Does anyone else have a lock on their pantry? Can you recommend one?

[Anonymous]

My two kids (8 and 10) have been binge eating and I’m at my wits end. Entire boxes of cereal, family-sized bags of chips, and entire packages of cookies and granola bars are disappearing overnight while DH and I are asleep. They both have severe issues with self-regulation and ADHD along with learning disabilities. They don’t sleep well and have a lot of trouble falling asleep and evidently they now sneak into the kitchen and eat eat eat. I find wrappers shoved behind and under the sofa cushions, empty boxes under their beds and even in their beds. And also found a swarm of ants accompanying one box of half eaten cookies. We are now at the point when we plan to lock the pantry overnight to prohibit this. DH and I work full time and we need to sleep. We cannot be patrolling them all night long.

Before you say “stop buying it,” I want to note that DH in particular enjoys some of this stuff and I too use the granola bars for school lunches. And I enjoy some chips or a cookie for dessert. But the kids can’t seem to understand moderation and it’s become a real problem.

Does anyone else have this issue? What have you done to stop it? The kids eat full well balanced meals - salmon, chicken, ravioli. We don’t deny them junk food or sugar and will allow a couple of cookies or maybe even 2 granola bars. But these guys will eat an entire box at a time and I will find 8 wrappers hidden in the sofa. Now one of them is now refusing to eat dinner. Probably because he knows he’s going to have a good binge later.

Is it cruel to put a lock on the pantry door for overnight?

[Anonymous]

Go to Home Depot and browse the doorknob aisle. Get one that needs a key

[Anonymous]

I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

Why don’t you tell the babysitter that anything they bake has to be cleaned up after? That’s pretty reasonable. It’s not like you’re requiring her to bake treats. She can have the kids clean up, but if they bake - they must clean up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

Tell the babysitter no baking and to take the kids to the park for at least an hour unless raining hard or dangerous temps.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried a substantial snack before bedtime? Maybe something like pbj sandwich?

I would try that along with a lock. It doesn’t sound like they’re picky about what they’re eating, so I don’t think the “don’t buy it” advice would work anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

Buy snack foods. Every morning, pre-portion the snacks and leave them out for after school. Lock pantry that includes the snacks and the cupcake mix.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you everyone for the replies. I was so worried I was going to get flamed big time for my post. But I really don’t know what else to do. They have zero ability to self regulate, and I’m also worried about their dental health.

[Anonymous]

I’ll admit I have much younger children, but this thread is super funny! So many parenting challenges are completely unexpected out of left field type stuff. This one made me smile a little. Kids are nuts!

Good luck OP!

[Anonymous]

To add, is this (food issues) normal for ADHD? I worry about longer term implications re eating disorders.

[Anonymous]

My 15 y o with ADHD was like this. Wed wake up and have no food left to pack for lunch. So, what happens if you “close the kitchen”? At 9 pm our kitchen is closed and no one is allow to cook, open the cabinets, etc for anything except water. I pit a post it on the fridge & pantry “closed til 6 am”, It’s a hard rule, and it worked for her.

I also have a shelf with snack food that is labeled “lunch boxes only”. That way no one eats the lunch stuff. A drawer in the fridge labeled” for snacking” has fruit and cheese sticks in it.

If this hadn’t worked I would have locked it all up but maybe you don’t need to go that far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

Buy snack foods. Every morning, pre-portion the snacks and leave them out for after school. Lock pantry that includes the snacks and the cupcake mix.

Or give the babysitter a menu and recipes and tell her to teach them to cook dinner and clean up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know have an afternoon babysitter for my 9 and 10 year old instead of after school care, and I have noticed that they snack the entire time with the babysitter. I've stopped buying snack foods. Now, they are baking cupcakes, etc. which is even worse because they trash the kitchen. I'm at the wits end as well because 1. it's not healthy. 2. I end up spending 30-40 minutes cleaning the kitchen when I get home before I can start dinner. My 10 year old has ADHD and is very challenging to manage so I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the babysitter knowing how one of my children behaves. I'm following this thread closely.

Buy snack foods. Every morning, pre-portion the snacks and leave them out for after school. Lock pantry that includes the snacks and the cupcake mix.

Or give the babysitter a menu and recipes and tell her to teach them to cook dinner and clean up!

And we have a winner!!

[Anonymous]

Discussion with the pediatrician ight help too. They are old enough to be learning about the long term consequences of eating lots of junk food at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 y o with ADHD was like this. Wed wake up and have no food left to pack for lunch. So, what happens if you “close the kitchen”? At 9 pm our kitchen is closed and no one is allow to cook, open the cabinets, etc for anything except water. I pit a post it on the fridge & pantry “closed til 6 am”, It’s a hard rule, and it worked for her.

I also have a shelf with snack food that is labeled “lunch boxes only”. That way no one eats the lunch stuff. A drawer in the fridge labeled” for snacking” has fruit and cheese sticks in it.

If this hadn’t worked I would have locked it all up but maybe you don’t need to go that far.

Op here. We have tried the “kitchen is closed” approach. It doesn’t work. They sneak in after bedtime closed or not. I tried the cheese sticks and fruit and grapes and stuff approach but I still don’t want them eating it in the middle of the night when it all sits on their teeth. But I can let that go over cookies.