Bit worried about my son and his eating habits...

[TaperJeanGirl]

Ds is 3.7, and for the last 6-8 months or so, has become increasingly obsessed with food, he is not overweight, but is very solid and what I would call sturdy, (102cms and 2st 9lbs)

Given the chance he will eat constantly, at first it was a bit of a running joke, but in the last couple of months he has got much worse, he wakes most nights to raid the kitchen, we tie the fridge handles together but he recently started getting bread knifes to saw through the plastic tie if it were just sweets and biscuits I could understand it, hell, I cant even leave the quality street alone, but its not, he will choose sweets if they are there but if not he will shove dry bread into his mouth, dry cereal, cake decorations, will often get food out of the bin ie from plates that have just been scraped so the food is on top iykwim, he recently poured salt into his mouth straight from the tub, not just a taste, but a LOT of salt which he threw up obviously, he will grab the sugar pot and eat spoonfuls of that, eat hot chocolate powder, he takes food from his sisters plates at dinnertime if I leave the room, takes food off the floor under the highchair at dinnertime, over christmas he downed a glass of dps wine before we could get to him, and smashed a bottle of beer on the floor trying to open it (we have now moved all alcohol very high)

Yesterday, my cousin ate a kebab and wrapped up the leftovers and tied them in a carrier bag to put in an outside bin (we are veggies and I dislike the smell) we forgot the bag was there and left the room for a few mins leaving him in the room with his sisters and when we came back in he has been in the bag and eaten all the cold greasy leftover kebab meat which was covered in chilli and garlic sauce, like some sort of hungry fox he did this in a matter of minutes..

He cries all the time that he is hungry, even after finishing a big dinner, none of my girls are like this...I have noticed its gotten a lot worse in the last few weeks, maybe because there are lots of treats around at the min, or that hes been off of nursery?

Pretty sure this isnt normal, and am planning on taking him to see the gp, but knowing him he will just brush it off, anyone else have a child like this, or have any ideas on whats wrong with him? Or practically, know where I can buy a proper lock for an american style fridge!!

Thanks if you managed to read all of this...

Firstly I'd hide the kitchen knives where he can't get at them, even if it mean you putting them upstairs in your room at bedtime. But that's just safety-if he comes downstairs on his own and cuts himself he could have bled to death by morning.

Secondly, I think you need to take him to the GP. There are conditions where people don't recognise the "feeling full" sign, and I suspect there are illnesses which make people feel constantly hungry.

I think fitting a firm lock on the kitchen door would be the start of where I'd go. And making sure it is locked at all times I wasn't in. Cupboard locks generally are fairly easy for a determined toddler to break-along with bits of the door

Give him much much bigger meals. Allow him to eat as much whole grain bread and vegetables as he likes. Ensure that a third of his meals are made up of a high protein food, such as eggs or cheese. Don't deny him fat.

He is tall for his age, and he will naturally have more muscle mass than your girls, so will be heavier. He also requires more calories, about three hundred more per day than a girl of the same height, weight and age.

If y give us an idea of what he is typically given in a day, I might be able to help you tweak it more towards filling him up.

Both my boys were like this, both were eating adult woman sized portions by the time they were your sons age. Both of them will eat ANYTHING if they are hungry and they both get hungry very very quickly. I have a lot of friends with boys, and nearly all of them report the same behaviour. Girls don't seem to get as hungry. Seriously, I know some very filling tricks .... Neither of my sons are over weight, by the way, both have visible ribs.

If you look at his behaviour, it's only a problem within the context of the child not being hungry. If you allow that the child is experiencing hunger whilst behaving this way, the behaviour is normal.

Bit of a side issue but we keep kitchen knives on a magnetic block in an shoulder height cupboard in our kitchen, to stop 3 year old DS getting access to them. As you've discovered, they can get into cutlery drawers etc. at this age.

Thank you, knives are now hidden, along with the alcohol, salt, and all sweets, the door to the kitchen was removed when some building works were going on and its never been put back on, kitchen is tiny so it saves a bit of space, was thinking of getting a puppy gate, as he can open normal stair gates, and even if he couldnt he would just climb over, he is also fairly smart and works out ways to get things

Colditz, for breakfast he will have something like 2 slices of toast brown or white whatever is in, or a muffin/crumpets/bowl of cheerios/ready brek (only one of the above) on a weekend he likes scrambled eggs on toast or a veggie bacon/sausage sandwich, lunch will usually be a sandwich, cheese or egg, with some fruit or a bit of cake, an example of a fave dinner would be spag bol, made with quorn mince, big pile of it on his plate with cheese, and sometimes garlic bread on the side, another fave is roast potatoes with veg and some kind of meat replacement, he drinks soya milk, water, juice with meals, and given the chance will swig coke, snacks will be whatever is in really, fruit/biscuits/brownie/cheese and crackers, he eats fruit at nursery, and from next week will be having a cooked lunch at nursery as he starts full time, they give tiny portions though so he will still get his normal dinner at home, my portions for him seem larger than what my friends give their similar age kids, I am not too worried about him getting overweight as he is VERY active, runs/scoots/dances everywhere and is never still, and thankfully will be just as happy with fruit as with cake, its just the constant foraging for food is driving me mad, and sometimes its when he cant possibly be hungry...

Written down his food doesnt actually look like a lot, but it does seem like I am constantly feeding him, snacks will be 2 or 3x a day, and thats just what I give him, he manages to outwit me lots day and night and grabs bread or other food then locks himself in the toilet to eat it

"and sometimes its when he cant possibly be hungry... "

Hmmm! Just a couple of random ideas:

Has this (or at least part of it) somehow managed to turn into a game of thwart mummy at all costs?

He may need his diet looking at, especially if he's very active, but is it possible that he's not absorbing the protein he needs from the meat substitutes?
Is he worse after some meals as opposed to others? If so, is there a pattern?

I'm not sure about it being a game, I think he feels, or thinks he feels genuinely hungry, I cant work out why he would wake from a deep sleep to go on a food hunt unless hunger was waking him, I might try a snack before bed to see if that will help, he really does seem starving, none of my kids eat meat at the moment, I am veggie and they can choose to eat meat when they're older if they want, I think he does go after meat as a novelty/game as he knows its something he wont be given, but most of the time any meat he manages to eat isnt being eaten because its meat, but because its edible (vaguely, in the kebabs case )

My only other thought would be that he's heading for a growth spurt or trying to satisfy a craving for something he's not getting enough of in his diet (God knows what else that could be though).

I've only skimmed the thread but could he mistaking thirst for hunger?

It does sound too extreme to be normal hunger.

Have you tried giving him unrestricted access to fruit and veg just to see what happens? I think the result would be significant.

If he stuffs himself silly then the novelty wears off and he becomes more reasonable I wouldn't worry but if his behaviour gets more extreme and he starts to make himself ill that would give you evidence for the GP.

could he be bored?

my nephew can often be distracted out of being hungry

The amount of food you are feeding him doesn't strike me as too much, although obviously we can't see the portions. I feed my son of the same age and about the same size (due for a measuring against the wall chart actually) as much, in fact, I probably feed him more. He'll graze heavily on fruit throughout the day too and especially if dinner doesn't come sharpish, but doesn't do anything like eat the sugar bowl contents or rifle through the leftovers in the bin.

If it wasn't for the waking in the middle of the night, I would think that it might just be him being a bit of a three year old and doing it for kicks and for your attention. With the whole waking and looking for food, I wonder if it's a sign that there's more to it.

I would let him have access to the fruit bowl throughout the day and give him a snack before bed and see if that cures it. If not, I would take him to the doctor.

My DS2 (3.9) can be like this eg eating three bananas in a go. But he knows he has to ask and certainly isn't allowed to help himself to food from the fridge, open drawers etc, let alone go in the kitchen in the night. aside from anything else it's a safety issue. Three is imo plenty old enough to understand this.

As for the hunger. I would suggest increasing protein at his meals, giving him free access to fruit bowl (up to a limit - you could give him his own bowl with a day's worth that he can help himself to). Get him to drink more water. And yes see GP if still an issue.

See those meals don't sound enormous to me. My DSs eat a lot more at breakfast (even when they were that age). They have toast and ready break/weetabix and fruit with yoghurt. I think some protein at breakfast is a good idea.
Mine have school dinners and a full cooked meal. They also have two snacks at school and another at home, and at your sons age had milk at bed time too.
My DS2 has always struggled with being underweight due to a food intolerance and his dietician would certainly not recommend unrestricted access to a fruit bowl! Veg yes but not fruit. More fat and protein may be the answer.... Altho it goes against the grain my dietician told me to feed mine more fat!

My 3.5 year old has 2 or maybe 3 weetabix for breakfast - toast isn't very filling so i woukd add to this. A sandwich and fruit for lunch also doesn't sound much either and could be padded out - maybe the cooked lunch at nursery will be better.

The foraging for food thing sounds awful, but perhaps he is genuinely hungry. When they're having a growth spurt sometimes they do seem to need to eat constantly.

Thanks everyone, I will try to up his breakfasts, the daily fruit allowance sounds good, I did used to let him have whatever fruit he wanted but he ended up eating so much he would poo himself He is very very different from all of my girls...right, bigger breakfasts, more snacks, more water, carry on hiding all food and sharp objects, and I still might get a puppy gate! If no better a trip to the dr....

As a vegetarian, I'm sure you know more about other protein sources than I do, but I do know that just toast with butter, marmite or jam for breakfast would leave my kids hungry within an hour of eating it. If mine have toast, it is always with peanut butter and usually sliced banana to give it some more substance.

If you don't want to give him too much fruit, maybe have some oatcakes or crackers along with some fruit to keep it from going through him too quickly?

Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

I don't think he's eating much at all. Try giving him the same portions you give yourself, and a good filler is to keep a stash of hard boiled eggs in the fridge, peanut butter on seeded crackers, or hummus with carrot sticks. I wouldn't change his diet apart from giving him more fat and protein at breakfast, cereal just doesn't cut it, neither does toast. Give him a bowl of cereal, and a piece of toast with a thick layer of nut butter

For example, at the age your son is at, my children were much smaller, and they are still short and skinny.

But the would have egg on toast, or cheese toasties for breakfast every day, with a piece of fruit. Then a mid morning snack of cheese and crackers, or peanut butter on crackers. Then lunch which was something like noodles with sardines and peas, or something like sausage, chips and salad. Afternoon snack of fruit with cheese or crisps, or a hard boiled egg with dipping ketchup, or some mini sausages. Dinner was meat and two veg with rice, pasta or potato, but always with some added fat in the form of butter, oil or cheese. Pudding doesn't really happen in this house.

They eat a slightly lower fat diet now, but as you can see, their diet at three was fairly fatty because it needed to be to maintain their weight and stop them foraging. Fat sates the appetite, nothing else does, really. They ate a LOT, both were very slim children, and not tall either.