Too much appetite?

[Anonymous]

Hi. Thank you in advance for listening. I just need someplace to express my worries and concerns. (And since I just read again in the Help forum about James and Carson who barely eat, I almost feel it is out of place to mention my concerns. My worries seem so trivial in comparison with the feeding aversions those families are dealing with.)

So anyway – Andrew is 18-1/2 mths and 27 lbs and would eat non-stop if I let him. I was shocked to learn at his well-baby visit 2 weeks ago that he was right on target for weight gain – growing on the same percentile curve he’s been on. But even that didn’t set aside my concerns.

He has a fairly limited diet due to his MFPI – so food intros are sloooooow processes. But the foods he can eat, he wolfs down like there is no tomorrow and then signs and says “More, more, more”. Sometimes he even asks for more while there is still food in front of him.

He uses his fork and spoon (or just his hands if he gets too impatient with the utensils), so he’s controlling what he wants to eat. I used to be worried that I was overfeeding him as I was spooning his food into his mouth. But now he is in control. He does – sometimes – leave food on the tray…well, actually, throws it onto the floor when he is done. But most of the time, I end up telling him he’s done and not getting more. And, boy, does that make him mad!

Tonight, for example, he had several ounces of salmon, a whole sweet potato, a canned pear half, about 1/3 a slice of bread, a handful of raisins. He kept wanting more so my husband gave him more salmon, another big section of sweet potato. When he wolfed that down and wanted yet more, my husband gave him my daughter’s virtually untouched food – and then, of course, she burst out in tears because “I want my food!” (the same food that moments before had been “icky” and “I’m not hungry”…) During her meltdown, Andrew was crying because he wanted “more, more, more”.

Should I worry about my bottomless pit?

It is hard to not worry since there is such a contrast between him and his sister. I have him eating ravenously and yet my daughter (who will be 4 in November and is tall and skinny) hardly eats anything it seems. I do my best to encourage healthy eating in her since she’d eat junk 24/7 if she could. She knows she has to have “healthy food” before she can have less healthy snacks – grapes, cheese, applesauce, yogurt, etc., before she can have yet another bowl of goldfish crackers or Barbie cereal or a cookie, etc. And meals at the table are a regular habit 2-3x day (without the TV on).

My husband and I are both pretty close to target weight (TED takes pounds off ya quick!) and 3 out of 4 of Andrew’s grandparents are in the healthy weight ranges. My dad was overweight and my sister has battled with being overweight from childhood. My mom frequently comments (when watching Andrew eat) that she wonders if she would have limited how much my sister ate as a ‘bottomless pit’ toddler, if that would have prevented her from fighting with weight all of her life. I guess its these questions/ponderings of my mom that make me worry about Andrew’s appetite.

Thanks for listening. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to get other viewpoints. I’m always concerned and my husband is always “it’ll all work out in the end…”

[Anonymous]

Sarah seems to be a bottom less pit as well. She will eat anytime I put food in front of her so I totally know how you feel. I think since Andrew is continuing on his normal growth pattern, that everything is fine. Could he be going through a growth spurt? The other 1 year olds at Sarah’s daycare are remarkably SMALL…which just puts more emphasis on the fact that Sarah is a big girl. She looks like a monster compared to the other teeny tiny 1 year olds. I haven’t had Sarah weighed in several months…and I’m curious to see where she’s at now. Anyway, I’m not offering much advice here…just empathy! Comments from family and friends definitely make things more difficult so I understand that. DH’s side of the family is large (the women anyway…) so I worry about Sarah’s future as well. His sister is large, but was an average size toddler/young child…I always wonder where it all went wrong?

Keep doing the great job you’re doing. Offer healthy choices, continue to let him be in control of his food…I’m sure it will all work out in the end.

[Anonymous]

kids will go through periods where they will seem to eat non-stop and then periods where they hardly seem to eat at all. if he was eating like that and not growing, it would be a concern, but his growth is right on, so he is getting what he needs. you have good eating habits in your family—–it sounds like he is doing great.

[Anonymous]

Both of my older boys have gone through periods where they will just eat TONS, and then it will eventually taper off again. I think it must be growth spurts. If the food he wants more of is healthy, then I don’t think I would worry about it. If he wanted more and more junk food, then I would be concerned.

[Anonymous]

I posted something similar recently so you are definately not alone!!!! I’m just trying to stick with the healthiest diet I can, keep Alana active and hope for the best (thanks everyone for the previous great advice).

[Anonymous]

You could be describing my two girls. Kaelyn eats like a bird, is tall and skinny, but staying on the same curve on the growth charts. Alex is a bottomless pit. It amuses me that I’m saying this, because she’s my baby that refused to eat for the first five months of her life. Now… it’s like she’s making up for lost time. The other night, Kaelyn ate 3 bites of pancake, a green bean and a carrot. Alex ate tons of green beans, carrots, a pancake, and almost an entire steak. She does seem to be slowing down a little over the last week, so I’m thinking that it was just a stage. Her 15 month appointment is on Tuesday, and I”m going to ask her ped about it.

[hellbennt]

if he’s not overweight & the dr’s haven’t said anything, then I say feed him- it seems that he will stop when he needs to stop…

jonah ate a LOT (sounds like your guy at 18months) and suddenly at age 3 got picky- he was never chubby, so I wondered where it all went, LOL! I suppose he’s just active…now at 4 he seems to have gotten less picky and is eating more again.

I would just keep going like you are, offering healthy foods. personally I don’t give juice (he gets some watered down at school for snack time- the school gives it not me) or sugary snacks (I don’t have cookies or pudding in the house- well, ok I have fat free pudding for ME, lol!)…we don’t ‘do’ dessert…so I guess what I’m saying is that when jonah ate/eats like a grown person, it was healthy- ex: he ate (& eats) the same size portion of oatmeal that I do in the morning, he’ll eat an entire grilled cheese sandwich & broccoli for lunch, etc…it’s amazing, isn’t it!? I just try and make it balanced- protien, carbs, veggies, fruit…thank goodness he likes broccoli and, he’s back to liking more veggies again (at 18 months he ate brussel sprouts, green beans, peas, broccoli, creamed spinach…probably more, lol! the kid ate everything!)

[Author]

Posts