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09-12-2011, 11:53 PM

I have been having an extreme problem with my five year old son getting into... everything! Damien doesn't just stop with candy and other sweets, mom just had her gall bladder removed, so we made sure to buy more specific diet food, (ie her own yogurts and other low-fat foods). Damien graduated from eating every single cookie and piece of candy that is hidden in the kitchen and/or mommy and daddy's room to eating ALL of mommy's yogurts and other food that were bought specifically for her so she can digest it properly.

I started by using 15-30 minutes in his room for getting into something, or making him go to bed 30 minutes early the day he snuck something and letting his twin sister stay up until their bed time. This did not work for me!

When he got into something, I'd sit him down and explain to him, "Daddy is fat and unhealthy, you can play outside and have fun for hours, but daddy can't because he's overweight. If you continue eating all of these sweet snacks, you're going to get a big belly like daddy and you won't be able to see your feet anymore!" This did not seem to help.

I then started with exercise. When he snuck something, we went outside for a 5-10 minute run. He loved this at first, I'd stop him every 2-3 minutes to give him a drink. He was deterred from getting into things for a few days then started eating everything again.

As our financial situation is not good, it's also not bad, it's absolutely horrendous at this point - we made a trip to the local food pantry. While there I tried my damndest to avoid ALL sweets and junk food. The lady helping me through the aisles convinced me that, "you have four kids! I'm sure it would be nice to bring a treat home for them to have after dinner!" After telling her no, they don't need it several times, I broke down and finally just took what she wanted me to take.

In a SINGLE day he consumed (Damien is 5 years old, average size and healthy weight):

Breakfast - 3 Eggs, 1 piece of toast

Lunch - 2 Hot Dogs, 1 Bun, 1 Yogurt

Helped himself to - 14 Buckeyes (Chocolate covered peanut butter), at LEAST 9 Chocolate covered marshmallow cookies and 6 other cookies.

The chocolate covered marshmallows are basically a ring of marshmallow about 2 inches in diameter with probably 2-3 whole large marshmallows in total absolutely smothered in chocolate.

I had, right after lunch noticed that a few of the buckeyes we had were missing. I questioned him, giving him two choices:
Tell the truth and be sent to bed for 10 minutes
OR
Lie and have to run AND be sent to his room for 20 minutes.

He started to lie to me, but stopped mid sentence and told the truth. When he went to bed, I collected ALL of the sweets we had in the house and threw them away. I not only threw them away, I buried them half way down in the trash can. After he got up, I went outside to smoke a cigarette and brought our dog outside to go to the bathroom.

Later on that day I went to open the pantry door to get some spices out to make dinner and I noticed that the previously buried trash was sitting on top of the trash can - empty. Later that night my oldest daughter found the bag of marshmallow rings empty under the sink in the bathroom.

What in the hell do I do? I rent, so I "not supposed to" drill holes in the fridge, but I'm about to do it and lock everything up. I CANNOT have a child eating his mother's food who NEEDS it because she has an even more sensitive digestive system than she did before. My youngest son has CP, and requires extra calories for his grueling physical and occupational therapy appointments, some of the high calorie things we buy for him (like extremely high calorie yogurts) he will eat ALL of them in 2 days. I feel like I cannot even sleep because if I do he'll get up and eat everything. I'm pissed that he hides his trash when he's done instead of throwing it away. But I'm about to have a mental breakdown because I feel like I'm being disrespected on an hourly basis by him.

This is depressing for me, and it's driving me to the point that I cannot deal with it any longer. Parents, HELP!

09-12-2011, 11:53 PM	#32
Ironsolid Guest Posts: n/a	I have been having an extreme problem with my five year old son getting into... everything! Damien doesn't just stop with candy and other sweets, mom just had her gall bladder removed, so we made sure to buy more specific diet food, (ie her own yogurts and other low-fat foods). Damien graduated from eating every single cookie and piece of candy that is hidden in the kitchen and/or mommy and daddy's room to eating ALL of mommy's yogurts and other food that were bought specifically for her so she can digest it properly. I started by using 15-30 minutes in his room for getting into something, or making him go to bed 30 minutes early the day he snuck something and letting his twin sister stay up until their bed time. This did not work for me! When he got into something, I'd sit him down and explain to him, "Daddy is fat and unhealthy, you can play outside and have fun for hours, but daddy can't because he's overweight. If you continue eating all of these sweet snacks, you're going to get a big belly like daddy and you won't be able to see your feet anymore!" This did not seem to help. I then started with exercise. When he snuck something, we went outside for a 5-10 minute run. He loved this at first, I'd stop him every 2-3 minutes to give him a drink. He was deterred from getting into things for a few days then started eating everything again. As our financial situation is not good, it's also not bad, it's absolutely horrendous at this point - we made a trip to the local food pantry. While there I tried my damndest to avoid ALL sweets and junk food. The lady helping me through the aisles convinced me that, "you have four kids! I'm sure it would be nice to bring a treat home for them to have after dinner!" After telling her no, they don't need it several times, I broke down and finally just took what she wanted me to take. In a SINGLE day he consumed (Damien is 5 years old, average size and healthy weight): Breakfast - 3 Eggs, 1 piece of toast Lunch - 2 Hot Dogs, 1 Bun, 1 Yogurt Helped himself to - 14 Buckeyes (Chocolate covered peanut butter), at LEAST 9 Chocolate covered marshmallow cookies and 6 other cookies. The chocolate covered marshmallows are basically a ring of marshmallow about 2 inches in diameter with probably 2-3 whole large marshmallows in total absolutely smothered in chocolate. I had, right after lunch noticed that a few of the buckeyes we had were missing. I questioned him, giving him two choices: Tell the truth and be sent to bed for 10 minutes OR Lie and have to run AND be sent to his room for 20 minutes. He started to lie to me, but stopped mid sentence and told the truth. When he went to bed, I collected ALL of the sweets we had in the house and threw them away. I not only threw them away, I buried them half way down in the trash can. After he got up, I went outside to smoke a cigarette and brought our dog outside to go to the bathroom. Later on that day I went to open the pantry door to get some spices out to make dinner and I noticed that the previously buried trash was sitting on top of the trash can - empty. Later that night my oldest daughter found the bag of marshmallow rings empty under the sink in the bathroom. What in the hell do I do? I rent, so I "not supposed to" drill holes in the fridge, but I'm about to do it and lock everything up. I CANNOT have a child eating his mother's food who NEEDS it because she has an even more sensitive digestive system than she did before. My youngest son has CP, and requires extra calories for his grueling physical and occupational therapy appointments, some of the high calorie things we buy for him (like extremely high calorie yogurts) he will eat ALL of them in 2 days. I feel like I cannot even sleep because if I do he'll get up and eat everything. I'm pissed that he hides his trash when he's done instead of throwing it away. But I'm about to have a mental breakdown because I feel like I'm being disrespected on an hourly basis by him. This is depressing for me, and it's driving me to the point that I cannot deal with it any longer. Parents, HELP!