Dd8 still hungry bc food has no taste

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:16 am

Dd8 is very picky with food. She won't eat chicken, pretty much anything with vegetables or a lot of things mixed together. She'll eat baked ziti or mac and cheese sometimes. Those I usually make for lunch, she doesn't want them for dinner. (I'm in Israel, dd is home from 1-ish usually.) Lately I've been making her cottage cheese pancakes or regular pancakes (or both) for dinner. Also cucumbers or apples to round it out a bit. Sometimes pasta with ketchup, too. Or scrambled eggs with ketchup. Basically whatever they want that's not too hard. (Open to suggestions on this, too!)

Lately, she eats a couple of pancakes and veggies, says she's done, and goes to play. Then when I tell her bath time (half hour-ish later), she says she's still hungry. I tell her I'm done cooking and she can figure out something herself- a yogurt or fruit or something. She usually doesn't bother. She goes to sleep fine and that's all. I know this is not typical in terms of meals, but this has pretty much been working with my picky kids- they all eat pretty similarly like this.

Okay, that was all intro to get a feel for this dd's eating. But here's the question- yesterday, I made vegetable soup and we ate it with cous cous and cheese for lunch. This dd actually ate a couple of bowls so I figured that's a pretty balanced meal, especially compared to her usual. She was done and her friend called to invite her. She said she wants to go but she's still hungry. Then she said that she feels hungry because she didn't taste the food. (She doesn't like heavily spiced things so I don't make heavily spiced things usually. When I do, she and others here won't eat it. I actually made split pea soup and plain veggie, but she just had the plain veggie soup.) Then she said that's why she keeps being hungry after dinner. She doesn't taste the food. She said when she eats cookies and candy, she does taste it.

So it seems dd feels like she ate only after something very sweet? I guess a lot of people feel more satisfied after something sweet, no? Should we just move along the same way we've been going and ignore this realization? Change something? Discuss? Obviously the answer isn't to only give sweets. Is she addicted to sugar and that's why she feels this way? She doesn't actually eat a ton of sweets- sometimes a couple of tea biscuits in the afternoon and sometimes a candy if she gets in school. She went to play with her friend and was fine. Just left me thinking...

Success10

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:20 am

It could be for sensory reasons, she thinks she's hungry, but it's really something else. If she's in a generally good mood afterwards and goes to play, or if she's able to fall asleep, it's a good sign she's not actually hungry.
FYI, sensory reasons could also be why she is picky with food.

amother

Oxfordblue

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:35 am

I would assume she means she's craving sweets. I might try to explain to her the difference between hunger and a craving. And tell her that if she feels "hungry" for sweets after she ate a full meal and her belly is full, it's her brain playing tricks on her and she can just ignore it.

DrMom

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:35 am

Is this a recent thing with her? Could she have had a recent mild case of covid that temporarily messed with her sense of taste?

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:36 am

Success10 wrote:

She's definitely sensory and anxious, so I was thinking that. I tell her she's fine, she'll eat in the morning, and that's it. Now that she mentioned the taste thing though, I wasn't sure if I should do something different. I also told her to have a drink because I know sometimes I'm thirsty and don't have a drink or feel like drinking so I eat something. And it kind of feels like that- not satisfied and I feel like eating will help but it won't. So should I do anything different for her? Any way to help her figure out when she's actually hungry?

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:38 am

amother Oxfordblue wrote:

Thanks, that's a good way to put it.

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 4:39 am

DrMom wrote:

Is this a recent thing with her? Could she have had a recent mild case of covid that temporarily messed with her sense of taste?

That's a good point. For the past couple of weeks she's been saying she's hungry after eating, but she just mentioned the taste thing yesterday. I'm going to ask her later if this is a new feeling. Thanks.

Iymnok

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 5:10 am

Signals get crossed.
When my kids are tired, they claim to be starving. The hungry signal and tired signal get crossed.
Is there a possibility of something similar here?

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 5:23 am

Iymnok wrote:

Signals get crossed.
When my kids are tired, they claim to be starving. The hungry signal and tired signal get crossed.
Is there a possibility of something similar here?

Interesting. Could be. In the afternoon I wouldn't think so, but in the night that makes sense. She doesn't eat much so I do worry it's not enough and she's hungry, but she won't eat more or ask for something else, so I guess maybe not. She is generally a happy kid, sleeps well, plays nicely, so I guess/hope she's fine.

Thanks all for reading my long drasha and responding. Helping me feel like we're all more normal around here.

teachkids

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 6:34 am

Could you try letting her chew sugar free gum after dinner?

dankbar

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 6:35 am

If she stays hungry, maybe she's having a growth spurt now

LovesHashem

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 7:34 am

I recently read an article about a kid who actually can't taste things. Have you gotten her checked medically?

amother

Lavender

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 8:13 am

LovesHashem wrote:

I recently read an article about a kid who actually can't taste things. Have you gotten her checked medically?

If she doesn’t like spicy foods, then by definition she could taste.

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 9:14 am

Thanks all. I spoke to her about it. It seems like she really is hungry, but just can't be bothered or doesn't have koach to figure out what to eat when she doesn't want more of what I made, so she stays hungry. Poor kid, seems like she's on a self-inflicted accidental diet the whole time.

Now she had a normal-for-her small lunch and said she's hungry. I got her to try a whole wheat bread PB&J sandwich and she ate it and asked for another because she's still hungry. She's a normal-sized kid, not fat and not skinny. Could be it is a growth spurt. I'll make her another sandwich, seems somewhat nutritious and filling, right? I need to find more nutritious foods to suggest to her when she's hungry. Any suggestions? I told her a lot of people say they're only full after chicken or something, but that doesn't really help as she won't even consider trying it.

amother

Ballota

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 10:52 am

amother OP wrote:

I have a kid like this. When she eats she eats double what I eat, but then goes a few days with no appetite.

Some good snacks: yogurt, nuts, string cheese, rice cake and cheese sandwich, deli, apple and peanut butter.

snowflake1

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 12:51 pm

I don’t wanna make you concerned. Someone earlier posted about an article there was an article in the AMI about a girl that only realized in her teens that she did not have a sense of smell which affected her taste she only tasted certain very few things

oneofakind

Mon, Jan 01 2024, 1:27 pm

I was a picky eater growing up and still lose my appetite easily. I know the feeling of not wanting more of a particular food but still being hungry and can't figure out what else to eat or nothing is appealing and it's easier to just not eat. Also, if I didn't eat well during the day, the hunger hits at night.
I did better when I was put a B complex.
I'd try a good multivitamin and B vitamins.