Is this amount of food normal? Where is it all going?

[sweetmeatsandale]

DS is 22 months. He weighs around 20lb. He is in 9-12 clothes. 6-9 month vests.

He's tiny. But it's a gigantic amount of food. An example -

5, yes 5, brioche rolls. A banana. A yogurt. A handful of strawberries.

Spaghetti B for lunch, a child's portion but a bigger child. I'd expect a 9 year old to be satisfied with it. He isn't - He will then have seconds and polish the lot off. I wouldn't offer the seconds but he looks around frantically and moans if others are still eating.

His nursery have reported having to always give a second helping since he's very quick and takes other children's food who are sat there looking into space! We ran into trouble a few weeks back because he quickly snatched and gulped down a sausage (meat). He's veggie.

For dinner he'd have something lighter, a sandwich with some crisps. A piece of fruit. A slice of cheese. But recently I've just been giving him a portion of my food since he isn't satisfied with something light after a heavy nursery 'tea'.

Other foods for breakfast include two scrambled eggs on toast, nursery often say he has a slice of marmalade toast to keep him satisfied.

Lots of fruit, lots of cheese. He likes anything and everything.

Last night he ate, yes he ate the whole thing, a plate of nacho cheese with jalapeños on top! Didn't bat an eyelid at the spice. Even dipped the nacho in the salsa

He will eat sushi. He will eat a roast (his favourite). He will eat and eat and eat and I don't think he

I kit don't know where all of this is going. I know some children 'burn things off' easily but his seems so extreme. I would be overeating if I consumed what he does.

See the doctor and seriously I wouldn't give any child 5 brioches even as a one off treat that's ridiculous.

His hair looks very fine op. Has it been falling out at all? Mention to the gp. I'd definitely be asking for tests and referral.

^ please do this.

Without being rude about the brioche rolls again, I’m incredibly greedy and don’t think I’d manage 5- they are so sickly. Never mind stuff on top of that, it deeply concerns me.

I know it was a one off, but 5! And then food after.

It’s not right.

His hair does look very fine.

again without being rude, do you ever say no to this request? I think there’s 2 separate issues here, 1- he’s eating far too much and it’s not showing regards to weight and 2- his diet in general and his need for more.

I do if it's 'treat' based ignore the brioche. But it's properly food like pasta, sausages, spaghetti, mash, cheese... Then no, I do not. He's an absolute streak of nothing. I would feel quite cruel to just say no to more food if that's what he really wanted. It clearly isn't going anywhere on him.

I would obviously be incredibly careful and restrict portion sizes if he wasn't a normal/under weight

Jesus. If my child had only put on 13lbs in the 22 months since birth I’d give him 30 brioche if I thought it would help him gain weight. This thread is ridiculous

Another one to say keep a food diary for a week or so then take it with you to a GP appointment. My 9 month old is bigger in terms of both clothes size, and bodyweight

Ignore the ignorant anti veggie comments!

He’s a real cutie! Dressed he looks petite, not skinny. One of my godsons was like that, petite whilst eating huge amounts and he’s just fine- at 14 he suddenly shot up and got really strong with a solid build, by 15 he looked like a fully grown man. His younger brother meanwhile stayed the same and us still ‘petite’ both still eat loads

However, in your situation I’d definitely want to rule out diabetes etc.

I’d allow him to eat until he’s ready to stop but limit the ‘treats/bread etc as well as fruit. I wouldn’t allow him
More than 1 brioche etc so he doesn’t get in the habit of over eating carbs

Also try limiting the variety offered at each meal. Humans eat less if there’s less variety.

Hope it’s all ok and he’s just a healthy gannet - do let us know!

He is definitely a cutey! If you didn’t say how old he was I’d say pre 1!

It might just be his normal to be small, especially if your HV haven’t had any concerns?

Some children are naturally lean and hungry.

DS1 was under the dieticians for food allergies so regularly monitored, and despite being one of the smallest at nursery, was the hungriest, eating everything and often seconds or thirds, plus his portions were larger than standard as a lot of his meals had to be individually prepared. As he's gone through childhood, his appetite has remained fairly consistent, and is still good, he's just grown into it.
Incidentally his growth did seem to stall during the allergies/ exclusion phase and he seemed to catch up more after weaning back to a regular diet. He's still slightly shorter than average (but so am I) and very lean (DH and I both were in our youth)

DS2 has been very similar but without the allergies. (I'm not looking forwards to their teenage growth spurts...)

It's worth flagging up incase there is an issue, but sometimes children do just seem to be able to pile food away into nothingness.

5 brioche rolls is disgusting at that tiny age I wouldn't expect a grown adult to eat that many (and I'm a greedy fuck)

My 8 year old loves them but would still only ever have 2 at a push

He clearly either isnt getting the right nutrition or there is something medically wrong (maybe a mixture of both)

I would highly suggest getting him into a dietician as soon as you possibly can there is obviously something else going on here and it could be serious as previous posters have suggested.

How is his tummy, digestion and poops? Does he drink much?

That wasn't meant to come across so rude. Sorry.

Please get him checked out for hyperthyroidism... patchy fine hair and not gaining weight are classic symptoms. He is very cute though!

Can we see a photo of him, face obscured obviously. I'm interested to see how small he is? I would probably visit the GP with your concerns, it seems a lot for an underweight child.

Sorry just seen your photo. I think he looks small and slim but not worryingly so. I would still visit the GP.

sayehat he definitely isn't skinny for his height, that's for sure x

OP how is his body temperature? Is he often hot to the touch?

I agree, get him back to the GP and insist on tests. I do wonder if Graves disease has been ruled out (autoimmune over active thyroid) where the appetitie goes crazy but no weight is gained and, infact, lost. It really is a serious illness if undiagnosed so please ask for a referral to a peadiatric endocrinologist if the GP is unsure.

He is super gorgeous op

Which photo is more recent? Has he lost hair?

itwas Thank you! X He feels normal body temperature

Regarding his hair that some people have noticed, his dad was as bald as they come for a long while and has always had that awfully fine hair, still like a small child's now as a grown man!

Very soft, but very fine. So I don't think that's anything odd in itself

Was that last photo taken before or after the first one you posted?

Only asked because the hair looks alot finer in the first pic than the second

Passthecherrycoke exactly. DS1 has always been severely underweight and I let him eat whatever he wanted as a child, the more fattening the better, otherwise he would have starved to death. He's been literally skin and bone since he was about 4.

First pic was taken most recently (again by about a week though). It isn't any less in the more recent pic, it's just brushed to the side like an old mans. Doesn't really do him any favours as you can see

Oh bless him, cutey!

His diet sounds fine to me. Plenty of fruit and veg, carbs, protein etc.

I would see the GP. It might be something as simple as him having a really high metabolism but what sounds concerning is the clothes size he wears. This means he is also not getting any taller really?

Weight is individual. Unless a child is seeming malnourished, it's usually nothing serious to worry about but height? He should be growing taller

AM You're right - it's the height that's so concerning for me.

He looks very well indeed fat wise for his height - Not skinny at all, well proportioned. Little chubby legs even. Slim torso.

Certainly not 'thin'. His weight sounds so alarming because you picture a 2 year old's height but he's on 9-12 clothes so really not the size of one