Food meltdowns in 8 yo

[kindacrunchy]

My son is 8 and has been having some major hunger meltdowns lately. It has always been an issue  but lately it is just unbearable. These are personality changing, combative meltdowns and they are all linked to hunger. Months ago we had some bloodwork done and it all came back normal. However, it was a fasting test and he flipped out at the lab and it literally took 3 people to get his blood drawn. I expected his glucose levels to be elevated due to the stress but they were normal which makes me wonder if they were actually low. Anybody else have these issues? It is so upsetting and frustrating and it affects the whole family. It is one thing to be cranky but it is another to be so stinkin' agressive and risky.

[meemee]

i am not exactly sure what you mean. 

do you mean he has become more picky?

that he will go hungry rather than eat what he doesnt like?

is he not eating enough? how is he eating over a week?

are u saying he is having meltdowns because he is not eating enough?

or meltdowns because you are insisting he eats something before leaving the table?

have you spoken to his pediatrician? what did he say?

is he having dizzy spells? 

what about food allergies. can you tell  if he gets worst after eating a certain amount of a certain kind of food or ingredient.

with dd its sugar. as in soda. she is a naturally high energy child so if she drinks like a can of soda she completely crashes, loses all her logical thinking and becomes really sensitive, sad and mad. cake, icecream, candy does not have that extreme an affect on her like soda does. 

[kindacrunchy]

he doesn't eat enough and won't take the time to eat or is so busy with what he is doing he hasn't realized he needs to eat. it is as if he goes from not hungry to starving in a matter of minutes and he is soooo hungry that he just loses it. i am constantly offering him stuff and it is exhausting!

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by kindacrunchy 

he doesn't eat enough and won't take the time to eat or is so busy with what he is doing he hasn't realized he needs to eat. it is as if he goes from not hungry to starving in a matter of minutes and he is soooo hungry that he just loses it. i am constantly offering him stuff and it is exhausting!

My ds tends to be like that except he has discovered eating when bored and has gotten chubby...  When he realizes he is too hungry, he becomes inflexible and only wants what he wants (usually something sweet when he is "too" hungry) but I can generally follow it up with something more sustaining.  Would it work to just set down the occasional snack near where he is playing?  Sometimes that worked for my ds.  He gets annoyed with being offered food and I get annoyed with him asking for "options."  So sometimes I take the less talkative, less engaging route, and just set something near him.

[pianojazzgirl]

I'm exactly like you describe: "from not hungry to starving in a matter of seconds".  I guess it's because I have a high metabolism.  I'm a lot older than your ds so I've learned that I need to take time away from whatever I'm doing in order to eat lots of protein-rich snacks throughout the day, but there still come lots of times when for whatever reason I get to the "bad place" of hunger.  It's an awful feeling.

It can be hard to get kids to stop when they're in the middle of playing in order to come have a snack.  Is there anything a little bit "treaty" (w/protein) that you'd feel ok offering your ds?  Maybe something like a Lara bar or Clif bar, cheese stick (my kids think of those as treats),  yogourt popsicle (you know those yogourt tube thingies that you can put in the freezer), yogourt-covered nuts, etc.  I know those are all processed, not ideal snacks, but not the worst things out there either.  I often keep something like that on hand in our house for those times when the kids start to spiral into the hunger zone and I need something quick and tempting to get into them.  Another thing I do, when I know the kids are hungry, is, without asking if they want a snack, just make up a snack plate with a variety of stuff to choose from.  I put it on the table and say "snack plate!", and they usually will come to munch it up.  If I had just asked "do you guys want a snack" they probably would have said "nah... not right now, we're busy playing".

[kindacrunchy]

Thanks, good reminders! The other thing is this kid is totally picky! He loves cheese but I can't give him too much, otherwise he has bathroom issues. Doc said we should limit him to one glass of milk and one piece of cheese per day. He does like nuts. I try to buy him trail mix that has choc. pieces for the fun factor but then he eats all the chocolate and not the nuts! I do have those awful danimals smoothie drinks that i'm trying to keep on hand, too.