Hungry 7 year old

Smashing

Do you have a set meal time - ie dinner at the same time everyday? I am wondering if he'd be less inclined to pester if he knew there was a meal coming shortly. What does he do at school? He obviously can't eat constantly there and hasn't dropped dead quite yet so chances are it's just boredom or the knowledge that if he pesters enough you will give in and give him something 'nice.'

boydE

leiela wrote: »

Oh i should point out, the flapjacks are hm and have no suger or syrup in them to bind them i use banana's and unsweetened apple sauce so the flapjacks are 100% good stuff. Muffins again no suger i use a tiny bit of sweetner tbh they are more like bread with raisins in.

Ok granted Chocolate cake and icecream are bad, but the chocolate cake was made with half sweetner and half so not AS bad as shop bought.

icecream ok i have no defence haha.. but it was served with wholegrain pancakes and fruit so can't i get brownie points for that at least :P

Also all the meals are homemade, i don't use jar's / tinned sauces so i don't think my kids diet is THAT bad.

tbh my kids won an award at school not so long ago for having the "best diet" in the school, as a whole i think they eat pretty darn well, either that or the rest of the school eats REALLY badly haha.

lol I thought they were just the normal stuff.
all children/adults eat rubbish, we tend to save ours for the weekends
Growth spurts are a big factor in the appetite, leave hime eat plenty, obviously not everything fatty.
at the moment everyone in house cant stop eating, must be the time of year, perhaps the season changes or something.

leiela

boydE wrote: »

lol I thought they were just the normal stuff.
all children/adults eat rubbish, we tend to save ours for the weekends
Growth spurts are a big factor in the appetite, leave hime eat plenty, obviously not everything fatty.
at the moment everyone in house cant stop eating, must be the time of year, perhaps the season changes or something.

Yes i admit there is more rubbish in the house at weekends, i think it may have something to do with me spending most of saturday baking for the week... i guess the knowledge that mummy's in the kitchen making yummy things isn't exactly helping the situation.

I dunno how he copes at school, they've mentioned he has a good appetite but i dont think he pesters there i guess its easier in a structured eviroment where he know's he can't have it... all i know is the ravinous monster that walks in though the front door when he get's home.

GucciShoes_2

Forget all the diets and cutting this out and that out. The menu you put up is absolutely fine and is more than enough.
The problem is, you will probably find, boredom! I had exactly the same with my son and its like every single minute of his day needed to be occupied doing something.

Its almost certain that every time he says "Can I have.....Oh but Im starving" he is actually looking for some attention and somethign to do.
You know he is not starving and you know his diet is perfect.
Next time he asks tell him nothing coming till lunch time and if he has a paddy give him a drink. If he does the same later, dont give in but have a game of Buckaroo instead.

He will soon get out of the habit and begin to look at ways to sort out his boredom.

pukkamum

It's probably just a growth spurt, my 7 yr old is exactly the same.
sometimes i'm forcing food into him and then others (like at the moment) he is insatiable.
I know when he is genuinely hungry because he will eat anything (fruit veg) and not just high sugar snacks.
I do find cereal a good thing as it fills him up and doesn't cost the earth.
I also know that in a few weeks his trousers will be half-mast!!!

lesley1960

boydE wrote: »

My two are eating constantly.

your menu looks very poor, flap jacks, muffins, ice cream, chocolate cake. He should have only one of those.

Give him a big bowl of porridge, he wont be hungry then.

If you have crap food in the house then they will eat crap.


My sons meal and he is active.

porridge or weetabix

school dinner, usaually ham salad or chicken salad
mars bar and can of pepsi max

lunch
cooked dinner

supper
bowl of cereal

sorry but i think your post is a bit cheeky !

boydE

lesley1960 wrote: »

sorry but i think your post is a bit cheeky !

pepsi max has no sugar and a mars a day helps you work rest and play

shewhoguards

I'm going to second the calls for more protein. I've got a high metabolism myself and, looking at your menu, I know *I'd* be starving and cranky on it (and I can understand the tantrums - I'm an adult, and I can still be reduced to tears of sheer hunger if I don't eat properly!). Other than the milk, the first protein you seem to have on the menu is the cheese-string - yoghurt, porridge as some others have suggested, bacon, sausage, cheese, egg - these all help!

Another suggestion - I had a serious problem for a while waking up hungry and miserable (at the point of dizziness) because I hadn't eaten enough before going to bed and got hungry in my sleep. Have you considered switching the night milk to horlicks or ovaltine?

leiela

boydE wrote: »

pepsi max has no sugar and a mars a day helps you work rest and play

Granted its a recent move but i don't allow my kids to have that sort of thing at all now unless its a very special occasion, certainly not on a daily basis.

I still do have to give them quite abit of sweet stuff, but thats because im weening them off the "junk" and at this stage i don't want them to feel the move from "suger laden junk" was somehow a punishment.

But its working pretty well, i've got them compleatly off 100% junk, and most of my baking is done suger free ... the plan is to eventually replace these sweeter snack's with healthier alternatives.

Saying this though Iv'e never allowed my kids fizzy drinks of any kind unless its a special occasion, the additives in them are really awful do horrid things to your insides even the "diet" ones and even at our worse something like mars bar would have been a once a week thing...

leiela

shewhoguards wrote: »

I'm going to second the calls for more protein. I've got a high metabolism myself and, looking at your menu, I know *I'd* be starving and cranky on it (and I can understand the tantrums - I'm an adult, and I can still be reduced to tears of sheer hunger if I don't eat properly!). Other than the milk, the first protein you seem to have on the menu is the cheese-string - yoghurt, porridge as some others have suggested, bacon, sausage, cheese, egg - these all help!

Another suggestion - I had a serious problem for a while waking up hungry and miserable (at the point of dizziness) because I hadn't eaten enough before going to bed and got hungry in my sleep. Have you considered switching the night milk to horlicks or ovaltine?

Hmmm you know it's funny you mention protien, i guess i should know better im a body builder/dancer and i personally eat a "HUGE" amount of protien, never really thought about it effecting the kids though.

My diet is super super strict so i always wanted the kids to eat "normally" rather than diet freaks like thier mum.. haha... but i guess it can't hurt to up the protien it should be pretty easy too as i already know what all the good sources are