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Jaydaan · 08-11-2006, 12:06 PM

I did not post this earlier, because most people have not dealt with the severity of my one son's actions... and sneaking food DOES NOT MEAN you child would EVER have the issues my one son does. Mine has severel disorders, and mental conditions... most childern do not have anything even close to this.... most kids are just being kids!
My oldest son stole food. He would sneak it into his room, and eat some... and make sure the rest was destroyed, wasted or went bad. We had a healthy diet and he was never deprived. Jello packets, whipping cream (not even made), juice powder would go missing along with peanut butter, fruit, loaves of bread etc...
We talked to our doctor about this, and he suggested at his age ( 4-5) it could be a control issue. So we let him make more choices: such as what pants to wear, what to fill his sandwich with ( peanut butter, or meat) if he wanted salt/pepper/butter etc... on his meal. We did not turn into a restaraunt, we simply gave him more control over the food he needed to eat. We were having veggies.. so am I cooking carrots, or corn?, for example.
We did this in all aspects, not just food, as we were told sneaking was usually one thing a small child could control in thier lives.

We went to a counsellor as well, because we were concerend when the issue got worse. The counsellor was suggesting that our son may be depressed, and using the sneaking to deal with other issues. He also suggested our son was " just getting used to his step father, and younger sibling. Perhaps he is doing this to get attention. Even negative attention is still attention" When it got worse, we started locking the pantry, and shopping for fresh items every other day, in oder to offset the cost of the wasted food. Locking the pantry was NOT done lightly, btw. But at the time it was the only thing any *professional* could suggest to keep food in the house longer than 6 hours.

When other things started going missing at about the age 9, we knew we needed even more help. Money, lighters, toys, movies etc... were being taken, and others brought in, and hidden in his room. This indicated to us, that this was no longer just a control issue, or an adjustement struggle. This was/is much more than that.. but thats not why I am posting. I am going to post some of our education tips... perhaps one of these items will help you in your handling of the situation. I found some of the "parent" training to be quite helpful.

08-11-2006, 12:06 PM	#27
Jaydaan Knight of the Oval-Shaped Conference Table Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vernon, BC, Canada Posts: 378	I did not post this earlier, because most people have not dealt with the severity of my one son's actions... and sneaking food DOES NOT MEAN you child would EVER have the issues my one son does. Mine has severel disorders, and mental conditions... most childern do not have anything even close to this.... most kids are just being kids! My oldest son stole food. He would sneak it into his room, and eat some... and make sure the rest was destroyed, wasted or went bad. We had a healthy diet and he was never deprived. Jello packets, whipping cream (not even made), juice powder would go missing along with peanut butter, fruit, loaves of bread etc... We talked to our doctor about this, and he suggested at his age ( 4-5) it could be a control issue. So we let him make more choices: such as what pants to wear, what to fill his sandwich with ( peanut butter, or meat) if he wanted salt/pepper/butter etc... on his meal. We did not turn into a restaraunt, we simply gave him more control over the food he needed to eat. We were having veggies.. so am I cooking carrots, or corn?, for example. We did this in all aspects, not just food, as we were told sneaking was usually one thing a small child could control in thier lives. We went to a counsellor as well, because we were concerend when the issue got worse. The counsellor was suggesting that our son may be depressed, and using the sneaking to deal with other issues. He also suggested our son was " just getting used to his step father, and younger sibling. Perhaps he is doing this to get attention. Even negative attention is still attention" When it got worse, we started locking the pantry, and shopping for fresh items every other day, in oder to offset the cost of the wasted food. Locking the pantry was NOT done lightly, btw. But at the time it was the only thing any professional could suggest to keep food in the house longer than 6 hours. When other things started going missing at about the age 9, we knew we needed even more help. Money, lighters, toys, movies etc... were being taken, and others brought in, and hidden in his room. This indicated to us, that this was no longer just a control issue, or an adjustement struggle. This was/is much more than that.. but thats not why I am posting. I am going to post some of our education tips... perhaps one of these items will help you in your handling of the situation. I found some of the "parent" training to be quite helpful.