The constant hunger is getting irritating!

[latterlov3r]

I dont know if this is related to ds being a sensory seeker or not but im so sick of hearing im hungry from ds. Its not a new thing he been like this as long as i can remember and EVERYONE has commented on it friends, family, nursery, school even after eating hes hungry and he stares at other people eating today hes had = cereal with banana, another banana, pot of grapes, oat cereal bar, bag of mini biscuits, ham sandwich, babybel, yogurt, pot strawberries, jaffa cake, bag of crisps and its not even 2.45! he actually cries if i refuse food, ive tried offering drinks instead but dosnt make a difference, although he will demand drinks with cries of im thirsty! often they lie there untouched as long as its there unless we are out of course then he drinks bucketloads and needs to loo 100 times!
I just tried to sit down to my lunch just after id fed the dc's and he was staring like a puppy sometimes i have to tell him to turn around if others are eating as its very of putting i do worry how much he will eat as he gets older and has free access to the kitchen/money etc for now hes a tall skinny thing but that could change with age arghhh

I think this is caused by sensory processing difficulties - my ds is the opposite as he doesn't recognise hunger at all.
perhaps chewing gum or chewy sticks to keep his mouth busy?

I have tried chewinggum before but he cant resist the urge to swallow and dosnt really 'get' why he shouldnt swallow it

perhaps an OT could help - they must come across this a lot
sounds really tough for both of you

DS is hungry constantly throughout the day.

We have put it down to sensory stimulation. I now give him free reign of one shelf in the fridge which I fill with carrot sticks, cucumber chunks, peas in pods (he loves these and it takes longer than just popping the peas in mouth) and various fruit. He can also have dried cereal in a bowl like crisps as a snack but I refuse to give him sweets, crisps (other than one bag a day) or cakes. He still eats good meals on top too. Fortunately he is a fruit/veg lover.

He is also allowed gum and I try to deter him by giving him drinks with straws to give a sensory input which sometimes delays things for a bit :)

I suppose frozen yoghurts and homemade frozen fruity lollies or small pots might provide good stimulus and slow things down for a period???

rhubarb sticks maybe...?...you could use those special healthier 'sugar' type substitutes...whats it 'stevia' or something or maybe a pot of yoghurt to dip instead if needed....

it must be difficult to distract away from food....I wonder if there are any sensory chewables and textures which are flavoured maybe....or maybe you could add flavour to them someway....I know you can buy flavour concentrates....sweet and savoury....thinking out loud...haven't a clue!!!

I don't know much at all about this...I'm brain storming for idea's to try and help :)

thank you all, cormsilk - ds has been discharged from the ot a while ago after one assesment and some work in nursery as far as they are concerned there is no real problem their help ends at putting a lap buddy into school.

I have tried straws but they dont seem to make a difference, frozen yougurt and lollies are a fab idea though and i will try that actually will be especially helpfull as suddenly hes constantly complaining hes too hot and on fire

meant to say he wont eat any veg at all if he tries to he physically gags and gets very upset you would think i was feeding him poison, i do restrict crisps to one bag a day though after my last post he went on to have another big pot of grapes and strawberries, a big bowl of pasta with garlic bread and a yougurt it never ends

if you make soups from the stock and extract the pulp??...would DS drink the yummy goodness and then you'd feel he was getting veggie goodness...maybe worth a try.

Make veg soup as normal and blend to smooth...then like you're making jam...pass it through a muslin to just capture the liquid goodness....freeze it and use portions for warm drinks and dip bread etc in maybe....just an idea to try maybe x

My ds who is on the road to a diagnosis of dyspraxia is constantly hungry. Is this a common thing and why would it be? He is very fussy about what he will and won't eat, for example ,will eat a chicken nugget from macdonalds but not a shop bought one, not too worried about that one hahaha.

He has a fairly limited diet and there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to what he will or won't eat. For example he loves carrots, broccoli but wont touch peas or sweet corn. He's funny about sauces yet loves gravy.

He would eat the same meals day in day out if i would let him, although sometimes he throws a spanner in the works by suddenly liking something new, eating it often and then refusing it.

He craves carbs mainly and I worry that his diet is not varied enough. I can't do the old puree veg and put it in to a sauce as he's like a blood hound and can sniff it out in a second.

He does like apples and bananas but wont graze on them through out the day. I'm running out of ideas and like you am getting a bit sick of the constant I'm hungry, especially when I know he can't be.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Thanks

My son is 5 and on the road to diagnosis with ASD/ADHD, already has hyper mobility/dyspraxia diagnosis and is constantly hungry. I try and make the snacks healthy but its wearing! New fave right now is an ice lolly .... I have reusable moulds and pour 1/4 full of natural yoghurt, the rest I fill with pureed strawberries, it looks like a fab ice lolly and he doesn't even realise it's healthy!

He does thankfully like fruit/veg so it's not a problem but if he is going to snack a lot I'd rather he ate healthily. His teacher has mentioned it - he's in school 9-12pm, has a breakfast of porridge topped with fruit, then the school provides toast and fruit at 10.30am and he has a hot dinner at 11.50am. However, he is so food obsessed he can't wait that long so teacher has a pot of boxes of raisins and cereal bars so he can eat them around 9.45am and 11am. Crazy he needs to eat that much!

DS2 asks for food constantly, but only certain foods. He won't eat ice cream or ice lollies - he doesn't like anything that is very cold (or a very warm temperature either which makes mealtimes difficult). His favourite thing to eat is apples. He eats 2-3 a day. Also carbs - bread, sandwiches, toast, cereal. And fruit - grapes, pears, raisins, clementines, strawberries, raw carrots, bananas (at least he's quite regular!! ). I suppose it plays into his difficulty using a fork, as it's all "finger food" as well.

Oh yes Triggles I hadn't thought about the fork thing but you are right.

ds2's constant hunger is anxiety related.
He is not able to fill time with an activity for himself, so if any time he doesnt know whats expected of him his default statement is "I'm hungry"
Giving him food does relieve his feeling of hunger but actually its not hunger he's feeling at all it's anxiety.
Feeding him is just in fact giving him a distraction that temporarily relieves the feeling of unease, which he thinks is hunger.
I don't know if he does actually feel a nervous tummy or of it is more generalised feeling of unease. He is not able to explain.
It took alot of work with his psych & sensory OT to work it out & give him alternitive distractions rather than food.
Its not prefect but he is far far better than he used to be.

Can you keep a diary of when he says he is hungry etc. Is it worse at certain times, transitions from one activity to another etc.
It is most likely to be just another Asd behaviour with a trigger like everything else.

My 3 year old is the same.. He tells me he's hungry while eating his meal! The pysychiatrist told me to give him free reign to carrots cucumber and healthy snacks... I struggled at first as I felt like I wasn't in control and was giving in to him but actually I was as I was controlling what he ate! He has just been referred for assessment. He didn't eat anything but weetabix for the first 18 months then all of a sudden became obsessed with food and saying 'I'm hungry' I feel for you it's extremely difficult to cope with some days especially while you're out! Keep smiling:) x