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?

[N4ish]

My 5 year old would eat rubbish too if she was left unsupervised for hours, it’s unrealistic to expect so young a child to regulate her own food intake.

I’m a night owl and loathe getting up early with my kids but I grit my teeth and do it, I know it won’t last forever.

[Thefaceofboe]

@Winemewhynot

you sound like a horrible person

[DominicRaabsTravelAgent]

I think you might want to introduce something to eat before bed like a banana and a glass of full day milk, then teeth clean and bed.

I rarely eat after about 5.30 but I'm always ravenous in the morning.

[Frozenheart]

@Winemewhynot why, are you mother of the year?

[Bluntness100]

I’m sorry but I am also concerned with this. A five year old should not be unsupervised for this length of time and having to go and feed herself like this. Someone needs to get up with her and give her a proper breakfast.

[Winemewhynot]

@Thefaceofboe

No im not horrible, I’m just someone who thinks letting a five year old get up hours before a parent and binge eat to the point of obesity is horrible.

[Bluntness100]

It's not secret eating it's just being independent!

Independent? She’s five!

[Clymene]

Okay if you want a critique of her diet:

I'd do the following swaps :
Fruit pouch - processed and no fibre. Swap for apple cut into pieces/segments of orange/tangerine
Dairylea dunker - processed. Swap for breadsticks and tiny individual houmous pots (Tesco do low fat ones)
Ham - processed and not a lot of nutrition. Swap for cheese or a wrap with chicken
Jelly - swap for fruit
Snacks - apart from fruit, those are high calorie and low nutrition. I'd swap for milk.

Wholemeal bread, wholemeal cereal. If she's hungry all the time, she needs more bulk and fibre in her diet.

Good luck. I also agree with the poster who says you just need to get stuff like Petits filous and wotsits out of the house.

[Bluntness100]

Good luck. I also agree with the poster who says you just need to get stuff like Petits filous and wotsits out of the house

But then what will she eat? She’s five and hungry and unsupervised for hours.

[Frozenheart]

@Winemewhynot and you’re the reason why so many mothers struggle because they get judged every time they ask for help….

Your child might not be fat or unsupervised but I hope to god he / she doesn’t have your stinking, vile attitude….

[delilahbucket]

If that is her average diet, then tea times are fine, but she is eating far too much fruit and then fruit pouches on top? Plus the processed stuff like Dairylea, ham, white bread. Her blood sugars will be spiking all over the shop. Up her fat and protein uptake and make sure the carbs are wholemeal types. Make snacks more savoury.

[JamieNorthlife]

Op, if she is always hungry, maybe have a chat with your GP or a dietitian. My niece was like that when she was younger, she was compulsive at eating and many times she would eat a whole bowl of nectarines or mandarines in minutes. The dietician and the counselling really helped. She is less impulsive/compulsive with food now and her weight is much stable now.
Hope you can find the right balance.

[Clymene]

@Bluntness100

Good luck. I also agree with the poster who says you just need to get stuff like Petits filous and wotsits out of the house

But then what will she eat? She’s five and hungry and unsupervised for hours.

Well obviously the OP or her husband need to get up too. Which I said in my earlier post

[frogsbreath]

In the kindest possible way, your daughter needs a parent to get up and give her breakfast. When she is in the routine of having breakfast and knowing oh mum or dad is up and I'll have breakfast soon, she may notice those hunger pangs less as she knows when she will eat and will perhaps be more engaged in activities which are not finding nice things to eat.

She's too little to regulate herself, and being independent at 5 is "ok, go on downstairs I'll be down in 15 minutes"

I say this as a child who secretly binged in a chaotic household of no supervision, and still do it now.

[ImFree2doasiwant]

I wouldn't leave a 5 yr old unsupervised for this long. You need to be getting up with her, and feeding her properly when she's hungry. That's a lot if food for a child of that age to put away in 1 go.

Have you spoken to her about it? That it's not ok to just help herself to all if that? Can she cone and wake you up if she's hungry?

[Bluntness100]

Op you need to get up and give her a proper breakfast of what she likes, be it weetabix, toast. Porridge, whatever. Other than her dinner she doesn’t have a very healthy diet. A good proper breakfast would resolve the issues a little.

[Goldbar]

I don't think it's a problem for her to be downstairs on her own for an hour or so (though I think 2+ hours is pushing it!). Her raids on the cupboards and overall diet clearly are a problem though if she's overweight.

I think the school/nursery model of breakfast/lunch/dinner + 2 snacks works well so I try to emulate it in our house. The only food on offer the rest of the time is apples, carrot sticks or cucumber.

I'd start by preparing her a breakfast box for the weekend and leaving it in the fridge for her. Make sure it's high in protein (peanut butter and oatcakes or a peanut butter sandwich, cold chicken sandwich, egg sandwich if she'll eat that). Also some milk in a closed bottle, one yoghurt, a piece of fruit (or berries, which are great as low-sugar) and maybe a little pot of dry cereal to pick at. Tell your DD she's allowed to eat anything in her breakfast box but mustn't take anything else from the fridge or cupboards without asking.

Stop buying petits filous - honestly, they're crammed full of sugar. Ditch the wotsits - offer popcorn or cheese and crackers/oatcakes instead. I'd get rid of the dairylea dunkers as well.

What do you mean by 'fruit pouch'? A little bag of cut up fruit pieces or some sort of fruit yoghurt pouch? If the latter, I'd ditch that too. Probably mostly sugar.

Limit the processed meat like ham and sausages. Chicken slices are better if she'd have those in her sandwiches.

I'd personally ditch the raisins as they're full of sugar and bad for teeth. Nuts are a good snack if she'll eat those. Or at least do a mix.

Your dinners sound great. Pudding sounds fine.

Is she doing enough exercise? Are you active as a family? That will help her maintain a healthy weight and reduce her boredom so she's not always looking for snacks.

[thewinehasgonetomyhead]

I also agree with most of the people posting on here OP. I'm afraid you need to get up with her everyday not just weekdays. To be honest ive never heard of any child being up that long unsupervised. I thought it was the norm that either both or one if taking it in turns at the weekend just gets up when the earliest child wakes up. You need to get up when she does and cook/prepare her a healthy breakfast. Good luck OP.

[DominicRaabsTravelAgent]

I do think though, and I'll probably get flamed for this, you and DH need to take it in turns to get up with her at the weekend and get her a proper breakfast, something from this guide like a peanut butter and banana sandwich or a plain toasted bagel with cream cheese and a sliced apple.

[GalaxyPostcard]

With all due respect OP your child needs to be supervised. She's 5! Yes this happens all day every day but as someone who has binge eating disorder, a morning of eating shit food sets me up for an awful day of being really hungry.

She needs healthy breakfasts at a time that works for her and you need to get up with her in the morning or this will continue into adulthood and she'll struggle for life.

[rainydayandpumpkinspice]

OP.

While that is good snacks, some of that is crap like ham, dairy Lea dunkers? If no bread?
Most people agree here you need to get up earlier, so just get with it and supervise your child in the mornings. A shower doesn't take you 2 hours. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Frozenheart]

@Winemewhynot lol whatever, you’re vile. Acting like you’ve never done anything wrong as a mother? Alright.

[WhoKnowsProbsNotMe]

Good f god with the exercise she’s not eating enough, being downstairs alone 😑 give yourself peace. None of these are a “normal” reaction.

Maybe send her to bed with milk or a milkshake so if she gets hungry in the night that will fill her? FYI to the people that will now ready to moan about sugar intake, save it I don’t care 😘 x