How much does your 4.5 year old eat?

[ell4]

Hey mumsnet,

I'm wondering if any of you could share general portion sizes that your 4 or 5 year old eats. ds1 is 5 in November and was a bigger baby, on 91st centile. Hes had a check up recently and is now 18kg at 115cm tall. I feel like he is looking a bit skinny but he never seems hungry.

He generally only eats at set meal times, apart from his snack at nursery which is usually fruit and yogurt. He never really asks for food inbetween but he is so active! Constantly on the go, he never stops.

For example he always wants weetabix in the morning so I give him and he eats about 3/4 of one. He will eat berries/grapes like they are going out of fashion and loves his veggies like carrots peas corn etc but he just never seems to eat enough. Does anyone have any info regarding normal portion sizes at this age? Is it normal that his portions (in terms of what he eats, not what i serve him) haven't really increased since he was 2.5/3 ?

My 11 month old eats more than he does, honestly.

Reassure me, or give me some advice please. I'm all ears x

[Ummmmgogo]

a healthy child won't starve themselves I'm sure he's eating plenty. does he have energy to run around? have you checked his bmi? he sounds like he's a healthier eater than most his age xx

[Tiredmum100]

My son is 5 in Oct. He was a big baby, nearly 10 lb born, but now like your son is skinny as a rake. He doesn't eat a great deal to be honest especially when I compare him to his 6 year old brother. I use to worry a lot , but lately I'm thinking he's not showing any signs of not getting enough vital nutrients, and I think maybe we over eat (as a nation in general so think they should eat more) and he's just not? Hope that makes sense.

[Sleephead1]

my little boy is 5 but is small he was on 25% percentile but on the 9th I think now. For breakfast today he had toast one and a half brown bread, and a Apple and some grapes For snack at nursery he had milk then when I picked up he had some children's rice cakes half a pack for lunch he had one slice of toast some beans, cheese cubes about 4 , broccoli about 4 florets 2 prices of raw carrot and a yoghurt. for tea he had 2 slices of tomato and cheese flat breads ( only small slices ) a boiled egg only ate the white as doesn't like yokes, spinach a few leaves , carrots 2 pieces and a Apple and a glass of milk. He's only little and could probably pass for beu g a bit younger but always been little

[Sleephead1]

I'm a bit worried about my little boy as he complaining of a funny tummy and doctor said to monitor his weight so I'm going to get him weighed as he hasn't been for s while So may be you could monitor weight aswell

[ell4]

Thanks everyone. I will definitely keep an eye on his weight. I agree that maybe hes eating a normal amount and im expecting too much. He has so much energy. He wakes up singing and dancing jumping around, goes to nursery (starts school in aug) and does loads there then comes home and doesnt stop. Either on his bike or running round with his friend across the road or chasing round after the baby. I think he gets so involved in activities he doesnt realise hes hungry. I need to encourage him to eat and remind him its lunch/dinner time and prompt him to take another bite sometimes.

Glad to see im not the only one who worries about this sometimes. He was 9lb 6oz at birth and was always a wee chunk until he got to about 2ish and now is just super skinny which was fine because he would still eat a decent amount but now i'm a bit concerned. He had his pre school health visitor check and they werent concerned about weight but did comment he was tall for his age so i guess i shouldn't worry but will keep a close eye.

[SoyDora]

Mine is 5 in November, pretty small (25th centile for height and weight) and eats like a horse. I don’t know where she puts it all. She eats loads of veg but doesn’t like sweets/cake really (more of a savoury girl).

[ell4]

@Ummmmgogo i checked his bmi on nhs site there and it says its healthy weight but on 2nd percentile. Seems a drop from 91st although i guess they even out at some point. I would have thought he would have kept to maybe 50th, like average? His weight is probably normal for his age but hes just a bit taller i guess.

[ell4]

Below this it says that under 2nd centile is considered underweight for a child i think i'll just offer him some more snacks during the day, or up the calories of his food. Any suggestions for higher calorie healthy food? Is there even such a thing

[SoyDora]

Plenty of fats like cheese/butter etc.

[kateandme]

could you try some recipes that involve his fave food.like adding his fave veggies to pasta shapes.
cheesy pasta with fave veggies.
could you start having him help cook.get him chefs hat even asking him to help mummy choose some lovely recipes from any mags,books or online.really get him involved and interested so food becomes something to love and learn with too.
how about just offering up some toast and jam with breakfast.or snack.
having his fave fruit with some pancakes or yoghurt.
get him to choose tea.choose the meat.feeling all grown up for helping mummy.get him stiring and tastig if you add a herb etc.make it fun.
don't worry.if hes tall keep an eye as he will be burning it off quicker too.
as long as he seems happy in himself.and as long as his relationship tp food is a good one don't over worry yourself.he will feel this then too.
keep tyring different things.make it an exciting thing not a pushed food onto him thing if that makes sense.
if your in the shops get him to go choose the veg.get him to choose the meat etc.get him interested.

[Ummmmgogo]

he is quite light. were you/his dad similar as children? someone has to be the bottom end of the charts, it might be his natural frame, but lots of cheese and butter do sound like good suggestions x