Catching a cookie snatcher!

[BCBunnies]

I know everything is chaotic because we are in the middle of moving but one of my son's bad habits has really been on the rise. I wake up in the morning and find the evidence all over the kitchen if I'm lucky. But sometimes it's when I'm looking for that item and can't find it or when I'm cleaning the house and disturb the stash of buried treasures. My son seems to be raiding the kitchen at night. He's only 5 and I don't want to have to resort to putting baby locks on anything that is remotely considered a treat or junk food just to keep him out of it.

I feel like I'm being a bad parent because I give him healthy food and make sure to include one thing in each meal that I know he will eat, but he has been refusing even stuff he normally loves so he can steal at night. My DH and I are worried that if we don't stop this it could lead to some serious health issues. We give him generous portions and set resonable expectations on what he eats.

Has anyone had this problem or have any tips to help?

 

[BrattishTaz]

Let your son know that raiding the kitchen at night is not allowed and that there will be a punishment if he does it. You and hubby need to find something to take away (TV, video games, a favorite toy, etc...) and then stick to your guns no matter how much he protests. You have to be tough now because if you are not, you will have a serious problem when he is older. Eating junk food is the lesser issue, being sneaky is the big one. I have two teenage daughters and have raised my little brother in law who is now 19. I was a "mean mom" when they were little but I can proudly say none of them have ever disrespected me or gotten into trouble.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Yep.. what she said...

PLUS..i'd have a heart attack if my 5 yr old was getting up and roaming the house unsupervised at night.... too many things can happen.

 

[BCBunnies]

We take the video games away and when we catch him in the act we ban video games plus have a serious discussion about what has happened. We have talked with him about why it can be bad and he seems to feel genuinely sorry about sneaking the stuff but then after a night or two he's back at it again. The only sure way to keep him out of it that we have found is putting the baby gate up in the kitchen doorway. I really don't like doing this because I feel he shouldn't be penned up even if it's only one room off limits to him, plus my accident prone DH usually wakes me up as he crashes into it in the morning even if he is the one to put it up.

I mean mostly it's stuff that I use in baking he will sneak the chocolate chips and candy bits but he will also get into the juice in the fridge or sneak slices of cheese and anything else he can get his hands on. He makes this big show of he's not hungry for his dinner but attempts a raid into the kitchen as soon as everyone goes to bed. I really don't want him to rely on eating only oatmeal, sandwiches pasta and mashed potatoes. Those are the only things he has been eating regularly except for his raids. >.<

He never messes with the rabbits in the living room though sometimes I have woken up to his video game or the computer on when I know it was turned off before bedtime. We let him help with some of the food prep and I try to make creative meals so he will be interested but some things only work for so long. The first time I made meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoe frosting it was a hit but the next time he totally rejected it. I hope to make more progress with this when he gets out of school in a few weeks but I'm worried still.

 

[redhen]

Get door alarms for his bedroom door... easy and cheap.. then you'll KNOW when hes up out of his room at night.
Walmart has them..i think they call them window alarms though...
I'd NEVER sleep at night if my 5 yr old child was roaming the house at night.

 

[BrattishTaz]

If you have have already tried restricting him from his favorite things then ....... (this is where I turn into evil mom

) .....hide until he is midway into his raid and bust him in the act. Be loud and be "mad". A good scare and a good scolding may just make him think twice about doing it again. You will not damage him by doing this despite what the "experts" say.

I was talking to my girls (15 and 18) the other day and the subject of respect vs. fear came up. My older daughter said they were basically the same thing. I asked what she meant and she said a good example would be why she and her sister never tried drugs. She said they didn't really listen to me about things like that because they respect my rules (she said kids don't think about things like that

) but they listened because they feared my wrath if they got caught. She told me that the respect came later. My younger daughter agreed and added that I could be really scary.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
I'll be 50 in January. I STILL fear the wrath of my parents!! Even now I would not think to raise my voice to my mother or father. I admit I did things that I shouldn't have and paid the penalty that I knew would come, but I knew if I pushed it too far, my body would never be found, lol Hey I'm from Jersey! We know where Hoffa is buried but no ones' talking!! lol

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I don't have any youngin's of my own but I've got 10 neices and nephews and another 12 grand neices and nephews, worked with kids for more years than half the folks on here have been walking around.

You need to lay down the law. If taking away toys and stuff like that isn't working you've got to come up with other things. Make him sit at the table until it's bedtime. If he hasn't eaten his dinner, he gets it for breakfast. Put anything you don't want him to have where he can't get it. Put a child lock on the fridge. He is not to leave his room after he goes to bed, except to use the bathroom. You've got to get on him now because if he thinks he can get away with it, wait until he is a teen!!

 

[theoldchick]

When I was that young, my mother restricted all sweets in our diet. Cookies and cakes were for special occasions. Didn't have much junk food in the house, and the sweets she did have were put away were us smaller kids could not reach it. She rarely bought any soda, and we drank tea or some sort of juice. We didn't have too many empty calories available to us when we were kids.

Today, I am appalled at the diet the American youth eat. So much fast food- packaged disasters with low protein and with little fiber. So much fats, carbs, and those youngsters don't care what they eat!

Anyway, is this child on medication which make him sleepwalk or have cravings?

 

[Gmsg01]

Get rid of anything in the cupboards you don't want him to eat. It means the rest of you don't get the sweets either, but maybe that is a good thing.

Then, maybe take him in for a physical and see if there is any medical reason for the night scavenging. If not, lots of people have had great ideas here on how to get alerted when he gets up.
I personally did not knock myself out trying to get my boys to eat, and I DID NOT make a special meal for them. Fixed a standard meal (protein, carb, couple veggies); house rule, you had to choke down one teaspoonful of everything, then they could eat what they wanted from the meal. Didn't want it, fine, breakfast was going to taste even better! But mine did not do night time gathering. The youngest would sneak food during day, had to hide the chocolate chips there for a while! Back of the freezer behind the frozen veggies worked well.