Too Sweet

[Foreverfar7717]

My 8 year old son with sever anxiety and ADHD has a major issue with lying and sneaking sweets at any point he can. He gets up in the mornings and will go to eat breakfast but chow down on brownies or cookies first. He will get in the freezer for breakfast for ice cream instead of real breakfast food. We have had to throw all sweets away and not buy them anymore. Then tell him he cannot get up or leave his bed without us being able to see what he’s doing at all time. It’s become a major problem and even ate 8 ding dongs in a matter of 2 days because of sneaking them with his breakfast. Please tell me I’m not alone and that someone out there knows a way to help this!

[Onthemove1971]

Foreverfar7717-

Big hugs! Understanding impulse control is really a struggle. They see the sweets and they can't stop themselves. We have a key code for our pantry and we do not buy anything that is sweet to keep in the freezer. Everything must be watched. I am not sure if your child takes medication, but we always see this behavior when the medication is out of his system. We leave peanut butter and wonder bread on the counter and if he gets up that is the only thing we tell him he can eat. This really is about training an limiting which we have done for years. We keep nothing in our cars or any place he can access. I have to tell you this will be a life long battle for them.

Many of us struggle with this and our kids, you are not alone. The best way for us to understand it is to not allow him to have it.

Hope this helps..

Take care

[Pennywink]

What treatment options are you currently using for his ADHD?

We definitely had similar problems with my now 7 year old son. He even developed a bit of a hording habit. Similar to Onethemove, medication has been the biggest help to this. Before then, we kept sweets in the house minimal & inaccessible- though he always seem to bring home some from school or holidays or grandparents.

Before we saw the change with medication, I would let him horde somethings in a small container in his room, with the conditions that: No secrets - he had to be honest about what he was stashing. No trash or unsealed food. And he still had to ask before eating it. It wasn’t optimal, but at least it helped alleviate some of the sneaking/ lying. For some reason he was REALLY into sneaking dry oatmeal - which I didn’t mind him eating, but worried about the crumbs all over the floor.

[RichSeitzOceanNJ]

Do all the things that the others are suggesting but turn this around to your benefit. Use (very) occasional sweet treats as rewards for meeting expectations. If he brings home a good report on Friday, then Friday night will be ice cream for dessert night. Definitely don't overdo this and look into the Pax Good Behavior Game to understand how effective a reward system can be when done correctly. Pax uses physical activity rewards which don't cost anything and burns off calories and energy. While Pax was created for teachers in elementary schools, the principles work at home, but parents need to learn how to use rewards. Do your research.

[Janice_H]

This is a matter of impulse control that many ADHD children have. My son also will over indulge when there are snack items in the house. I have had to either not buy snacks, hide them or lock them in my car. He has rummaged to find them and even gotten out of bed after I fall asleep to get the key and go outside to the car.

The solution is either keeping snacks in a locked area or just don't buy them. Keep only healthy items available.

[Cjkchamp]

We have had similar problems. I usually find wrappers hidden under furniture, or empty drink containers. I let him know that he gets plenty of “treats” and there is no reason to hide or lie. He has gotten better to a point; he asks for things more than he used to. He also knows there is a rule that he gets one sweet drink per day. Some of it I think is just being a kid, but how much ...who knows. If you have him in counseling I would recommend discussing it with the counselor as an area to work on. Good luck to you!!

[Puzzl]

I am not a doctor or a parent of an ADD/ADHD child, just someone who grew up with ADD/ADHD before it was being diagnosed. I have heard that sweets release serotonin, and many of the brain pathways affected by sugar may also be affected by heroin. I stopped eating all cookies, white bread, potatoes, and so forth and now I no longer crave them.

I don't know how to help a child do that. But I do remember when I was a child that my parent allowed me to eat all of my Halloween candy in one sitting. I got so sick that I stopped eating candy for a year.

One really nice side effect was mosquitoes no longer bit me. I could be sitting at a picnic table with 10 people who were all slapping themselves like crazy and I never got bitten once.