13 month baby always want to eat

[Lilly11]

hello moms..i need some advice. my daughter is 13 months old and she eats everything and well (breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner). but she never gets full it seems like she is always hungry even after meals. do you think she is normal? thank you

It will depend on the food she is eating. Pouches have a lot of water in it, rice cakes and puffs are nutritionally void so won’t satisfy.
What do you give her?

How do you know she’s hungry?

What does she eat in a normal day and how much milk does she have? Is she waking at night gut milk as well?

Breakfast fruit
Breast milk
Lunch vegetables+grains(rice,oats etc.)+protein(meat,fish
Breast milk
Snack fruit with yogurt
Dinner vegetables+grains(rice,oats etc.)+protein(meat,fish,cheese
Cow milk 150 ml
She wake up 2-3 times at night and want breast

I would maybe swap the fruit snacks with something more filling or add something to them. So for example apple with peanut butter

Swap the fruit for breakfast for porridge or Greek yoghurt, or both, or egg.

Fruit snacks aren't filling. Swap that out for a protein based snack

She should be having at least 2 snacks a day. You can also try giving supper. She probably needs something more substantial than just fruit for breakfast.

Children teach half their adult height by the adult of 2 and it’s the fast period of brain development which uses a lot of energy too but they still have fairly small tummies so they need to eat often. She sounds very normal in terms of appetite.

At that age my eldest was eating two Weetabix, with full fat cows milk and a banana each day for breakfast - she's not got back to that level of eating yet and she's 11 now!

Try something more substantial in the mornings maybe? Toast, boiled egg/scrambled egg, porridge, instead of fruit.

At that age mine had breakfast, milk, snack (banana/cheese/full fat yoghurt), lunch, milk snack, dinner, milk. They have a lot of growing brains and active bodies to fuel at that age.

I think she probably is a bit hungry from what you've said. How about having the fruit as a finger food at breakfast and adding something more filling along with it like eggy bread, smooth nut butter on toast or porridge with raisins or chopped banana?

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust us good as it gives sample menus and guidance on portion sizes.

Ideally you want to be upping her calories in the day so that you can think about some gentle night weaning.

My DS always had a brilliant appetite. He was eating 2 weetabix with milk, a yogurt and sometimes a banana for breakfast at that age. He often had an egg and toast and on weekends some form of a cooked breakfast because he loved mushrooms. He always had a banana as a snack sometimes with toast.

A big lunch and often fruit. A big tea. And always weetabix for supper otherwise he didn't sleep at all.

He would also guzzle milk all day.

I love seeing children enjoy their food!

@Lilly11 you don't really say what and how much she is eating, You just list food groups. Also when you say oats for lunch/dinner , this is unusual so is it some kind of pouch or baby ready meal? In these you usually have 10% meat so hardly 20 gr

Mine is a similar age. Today she has eaten
7am Breast feed
8am quarter of a bagel, half a banana & some raspberries
11am breast feed
12.30 1/2 of a small Avocado, tomatoes, cheese and half a slice of toast
3.30 Oat milk and an oat cake and a satsuma
5pm chicken, potato, carrot & broccoli
6.30pm porridge

As PP have said, swap the fruit at breakfast time for porridge/weetabix/scrambled egg with toast. Give her fruit for her pudding after her lunch/dinner.

DS is 9.5 months and today he's had:

7.30am- 7oz of milk
9.30am - 1 weetabix (with 3oz of milk) and a mandarin
12.30pm - spag bol and Greek yoghurt with berries
2.30pm - 7oz of milk
5.30pm - roast chicken, sweet potato mash and broccoli followed by half a banana
6.45pm - 7oz of milk

Based on that list it seems like very little food, but you’ve not actually given examples.

At that age my son had either 2 weetbix with banana and milk, a big bowl of porridge with a banana, or two eggs and half an avocado with a handful of mushrooms. Then a snack would be fruit, or avocado on rice cakes or similar. Lunch he had all sorts, from grazing platters with egg, cheese, ham, crackers, fruit, roast veg etc. or a big bowl of pasta, or a rice dish or baked beans. He always had a decent portion of what we had for dinner. Didn’t often have an afternoon snack as his main meals were so large!

She's not eating very much at all. Fruit is just sugar and won't be filling her up. Try Weetbix, toast and peanut butter, porridge.

3 meals a day and one snack doesn't sound excessive. Maybe give her larger portions at meal times. Babies are generally good at regulating their food intake, so if they have more on the plate then they want then they just won't eat it all.

I also agree with others about a more substantial breakfast being a good idea. Like porridge or eggs.

How does she tell you she is hungry? My daughter (same age) asks for breast milk a lot but I don't think its because she is hungry, more like thirsty or wanting a cuddle.

At that age, as long as it’s not junk, IMO you should give them as much as they want of all food groups. Fat is very important for brain development so don’t think of it as ‘bad’.

If you’re worried about Michelin-man type rolls on their legs, please be reassured that these are normal in a baby for a very good reason - sick babies can lose weight frighteningly quickly - and will almost certainly vanish once they’re running around.
My Gdcs were real porkers with super chunky legs at that age - now 4 and 5, they’re both very slim.

thank you so much moms for the advice .. I think the portion is enough for her age but I will begin to add something in breakfast and snack

13months old is a real time for growing, so they do seem to want to eat loads.

Try a more filling breakfast - porridge, weetabix or peanut butter on toast.

Let him eat as much as he wants and let him feed himself, he will stop when he's full. Once they stop having such ferocious growth spurts you'll begin to wonder if he lives off fresh air and fairy dust!

I always know when my two are about to grow, they seem to have hollow legs.

thank you so much moms for the advice .. I think the portion is enough for her age but I will begin to add something in breakfast and snack

How did yesterday and last night go?

I increased the portions and it seems to work .. but the problem remains that he wakes up 2-3 times at night for the breasts feed

The waking at night could be because of comfort or thirst, not necessarily hunger.