withdraw: my snack addict!

[pumpkinmom2]

just a vent. any suggestions would be appreciated

i have been going through a rough time with my just turned 5yo latley.
he does not listen, he is more rowdy than normal, and toataly addicted to snacks. i am not very "crunchy" as you call yourselves but i find alot in commmon with the mamas here.

i do let him have sugar and we are not organic. this is not my main concern it is the fact that we never scheduled meals/snacks, and it came back to bite me in the butt!

he is soooo skinny, but eats all day long. he gets cranky when he is not eating, and asks for meals, hungry of not, just so he can have the treat he gets after he eats his healthy stuff.

i made a chart today, in very very big writting, that tells him the NEW times for all his meals and snacks. you would think, by his reaction, i was weening him from crack!

i hope he gets use to the new rotuine soon, i feel like all i do is disipline his inappropriate behavior instead of complementing his great qualities.

what a slump were in

[JennaW]

I am sorry you are going through a hard time.

In my personal experience I have found that when treats are given as a reward for eating a healthy meal, children tend to get a "how many bites do I have to eat to get what I want" type mentality.

I think our goal for a our children should be to eat because they are hungry and need energy.

Have you considered cutting treats out entirely and re-introducing them sporatically for no "good" reason? For example, just going to get an ice cream randomly, no requirements of eating something healthy first.

Or doing a "one treat a day thing" and letting your child have one treat a day, which they can choose to have whenever they want but then after that, no more treats that day.

I would check out Ellen Satters Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense

[JennaW]

Also if he is just grazing all day long and doesn't seem fulfilled, I would try to get him to eat more fat and protein. Like maybe some scrambled eggs in the morning with lots of cheese in them (my sister and I loved these as kids, we called them "cheesy eggs").

For lunch maybe some turkey-avocado roll ups or if you are feeling really good some homemade chicken nuggets.

What kinds of food does he like?

[meemee]

i am thinking growth spurt.

i am thinking identity crisis.

at 5 my dd went thru a teenage kind growth spurt. grew out of 3 shoe sizes and two clothing sizes.

she was hungry all the time. i dont mind her snacking. what i worry about is what she is eating rather than how and when. so i would say let him have food available to him whenever he wants it. quality food you have no issues with. my dd eats crap at lunch at school because when she takes something healthy seh gets teased. i mean which kids eat veggies. so i make sure when seh comes home - no more crap. i take her to the store and help her choose what seh wants to eat. i also leave it to her. in fact i am involving her even more. i pass on the responsibility to her. i just started that when she turned 6 so maybe too early for ur son. oh i also dont bring home the kinds of food i dont want her to have. we do have sugar days but i have found if i have them at home seh longs for them more.

with behaviour - i found my dd was going and still is at 6 going thru teenage kinda issues since she was 4. it helped me with my frustration to understand what she herself was going thru. at 5 seh realised real life was much different than what she thought life was all about. i heard things like 'mommy please make the choice for me. its sooo hard to choose. i DONT WANT TO choose. i want BOTH. why cant i have both?!!!' i saw her 'bad behaviour' as a cry for help. to help her deal with life. i wonder if there was hormonal changes also going on.

my child is the kind who internalizes everything. instead of beating up others she beats herself up. the only person she beats up is me and she has permission to do that. i consider my place a place where she has the right to vent in anyway she wants to and i help her gently deal with it. her beating me up lasted for a little while and hasnt returned again.