Big Man is obsessed with food. At 3 1/2, he LOVES candy, cookies, etc. Neither of the girls were like this - it is really insane. When he wakes up, his first thought it where are his (gummy) vitamins. Shortly thereafter he wants a poptart. In the car on the way to work/daycare, he asks what is for dinner. When we pick him up, before saying hi he says "what's for dinner?". When we get home he asks for a snack.
Last night, while eating dinner, he says his tummy hurts. We tell him he has probably had enough to eat. He says yeah. 30 seconds later he asks for some yogurt. Then a cookie. Then a banana. We have found him hiding in the pantry eating cookies. He will lie about what he has eaten while he is still eating it and it is smeared all over his face.
He is not overweight, in fact he is a little guy. I assume this will pass?
2 comments:
He may find the forbidden food alluring. About the only way to cut it is to keep it out of the house. Switch to cold cereal for breakfast. Or cook something else the night before (eggs, etc) and reheat it the next morning. Eventually he'll get tired of hearing 'we dont have any' and quit asking. My nephew used to do the hide and eat thing, and deny it and they baited him with cookies on the counter. He ate them all in the morning, while parents were sleeping in. A tad wrong if you ask me, but whatever. Until he was around 10 he would eat until he got sick. Sometimes kids that age just get hungry, so put some items he can have in a special place or drawer, but make them healthy. I for one know that for myself, once I get started eating candy or etc. it is REALLY hard to stop, your mouth gets used to the sweet taste and wants more and more. It could also be that he's thirsty. Give him a glass of water when he asks for a snack. Then provide an activity to do and see if he's still hungry in 20 minutes. Most of the time, you forget all about it. Offer plenty at meal times and a SET dessert that's only served the once. We usually had jello or pudding around 7 pm (granted this is when I was old enough to 'know') and let him know this is dessert and that's all you get. If he's avoiding real food to get the 'goodies' that's a whole 'nother problem, but since you didn't say so I'm assuming not. Kids are just little people and can fall into the same traps, so try and knock those all out (thirsty, bored) before giving in, and only then, offer something healthy.. perhaps the sweet tooth will disappear!
I've found it comes in waves. We don't keep cookies or candy in the house (I will eat them) so it makes it easy to say yes to the girls if they want something to eat after dinner. We'll let them eat pretty much anything they want after dinner, regardless of whether or not they ate a large amount of dinner. Yogurt, banana, cereal, fig newtons, trail mix, granola, granola bars. My kids are pretty skinny and I think they just have a high metabolism at this age so they need to eat frequently.
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