8.5yo regularly waking at 1/2/3am hungry - growth spurt or habit? Should he eat or not eat?
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Anonymous
He is 5 feet tall. That is not very heavy for 5 feet tall. I am wondering if OP mistypd his age though. It is incrediably large for an 8 year old. |
Anonymous
| OMG, if the kid is hungry he should eat! |
Anonymous
Disagree. I used to physically be hungry for a late snack around 9-10pm. My stomach growled, I wasn't just snacky. I was able to train myself to not being hungry at that time by just stop eating at that time. If this kid was a 6 day a week swimmer or not getting enough during the day because of meds; then yes, but otherwise no, this is not a good habit for him to be in. Not to mention it would wreck his teeth to go back to sleep without brushing. |
Anonymous
It’s actually right on the line between overweight and obese on the BMI scale. Take that for what you will. And my 7 year old first grader is 97th percentile at 53-54 inches and there are two boys in her class taller than her. I can imagine those boys being 57” (which is 99th for 8.5 years old) next year. |
Anonymous
Age (at measurement): 8 year and 6 month-old Sex: boy Height: 60 inches Weight: 90 pounds Results Based on the height and weight entered, the BMI is 17.6, placing the BMI-for-age at the 78th percentile for 8 year and 6 month-old boys. This falls in the Healthy Weight BMI category. BMI is a screening measure and is not intended to diagnose disease or illness. |
Anonymous
99th percentile is 57 inches. 60 inches is three full inches taller. Unless I missed a reply from OP specifying his exact height. Even at 59 inches, he’d still be in the overweight range at 93 pounds. |
Anonymous
| Applesauce and Cheerios are mostly carbs. Are the Cheerios with milk at least? I'd consider a spoonful of peanut butter, too. But before bed and teeth brushing, not in the middle of the night. |
Anonymous
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It is remarkable how many posters here seem to feel that a hungry 9 yo who is awake at a time when his parents are not isn’t going to just go eat what he wants at that hour, whether or not OP is doling it out.
Some of you are earning what you are going to get with this kind of craziness. |
Anonymous
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Are you the same poster who posted awhile back about struggling to find a way to help your kid link his sleep cycles because he kept waking up 2x or 3x nightly?
B/c it sounds more like a sleeping problem and he's using hunger as an excuse (b/c he doesn't know what else it could be, right?) as to why is awake. And he's probably bored and frustrated so he turns to food as his panacea. I'm not convinced the hunger is wakening him. |
Anonymous
| He doesn’t need to eat in the middle of the night but he does need to eat more during the day, especially protein and fat. He is not eating enough to stay satiated throughout the night. Increase his intake overall, focusing on healthy fat and protein at dinner and he won’t wake up hungry. |
Anonymous
| Your kid needs a much more substantial snack at 8pm. This is what my kid gets — basically a second dinner. Protein, fruit, veg and carb. We do this when my kid is ravenous during growth spurts. Applesauce and Cheerios isn’t going to cut it. |
Anonymous
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I would made sure dinner is a good mix of protein/fat/carbs. Any other symptoms? Excessive thirst?
Not at all likely in an 8 year old male, but as a teen and early 20s I would wake up starving despite eating a ton all day. Turns out I had Graves Disease (overactive thyroid), so there can be a medical cause. |
Anonymous
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Like the PP I was going to say this sounds more like a hormonal/medical issue.
No one apart from babies—not even teen boys or Olympic athletes—should be waking up and eating in the middle of the night. Your kid either isn’t getting enough calories during the day (which sounds super unlikely given his height/weight), he’s developed an unhealthy habit that’s disrupting his sleep, or there’s some issue a doctor needs to look into. |
Anonymous
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A check up might not be a bad thing. In the mean time, I would give him a good snack 30 - 45 minutes before bed. Protein, carbs and fat, so a peanut butter sandwich would fit the bill. Make sure he knows that there is no 2am snack.
Is he unreasonably hungry during the day, compared to his own normal? |
Anonymous
| Maybe add greek yogurt or something with the bedtime snack. Greek yogurt and fruit would be food. My (then) teen athlete liked Greek yogurt, peanut butter and granola. |