My 7 Year Old Daughter Is a Night Eater

I also agree that it sounds like sleep eating. What about a baby gate at her bedroom door? Something must be bothering her....

Sounds like sleep-eating....My only recommendation is to consult Dr. Francis J. Janton at PA Neurological Associates in Lemoyne....you will have to have you family doctor set up this appointment I believe.....however, they do sleep studies for adults and also children.....they can also accomidate for the parent to stay as well....check it out it might be worth it and also very interesting....good luck

Hi S.,

Sounds like she has an overgrowth of yeast. Get her some probiotics. Call your local bariatric or pediatrician.

Good luck. D.

I do not know what is going on with your doctor, so the other folks suggestions sound good. I would add putting a lock on your refrigerator for now. You could do the bolt and hinge one. I know my uncle did that to keep his kids out of the fridge when they were little.

I have a son who is now 11 and he also does this but not all the time. He cycles through it. He is also diagnosed with depression, add, and bipolar. So we just blamed it on that. He went as far as eating frozen meat and raw meat which was really scary. When approaching the doctors about it. They said really the best thing was to offer a high protien snack before bed. Oatmeal is really filling. It's very hard to deal with emotionaly. I also had to lock certain things up. Hope this helps.

Definitely see a doctor about it. All that I have read about sleep disorders/ healthy sleeping suggests that the best way to sleep is on an empty stomach. When we digest food while sleeping, after the food is digested, our body wakes up and craves more. I am sure this is not your simple solution but it could be contributing to your problem. My pediatrician suggests no snack before bed.

I would definitely bungee cord things closed. In the meantime, get her some professional help. It does sound like it could have a medical base. Good luck to you and please let us know how everything goes. My prayers are with you!

I haven't read all the responses, so someone else may have already said this, but there are other reasons for late night snacking than hunger. Depression is one. Food can be a tremendous comfort. Is there something going on in her life that is worrying her?

Do you or another adult in the house eat food late at night? Maybe she thinks that is normal behaviour. If so, you may need to change your habits to get her to change hers.

Can you determine if she knows what she is doing? Have you told her not to do it, and given her consequences for her behaviour? Tell her it has to stop? What does she say? Does act like she has no idea she is doing it? Maybe she is sleep walking. Talk to her doctor about that possibility and ask for advice on how to handle it. Kids usually outgrown sleepwalking.

Can you realistically lock up or hide the food at night until she stops doing it? I can't imagine that this late night binging,what ever the reason is healthy. Until you find out the cause and how to treat it, make the food unavailable to her unless you or whoever is supervising her gives it to her.

If it is a hunger/nutrition issue, a large meal just before bed isn't as good as eating more through out the day
and getting plenty of exercise, though not right before bed. Give her healthy snacks, ones with protein in the evening rather than lots of carbs. Eliminate caffeine, kids don't need it.

I wouldn't worry about the choking unless she has a history of that. I would worry more about determining the underlining reason for her behaviour and working to solve that.

Like on DateLine and 20/20???? I've seen them show adults that do this. it's like sleep walkign to them.

Definetly talk this one over with her dr. But first keep a log of what she eats AND drinks all day EVERYTHing that goes in her mouth from chips to soda, and how much she eats at meals --get her help with this. and keep it for a week, and also note nights you catch her eating at nights.

bungeeing the cupboards is a good idea but i think you need to figure out why she is doing this. whole wheat toast is supposed to be a good bedtime snack. do you know is she awake???? Poor kid must be exhausted.

are you totally sure it isn't hubby or somene else in the house??

hope you get this figured out.

There are many facts here I don't know regarding her general nutrition, weight etc. As well as psychological issues etc. But I will offer ONE suggestion, and hopefully you're getting a lot of other good advice.
As for night time hunger in kids, eating a lot before bed is not all it takes. Any infant or child will sleep through the night if they have eaten to capacity all day long for at least several days. Meaning, even if they don't seem hungry, feed them! All day long! It will take time for her body to catch up and realize it's full-don't get frustrated after just a couple of days of increased food during the day.

She has got to eat a full nutritious breakfast including protein (not just cereal or toast) A satisfying morning snack or two-including protein in all snacks-give cheese slices with apple, nuts with natural chips etc, a substantial lunch, a few more snacks, a good dinner and maybe one more snack at night before bed. Not sugar of course. She does NOT HAVE ROOM for any junk food in this regime, because if there are no nutrients, it's not helping to make her feel full. If there are additives, chemicals, sugars etc this is disrupting her system and making her hyper and hungry. She needs more nutrients, good fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts, etc) and good calories. Stay away from peanut butter unless it's natural! It's a hydrogenated oil and sugar nightmare. Make sure she also gets lots of exercise during the day and some sunlight so she is tired and full at night.

This should help the issue if it is indeed a true hunger thing. There could be other factors as well, but do this no matter what! Good luck!

ps, Too much food right before bed can cause a reaction to wake up during the night-definitely do all the increased eating during the day!

Instead of feeding her cereal or something like that, try feeding her something with protein in it before bedtime. A bowl of cereal is mostly carbs, which drive your blood sugar UP, then DOWN -- and it's most likely the down that is waking her up. Soup? That doesn't have much in it. I would give her 1/2 peanut butter sandwich, or give her a low carb protein bar (I happen to like balance bars), or half a bar, cuz a full one is 200 calories. If she likes bananas, lace the banana with peanut butter (assuming no allergies), and give her some milk, too. She apparently needs foods that will last longer than a couple of hours.

the other option is to leave a snack out for her -- since you don't seem to wake up while she's rummaging around -- at least that way, you can control WHAT she eats, even if you can't control WHEN. Choco cake in the middle of the night isn't likely the best idea . . .

Does she drink soda ? Caffeine? When one gets caffeine into the system, it won't keep you from falling asleep, but once the initial tiredness wears off, the caffeine gets you back up. . . . if you can reduce any caffeinated beverages or get rid of them, that might help her to sleep better.

Why don't you try keeping a food log, and keep track of everything she eats -- just to see what kinds of foods she's getting and how often she's eating during the day. That might help you balance her diet out, and it might give you clues as to what's going on at night. ??

Other than that, I have no idea ! :-) Good luck !!
b

P.S.. does she usually choke when eating ? Why would you worry about that ?

This is not good.
She's not a puppy, she's a nearly-8-year-old girl, she understands what "no, don't do it" means.
There needs to be consequences for her actions. Do not condone this behavior by having happen and letting her get away with it without diciplinary consequence. She needs motivation to stop, like revocation of priviledges (i.e. no tv the next day).
You're not doing her any favors by accomodating her (e.g. the big bedtime snack), put your foot down, don't stand for it. SHE'S eating the food that YOU work for, and with our economy going down the tubes, there's NO TIME for shenanigans like this.
People are already having to spread their food out to keep meals on the table and to keep themselves and their kids from going to bed as hungry as a wild animal, snacks are a luxury. Perhaps that not you right now, but don't EVER fool yourself with thinking "It can't happen here," or "It can't happen to me."

i do the same and i have low blood sugar ..amybe take time and have it checked..Really hasnt caused me much trouble..Is she sleep eatting or does she remember

This is serious. You need to see a doctor. In the meantime, you do need to start a behavior mod program. She needs to be told this is not safe or healthy. If she eats in the night, there should be consequences such as no tv. You may reward her at the end of the week for not eating at night, with something she really likes. I would advise against the large snack at bedtime. This is more likely a behavior than actual hunger. Either way she should eat more during the day rather than at night.

It's unfortunate, but my mind instantly goes to thinking about eating disorders... Maybe try talking to her about her body image and see where the conversation leads?

HI S.--I completely disagree with Michelle H. If it were me, I'd ask the ped. for a referral to a specialist who knows about this kind of behavior. Night-eating is, I believe, a known syndrome that you may need some help with. It's not really a disciplinary issue. She needs (perhaps) behavioral modification plans from a therapist. Help her, because this is, longterm, not a good thing to be doing--although, I must say, she'll probably grow out of it. The fact that she makes a huge mess says to me that she is likely not even fully awake. Don't punish her. Good luck, good for you for seeking help.

You've already gotten a lot of things to explore and I don't have a lot of suggestions to add, but I haven't seen anyone post anything about sleepwalking. I think true sleep eating is a form of sleepwalking and obviously involves sleepwalking. Does she remember getting up to eat? I did a lot of sleepwalking when I was younger, so did my brother. My son sleepwalks a little now. We rarely remembered the event the next day, usually only if we woke up on the move. If my parents talked to us, or if I talk to my son, we could and would answer, but not remember that either. Sometimes the answers given made little sense. Have you ever caught her at it? If you have does she seem to be really there/awake?

It seems to me your course of action would be different if she is aware of what she is doing. If she is sleepwalking and sleep eating then locking up the food seems the right thing to do - but I think I would also be concerned about her eating something else too when she couldn't find appropriate food. Until she stops and until you know for sure, I would treat things just like I did when the kids were toddlers and lock up anything toxic. A sleepwalker is a lot like a toddler - they don't really know what they are doing. I suspect they see and hear things differently and possible see and hear things that aren't there. My brother would pee in the kitchen garbage can if he got 'lost' on the way to the bathroom and fight if my parents tried to redirect him to the bathroom. I've heard of other little boys doing similar things and I suspect that most of them saw a toilet in front of them. I've never heard of anyone getting poisoned while sleepwalking, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. I'm sorry I've just given you something else to worry about!

I would also echo the advice others have given and talk to her doctor. Some of the other ideas people had are worth investigating too.

K. L.

Sleep eating? If it's not sleep eating, it could be something psychological. If it's a full-blown binge, i'd probably talk to someone. If it's just a snack here and there, she probably just wants a snack, or like the other person said, has low blood sugar.