Always, and I mean ALWAYS hungry

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My 5 y.o. daughter is a classic sensory seeker. She must be jumping, ramming herself into furniture, touching walls, people, etc.

She is constantly asking for food and my gut tells me that her eating is more about seeking flavor or sensation more than really being hungry. All day long she says, "I'm hungry! I'm always hungry!"

She's not overweight, so that's not a concern. But sincerely, it's to the point that I could stand in the kitchen and do nothing else all day but prepare and clean up snacks. We've tried chewies and gum...chewies don't do the trick and she wants a new piece of gum every five minutes.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

You could make her a really big bowl full of jello. 1 Package only has about 100 calories (depending on flavor) and can make almost a quart of fruit flavored jello (which is 99% water). Just make a couple servings at once and It would take her a couple hours to eat the entire bowl. Its not going to make her fat or anything since it is mainly just water. All it will do is keep her really hydrated, which isn't a bad thing.

same thing as tracker suggested however maybe to use watermelon. it is more healthy.

My sons need lots of oral sensory input too. We have tried various things. What is currently working:
-Stride gum, made by Dentyne. It is really, really long lasting. We cut each piece in half and allow them to have 4-6 of these half pieces a day. Each piece will last for an hour or so of chewing. This is very helpful at school.
-crunchy vegetables, celery, carrots, anything that really gives their jaws a workout and is healthy.
-straws. They will chaw on a straw if the others are unavailable or they've already had too much (must be careful they are not ingesting it, your daughter may be too young for this one).

My youngest is like that. He wants to eat all the time. I keep simple snacks that he can prepare himself on hand. I make healthy cookies and other things that he can easily grab and go with. He loves fruit, carrots, peanut butter on crackers, and simple sandwhiches. He'll eat two or three cheezeburgers at dinner (a current favorite).

Well, if you want a healthy snack that it crunchy then I must recommend my favorite. You get a big plate, and put on a bunch of baby carrots, raisins (separate them so they aren't clumped together), and peanut butter. Then when you get hungry you can reach over, grab a carrot, stick it in the peanut butter, then stick it into the pile of raisins. It makes a nice bite size snack that is crunch, chewy, sweet, and savory all at once.

It is also easy to make because you just open 2 bags to dump out a bunch of carrots and raisins, then scoop out some peanut butter. It only takes 1 minute to put together a snack that can take a few hours to much through. The problem of course is that you can easily make a meal out of them as they are rather filling. Then again, it is a pretty good meal, so thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Constant hunger can indicate a serious and specific neurological disorder. I have seen an Alzheimer's patient in whom the disease had affected that part of her brain that tells the body it's hungry, who had to be watched constantly to keep her from eating every object she found that would fit in her mouth - pills bottles, flower arrangements, medical supplies, pieces of fabric - anything.

It can also be a sign of other things, like childhood diabetes, in which case chewing gum and candy would not be a solution. Talk to her doctor about this ASAP.

Yeah there are some illnesses which could cause the problem including thyroid functioning and diabetes etc etc. Definitely ask the Dr for a check up.

Also, as being autistic means your communication signals don't work properly inside you, this can include the signals for hunger for some. She might not be getting (or understanding) the signals which say she is full up. Have you tried sitting her down to set meals and snacks in a day, and using visual symbols to help her identify the feelings of hungry and full? It might sound really stupidly simple but it could well work. She might not understand that the feeling she is getting means she has had enough food.

My son who is almost 5 has been doing the same thing. Thank goodness he will eat alot of fruit, so I just keep giving it to him. I have wondered too if he is eating out of boredom. He is not overweight though, so I haven't worried too much. I read somewhere that it is common for children in this age group to go through a growth spurt, so I am not sure. The other night my son had 3 pieces of pizza and some pineapple and then said he wanted something else to eat. In some ways I am happy that he has a good appetite, because a lot of my friends with NT children can't get them to eat much of anything. Sometimes I try to get him to just drink something instead of eat, because he doesn't drink a lot, and I am wondering if that is part of the problem.

Chronos, that is funny that you mention Prader Willi Syndrome. I know you were responding to the OP, but my son who is almost 5 was tested for that when he was only 14 mos. old. He has hypotonia (low muscle tone), so our pediatrician referred us to have genetic testing done. At the time the only autistic trait he was showing was hand flapping. She was concerned about the low muscle tone, so they did a series of tests and Prader Willi was was one of them. He tested negative for it. I do know one of the symptoms is constant overeating. It sounds like obesity is a problem with it as well, and so far my son is not obese, in fact, he seems on the skinny side to me. Just thought I would throw this in for what it is worth!

I should try the bowl of Jell-o trick on myself, and see if it works, for me.