Tips Needed I'm Stressing

Is it just me or is anyone else stressing over our kid's weight?  I have a 6 yr old who will be 7 next month and he is big for his age.  I weighed him this morning and he is 114lbs and measures around 4ft 3in.  According to charts I have looked at, he should weigh 95 lbs which puts him around 19lbs overweight. I'm constantly worried that he is going to end up like me and no one wants their child to go through what they went through. I had kids laughing and making fun of me all through school. I'm trying to control his eating, but it's hard when he is staying other places during the day. After he eats a normal size portion of food, he asks for more. What am I supposed to do? Sometimes I tell him he's had enough, but when he starts crying saying he is still hungry, I usually give in.  I'm going to try to start getting him some more exercise and make better food choices, but it seems like since I've had the surgery, I'm constantly focusing on his weight. I'm scared I'm either going to give him a complex or an eating disorder. Any ideas will be appreciated  because I'm going crazy.   Thanks

Hey Jean! I know exactly how you feel.  I started a "snack shack" with my kids this summer.  It is wonderful.  I was concerned that they would want to eat all the time and eat crap....so we do this. They get 2 snacks a day.  One around 10 and the other at 3ish.  I have a list of snack options.  they have to buy their own snacks.  On Monday I give them $10 for their snacks.  All veggies are free, fruits are very cheap 23 cents, yogurt/cheese- a little more, crackers, etc. a little more and finally candy, cookies and any other junk with NO nutritional value is almost $2.  They can choose what ever they want.  If at the end of the week they have money left over then they can "buy" a trip to the park or something else that is fun but where they are getting exercise.  If they run out of money during the week then the only choice they ahve is veggies.   They love it!!!!!!  They make wonderful choices.  My 7 year old chooses veggies most of the time because she wants to have the most money left at the end of the week. I let them pay and do the money.....works on math skills and they love that too!!  It is a total win win situation.  They eat much better snacks and we don;t fuss about getting them to eat healthy foods.  They think it is a blast!!! I hope this helps.  You can adjust it how ever you want.     Oh and I make up crazy prices so the math is more challenging!!!!

Wow Melissa....you are so smart!!

Can I have $10 and come to your snack shack???

Thanks Dianne!  It also makes me keep better choices in the house.

Wow Melissa  That's a great idea. I'm going to try to do something like that .  My son loves money so I'm sure he will want to save all of it.

Thanks

My son is overweight. He is 19...about 6' and weighs over 300 lbs. When he was younger, he always would be hungry. I think the key here while they are growing is to keep them moving. It was difficult for me, because I was a single mom and he was in daycare...then vegetating at home at night (because "Mom" had to do everything else around the house). Just don't let him become a couch potato, keep the snacky foods at a minimum (but good snacks around for him) and keep him active and I believe he will be ok. Oh and don't put him on a "diet"...my mom did that to me all the time....and see where that got me!!! That's my 2 cents!!
Good Luck!!

Hugs,
Dianne

I agree Diane   I don't want to put "diet" in his head and it's hard for me too beacuse my husband works out of town through the week so he stays with my aunt although I'm going to try to have the money to put him in the Y a few days a week so he will at least be getting some exercise.  You're right , the key is to keep them moving  .Dang those video games Thanks

I am stressing over this also.  I am scared I will make him have a eating disorder or something.  I have an almost 11 yr old that eats as much as his Dad.   My other son is almost 19 yrs old and weighs over 300 also.  Since I have had surgery, I keep better things in the house for them to snack on.  I like the snack shack idea, that will be great.  Jacob (11) weighs almost 200 lbs and it is hard to get him to do anything.  I can't sign him up to exercise at the ymca til he is 13 but I try to keep them active.  It is hard and I watch everything he eats.  I really push water on them hoping that will help.  Thanks for the ideas.

you know Tammy I never knew there were so many of us going through this. It seems that we neglected to eat right for so long our kids accustomed to eating the way we did. I used to never watch what my son ate and now i look at everything he puts in his mouth.  I'm with you. Since the surgery, I no longer buy Junk to keep in the house so maybe with the little changes and a lot of praying  we can keep our kids from heading down the road to disaster.