When did or do you rely on your kid to tell you when hungry/thirsty?

[Tweakster]

I'm just wondering if I should stop being too proactive.  We're always offering meals and snacks and trying to force him to drink because he's like a camel and hardly ever does...but really, when do they start to tell you when they are hungry etc.?

Often he's just not hungry and won't eat.  Or he will say he's not hungry but then be crying 10 mins later yelling for 'cheese toast'. 

I just don't know how to help him listen to his body and stop shoving food at him all the time.

[Nauvoo]

well I think it's great to offer fluids often.  It's no fun once they get to throwing up because they are dehydrated.  My niece is 4 and will never tell you if she is hungry or thirsty however, my LO will always say something.  No reminding needed here.  But I do think that offering fluids often is a great thing to do.  Snacks on the other hand, I never offer them I just wait for DD to ask because she eats great at meals with no snack  but this is a child who doesn't generally get grumpy because she is hungry.

[shivi]

Oscar only ever complains in the morning- and has always been like this - at least since age 2. He would go all day on water if possible after a very large brekkie. So, with him, we have to offer food but he drinks well.

Emma always tells us what she wants and when....so different character there ;-)

S x

[mini me]

I just give food at their set times, she will ask if hungry since around 2.5yrs old (a GS was the reason for her persistant "I hungeeeeeeee Mummy"!!!!) But drinks I always offer - she always has a full cup of water in her reach on the kitchen table if she needs it by herself, but I often ask her (even in wintertime - continually in the hot hot summer here!)

I read somewhere that if a kid is playing up/ whingy/ not listening you need to rule out thirst! I tried this over a year ago, and it was amazing how it could fix a bad mood on DD!!! She wasn't able to say she was thirsty, but would have a little drink, and she would be so much better behaved afterwards!! Not a cure for everything, but it certainly had a dramatic change on some trying behaviour!

[C&B&E]

Ben will often ask for food but rarely ask for a drink...but he's always loved food  .  But adults are the same - we often don't realise we are thirsty.  sometimes I get to the end of the day and realise how little I've drunk, and that sometimes I misinterpret thirst for hunger.  So Ben is given water with every snack and meal, but I also will offer it at various points throughout the day - particularly if he's racing around or it's hot weather.  I think most of us need to be reminded to drink enough water so it's fine to keep offering

[We Three]

Wendy do you keep water available to him whenever he wants?  We have always left out a sippy of water, (or two in different places), especially on hot days. 

[Tweakster]

Sorry yes - should clarify that he's always had access to water from a very young age.  It's on the table where he can always get it, he has a sippy in his bed, it's in the car and we always take it wherever we go. But he doesn't drink it, or at least not much at all.  Now that he's barely eating fruit and veg he's not getting much hydration from his food either.  We're constantly trying to get him to drink up.  So part of me wonders if the easy access means he doesn't really feel the thirst sensation and then know to ask for it...

I find it hard to stick to rigid snack times just because his routine tends never be the same one day to the next.  Whenever I come up with a plan, he changes the game.  Plus I recently read and heard that you will encourage grazing if they snack too often and then they don't learn to listen to their bodies enough.  Not sure how true that is but the logic actually does hold water.  But then one can make the argument that if the body is regularly fueled (by eating every couple of hours) then there is far less chance for over eating.

It's all pretty confusing lol. And DH and I are not good eaters so I worry about modeling the wrong things :-/

[Mom to M&M]

No real rigidity here at all. DD (almost 6) has a snack at school at around 10am, lunch around 12, snack after school (around 4), dinner 5:30/6 and usually a bedtime snack (often cereal or fruit, occasionally a cookie or other treat). She has water or milk in the morning, juice with snack and lunch (diluted) and more diluted juice or milk with dinner. She will always ask for food or drink when hungry/thirsty.

Now DS (just turned two) is much pickier. He almost always drinks enough (no milk, only water or his special fruit smoothies I make PACKED with nutrition) and has some often throughout the day. We have a relatively set breakfast time and dinner time (at least on weekdays), lunch is hit or miss (often skipped) and he gets an AM snack (only if he asks) and PM snack after his nap. Both of those are more like mini-meals sometimes since he doesn't really do lunch. So like those breakfast cookies I've posted, a bagel, pistachio nuts (his current obsession), yogurt, etc.

He's been refusing both fresh fruit and veggies too, save for the occasional apple slice or banana. So LOTS go into that smoothie. Plus he's good for a pouch of Ella's Kitchen or Plum Baby fruit/veg mix 5/7 days a week. LOTS of nutrition and hydration that way and he thinks it's fun to squirt them into his mouth!

[huntersmummyinoz]

wendy it's only been the last couple of months that H (3.5yo) will occasionally say that he is hungry or thirsty. so i do pretty scheduled meals and snacks (breaky 7.30, snack 10, lunch 12.30, snack 3.15, dinner 6), juice with breaky, milk with lunch and dinner, water with meals and inbetween if he asks. basically i've tried the, wait and let them tell u approach and he just ends up melting down. he does realise he is hungry in the end but by then he is STARVING and falling apart, so prevention is best here. ds2 is another story, basically i would be happy if he would eat anything at anytime atm, shocking food refusal recently.