not eat between 6pm and 8.30am the following morning. Which is a long time to go without food for kids (or even adults?).

They do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets you up for the day.

My advice would be to get up with her in the morning. Give her a healthy, nutritious breakfast, and see how the day pans out.

Kids don't differentiate between weekdays and weekends like adults do. If you get her into a routine of eating 3 meals a day, whether weekday or weekend, you might find things improve.

If she's hungry throughout the day offer her a choice of healthy snacks. The cupboard locks might also be a good idea, although temporary.

Good luck

It sounds like something I would have done as a child, as an adult I've realised I have a binge eating disorder, likely related to adhd

You need to get up with her in the morning and give her a filling healthy breakfast-porridge or oats. Why are you just leaving her to eat what she wants- you have to monitor & limit how much she can eat.

why is she downstairs before you in the morning?

Why doesn't she know not to help herself to food in the fridge?

This has nothing to do with diet, eating, whatever, this is just a failure to supervise and parent

I suggest four meals a day, breakfast lunch dinner and supper.

Their tummies are small so they can handle small meals often.

With snacks in between like a boiled egg or carrot battens and grapes and a home made oat flapjack or whatever. But I’m not a dietician so others may be wiser!

Does she get enough exercise to burn off what she eats nowadays? I know it was hard during lockdown but she needs to be out playing to get he weight within range.

Sounds like you’re keen to do the best for her so that’s good.

Maybe give her some supper before bed? We've always done this with our children and they have a glass of milk too. They're now 9 and 12 years. Never massively hungry first thing. Know she's only 5 but maybe worth mentioning about everything in moderation .Best to address excessive eating early as possible but that's just what I think. X

Five is too young to be on her own for that long OP. It doesn't matter whether every window and door is locked, a fire guard is securely fitted, etc.

This is what people mean by you not meeting her emotional needs. Five year olds are not meant to spend long periods on their own in this way. She is probably aware there is a you-shaped gap and she's filling it with food.

The best advice on here has been to post in as much detail as you can what she eats throughout an average day.

I've seen threads on here where people have done this and they've been given free professional advice on how to slowly change habits that will secure sensible eating in the long term for an individual child/family. It is amazing.

Whatever you do DO NOT lock the cupboards. You will be well and truly setting her up for a bad attitude towards food and possibly a lifetime of eating disorders.

Please get up with her. You can lounge on the sofa but at least you're there.

It feels as though her eating has become a bit skewiff each day getting up and having so long to wait for you to be up to ‘feed’ her. I know you leave some stuff out but this light indeed be comfort eating.
If this were me I’d -
Have dinner later.
Get up earlier with her and cook small things for her like porridge or an egg on toast. - ie really cook. So good right at the start of the day isn’t what she helps herself to and is also you looking after her (in her view).

New rule no helping self to anything from cupboards. Leave out the snacks she is allowed although I never ever ate between meals when I was a kid (except when three or four but no older) and I really don’t understand why that has changed so fundamentally.
Good luck op.

What sorts of things does she eat for lunch and dinner?

I dont see the food as the worry im worried you are leaving a 5 year old on her own every morning! Thats madness. You need to adjust her bedtimes or get up with her, shes 5! Or make the routine she comes in your bed and watches shows at least! She needs food in the morning but also a parent with her. Shel be hungry and totally bored. Please dont just lock your cupboards and leave her starving. Crikey. Or is this a fake thread?

Those 6 small yogurts will be over 20g of sugar. That's her entire days allowance! You need to get a handle on this otherwise weight won't be the only issue. Easiest way to sort the breakfast bingeing is to get up with her and monitor food. A big bowl of porridge or weetabix would be far healthier and more filling. Give natural yoghurt as an alternative.

Is she eating too much carb and not enough protein -and fat in her diet? The latter two will help her stay fuller for longer and will actually not add to weight gain in the same way carbs do, especially on a child burning lots of energy

Sounds like she wakes up and is hungry and you're not there to feed her so she helps herself 🤷