Anyone else's LO CRAZY about food?

[dukie41181]

My daughter LOVES food! So much so that I feel like its excessive at times...she is always going to the pantry for a snack and gets very very upset if she cannot have one. She eats what I consider to be a hefty amount of food at her meals (breakfast ex: yogurt with fruit or oatmeal with fruit, 1 piece of toast sometimes with peanut butter; lunch ex: whole pb&j sandwich, piece of fruit or applesauce; snack ex: entire snack cup of multi grain cheerios or piece of fruit and a cheese stick; dinner ex: ravioli/pasta and a veggie). Doe this seem excessive? I feel bad denying her a snack sometimes when she wants one but at the same time there are lots of days where it feels like she'd eat literally ALL. DAY. LONG. if I didn't set limits. Am I alone?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

my son is only 9mo and he's pretty much the same way, at least for an infant. i can't remember when the last time he turned down (solid) food. he sees food and wants it and will scream until we give him some. he eats at least 6-8oz of food, four times a day. our sitter is always astonished as to how much he eats. i too have the feeling that he'd just eat constantly if i didn't set some sort of limits! bc he eats so much he's seemed to have lost interest in nursing, as we're down to 2-3 nursings per day now.

[dukie41181]

Here's a more thorough vision of her typical day...

9-9:15am Out of bed

9:45ish Breakfast
ex: Oatmeal with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or banana) and a piece of whole grain toast

PLAYTIME!

11:30ish Ready for snack
ex: full snack cup of multigrain Cheerios sometimes with yogurt bites

12:30pm/1pm Naptime (naps for 3-4 hours)

4-5pmish Up from nap

5:30pm Eat Lunch/Dinner
ex: Full sandwich (PB&J or turkey and cheese), piece of fruit, cheese crackers or cottage cheese

PLAYTIME!

7:15ish Dinner
ex: Ravioli/pasta with sauce, veggies

If she eats 2 full meals after her nap then one is typically smaller. I am completely open to suggestions to make things so smoother. Based on what I've outlined, does it seem to you that she is eating an excessive amount of food? And how would you handle the seemingly constant whining at the pantry door? It tends to be "out of sight out of mind" but unfortunately our living room/play area is attached to the kitchen so she easily roams between the two (especially now that the weather is getting colder and winter is coming!).

[peanut520]

Here's a more thorough vision of her typical day...

9-9:15am Out of bed

9:45ish Breakfast
ex: Oatmeal with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or banana) and a piece of whole grain toast

PLAYTIME!

11:30ish Ready for snack
ex: full snack cup of multigrain Cheerios sometimes with yogurt bites

12:30pm/1pm Naptime (naps for 3-4 hours)

4-5pmish Up from nap

5:30pm Eat Lunch/Dinner
ex: Full sandwich (PB&J or turkey and cheese), piece of fruit, cheese crackers or cottage cheese

PLAYTIME!

7:15ish Dinner
ex: Ravioli/pasta with sauce, veggies

If she eats 2 full meals after her nap then one is typically smaller. I am completely open to suggestions to make things so smoother. Based on what I've outlined, does it seem to you that she is eating an excessive amount of food? And how would you handle the seemingly constant whining at the pantry door? It tends to be "out of sight out of mind" but unfortunately our living room/play area is attached to the kitchen so she easily roams between the two (especially now that the weather is getting colder and winter is coming!).

dd is the same age and she eats much more. it was to a point that i aske the ped about it especially since she has now slipped under the 10th percentile for weight (still at 60th for height).

this is what my girl will typically eat:
6:30 wake up and drinks 8 oz milk
7:30 - snack?- bowl of oatmeal or cereal, egg, yogurt, and fruit
9:00 - (either breakfast at daycare or breakfast at my parent's house) oatmeal or cereal and fruit sometimes another egg
11:00-11:30 - fried rice/noodles with veggies, soup, fruit, cheese stick, and occassionally annies bunnies and milk
12-2 nap
2:30-3:00 - snack- baked sweet potatoe and avacado or pb sandwich if she didn't want one for lunch.
** if she goes swimming then there is another snack of milk and annies bunnies or applesauce pouch
5:00-6:00p - dinner - whatever we have plus her favorite veggie mix, yogurt and milk.
*** she might also ask for cheese crackers sometime during the day.
we go through a lot of food here.

[smiles33]

Both DDs eat a lot (outsiders are always surprised). DD2 had 2 drumsticks and a thigh for dinner last night (plus veggies). She is not yet 17months but still at 50th percentile for weigh and 70 for height.

As for snacks, my daycare teachers strictly enforce 2 snacks per day in between meals. DD2 cried the first week she was in the new toddler classroom when she no longer could snack on demand. Now she just goes and sits patiently at the table when she sees them prepping snack. On the 4 days/week she is at home, DH/MIL/I often give in and do an earlier snack. It is harder to enforce at home as she will bang the fridge door and/or try to climb up the counter.

Our schedule is:

6:30 awake and nurses
7:30 if at daycare, eats bowl of cereal, hardboiled egg and whole banana for breakfast; @ home she might get hot food (2 scrambled eggs, toast, banana)
10 snack (fruit, yogurt, something starchy like bagel or toast)

12 lunch (udon noodles, carrots, broccoli, chicken and maybe 8 strawberries)
1-3 nap
3:30 snack (pasta, string cheese, fruit, or hummus/pita)
5:30 dinner (whatever we eat, porkchops, ravioli, etc)
7:30 nurse before bed

[sunshine873]

Here's a more thorough vision of her typical day...

9-9:15am Out of bed

9:45ish Breakfast
ex: Oatmeal with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or banana) and a piece of whole grain toast

PLAYTIME!

11:30ish Ready for snack
ex: full snack cup of multigrain Cheerios sometimes with yogurt bites

12:30pm/1pm Naptime (naps for 3-4 hours)

4-5pmish Up from nap

5:30pm Eat Lunch/Dinner
ex: Full sandwich (PB&J or turkey and cheese), piece of fruit, cheese crackers or cottage cheese

PLAYTIME!

7:15ish Dinner
ex: Ravioli/pasta with sauce, veggies

If she eats 2 full meals after her nap then one is typically smaller. I am completely open to suggestions to make things so smoother. Based on what I've outlined, does it seem to you that she is eating an excessive amount of food? And how would you handle the seemingly constant whining at the pantry door? It tends to be "out of sight out of mind" but unfortunately our living room/play area is attached to the kitchen so she easily roams between the two (especially now that the weather is getting colder and winter is coming!).

I don't think she's eating that much food. Really. My DD eats something every 2 hours, as long as she's awake. Otherwise, she gets cranky. And she can't wait very long (30 mins tops) after waking up before eating either, both in the morning and after naps.

My DD eats what I consider large amounts of food (she always has) and I specifically asked the ped about it. They said, feed her as much as she wants. if she eats everything on her plate, and asks for more, give her more. So I do and I don't feel guilty about it. There are times here & there that she doesn't eat as much - I figure it will all work itself out in time.

[Pepper]

Just some thoughts for you...I don't think she's eating an excessive amount of food, either, but both of my boys are big eaters :-) One thing I noticed about her daily schedule is that she seems to eat lightly in the morning - there's a long time between b-fast and her after-nap lunch, with just a snack in between. Another thing is that her snacks are carbs and fruit, maybe she could use a little protein in her morning snack to help tide her over? Sliced almonds are nice, I used to mix them with dried cranberries or other dried fruit. Or a bit of cheese. Or, try stirring a spoonful of almond or peanut butter into her morning oatmeal to up the protein content.

My DS2 (19 months old) would eat all day if I let him, too. When we first brought him home, he was 13 months old and (we'd been told) had limited access to table foods. Boy was that wrong! You know how they tell you, babies will stop eating when they're full? Not our boy...we finally just started taking him out of the highchair when we were tired or feeding him, because that kid WOULD NOT STOP EATING. No health issues, and he's big but not off the charts - just a really, REALLY good eater :tongue5: