To wish my kids weren't always staaaaarving!?

[Bingdweller]

Disclaimer: intended to be lighthearted and I do appreciate some kids don't have enough to eat

They are 3 and almost 6. Today has consisted of the following for each of them:

1.5 weetabix topped with milk, honey & blueberries
An apple
A banana (shared)
Boiled egg & toasted home-made bread soldiers
French fancy type cake from the local bakers
Small fromage frais
Another apple & a plum
Kinder chocolate stick
Some cucumber slices
Steak pie, broccoli, boiled potatoes
Jelly pot & custard pot (shared)
A few Haribo each

They are now asking what's for supper later on!!! Have they got hollow legs or do all children need this much feeding? They are both very lean, active and seem to want to eat all the time! Roll on tomorrow and they will be back at school and nursery!

I also agree there is too much grazing. I often watch in amazement as parents push snacks on their toddlers who seemed perfectly happy gazing about them. I once went by coach to Euro Disney. There was a family on the coach whose three children were travel sick yet the parents were constantly pushing food at them only for them to be sick again. The stench of vomit was awful. Like the ladies above between meals snacks were almost non existant for my children and they put away good solid meals every day. It just didn't occur to me that they needed more than a mid morning or afternoon drink and a single biscuit or piece of fruit. I just couldn't afford it. It didn't stunt their growth or intellect either. The boys are all over six foot and the girls over five six despite having short parents and all with good qualifications.

eating little and often is the way to go apparently.

This grazing issue quite interesting. I was with a group of mothers recently and noticed them constantly offering their children food, e.g. a packet of crisps, biscuits, and so on - all this quite apart from a substantial breakfast, lunch and dinner including puddings. Part of me thought it was as if they were trying to keep a connection with their children through doing this via food.

I didn't realize there was a difference between grazing and snacking? And why do grazing foods need to be sugar??

My dd2 is a grazer- she had eaten most of the things I had to make tea over the course of the afternoon today (eg green peppers, red peppers, cheese) then ate some tea but not loads, why would I be bothered by that?!

No reason, obviously.

Actually, what I should have done is listed he approx times beside the daily intake.

6.30am (early risers!)- weetabix, apple
10am- banana
12.30pm - egg & toast, cake & yogurt
2.40pm - apple, plum & choc
4.20pm - cucumber
5.00pm - steak pie, veg followed by jelly, custard and a couple of Haribo

Looks like they expect to eat every 2 hours then! Definitely going to expand on meals. I should really have cut out the cake or yogurt and the piece of chocolate. Ideally I would have given jelly or custard and not both.

Mmmm, lots to think about. Especially when I see what other children their age are having.

Mine have been nightmares today, they had a bowl of cereal when dh got up with them, they then had a 2nd bowl of weetabix plus a piece of fruit when I got up. They then had veg soup with chopped hash brown on top and bread for lunch, then 2 huge bowls of popcorn this afternoon between them then 2 helpings of toad in the hole, roasted and veg then a choc mousse and no doubt they will ask foe something before tea.
They spend the time inbetween food asking for more, how they aren't fat is beyond me

bingdweller I hope more people contribute to this thread, as I am really curious now! That looks pretty much like the amounts mine would eat. We spend a lot of time with other families too and that would not be out of the ordinary!

My 24mo eats more than that some days. He has been known to eat 4 weetabix for breakfast, but not for quite a while, thankfully.

He appears to have his dad's metabolism, lucky thing.

I was just thinking this! Today..plus loads of water - and it's the same time each day, really. If ds is at school, he has pasta, fruit, sandwiches, and is still hungry at pick up, hence the snack after school around 3-4.

Mine ( 6 and 3)
Breakfast
7.00 - Blueberries whilst waiting for...
8.00- fried eggs, bacon, toast and butter

10- fruit, banana, plums

Lunch - spaghetti bolognaise, pudding sponge and custard

3-4- sandwiches and a cake

6- roast lamb, yorkshires, roast pots, peas and pudding - chocolate fondant ( home made, they love them)

And they still as skinny as rakes.

But- they are busy, parks, bikes, craft stuff, playing, hanging round the kitchen like puppies.

Sometimes dd isn't hungry and picks, but ds eats everything.

I don't fuss about it really, eat it or leave it, but the kitchen is closed between meals. They still sneak in though and open the fridge:)

OP, what did your dc have for lunch? I can't see a lunch thing in there.

Today ours had porridge, greek yoghurt, an apple, OJ and scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Bacon and tomato bap and chips for lunch (were out), plus smoothie.
DS - party tea, DD - soup and an entire half baguette. Both had fairy cake after.

DS in particular is always starving - he's 6 and having a huge growth sport, I am not a fan of snacking in between meals - it ruins their appetite for meals, plus am concerned about their teeth - so they eat vv well at meals!!

Snacks in between meals tend to be breadsticks and cubes of cheese,slices of ham, or handful of almonds/hazelnuts etc.

I personally think little and often makes more sense biologocally - keeping a stable blood sugar etc. I think the 3 meals approach comes from fitting in with formal work breaks historically?

Mine eat tonnes - absolutely astonishing amounts, almost continually. I just try to ensure it is all stuff that makes up a balanced intake over a period of time.

I have dds 1 & 3 yo. They will typically have 2-3 weetabix, or big bowls of porridge, with stewed fruit on waking, then wholemeal marmite toast or crumpets a bit later. They have chopped fresh fruit with breadsticks or rice cakes or crackers, maybe with cheese chunks or hummus mid morning. They will have soup and bread, or sandwiches or cheeseon toast with crudites with yoghurt after for lunch, snack on dried fruit or a banana or malt loaf, tgen eat a proper dinner eg fish pie & veg. Tgey drink milk before bed too!

Both dds are v active and weight/height in proportion. I don't give them sweets or chocolate or crisps except at parties, so I am guided by their appetites.

Dd is 7

She has had

3 weetabix with sliced banana
1 slice of toast

Go ahead fruit bar
Breadsticks

Ham salad sandwich
Yogurt
Fruit pouch
Apple

Snack size choc bar
Cheese triangle

Three bean tacos with peppers and sweet corn
Salad

Quavers
Pear
Satsuma

Water and milk

I'm trying to get her to bed before she announces she is hungry again!

cocktail boiled egg & homemade wholemeal bread (toasted with butter) for lunch followed by small yogurt & cake.

Catching up with the recent posts - makes me think there are lots of children with good appetites out there

My DS often confused "hungry" with just plain bored - not knowing what to do with himself was associated with eating as it was the first thing he thought of to express himself. He has grown out of it to an extent now he is 10.

I think if you gave them a more substantial breakfast they would eat less snacks.

Breakfast could be eggs and sausage with beans

Lunch could be chicken or ham with salad

Raw veg for snacks

Dinner

My DDs are the same. DD1 (4) is whining about wanting something to eat less than 15 mins after eating a roast dinner not much smaller then mine.

Breakfast: 2 weetabix
Snack: Banana (large) blueberries and rice cakes. 2 Fruit pouches.
Lunch: Pilchards on toast (1 slice)
Milk: 200ml
Snack: 2 slices bread, cheese and tomato sandwich
Supper: Roast with potatoes and 4 veg
Post supper snack: 2 fruit substitute bar things and an apple.
Milk: 300 mls

She's been in age 5 clothes because of height since 2 months before her 4th Birthday (DH is very tall) and she's athletic/muscular build. She's gone up a shoe size since Easter I'm doomed

Ruprekt is spot on more protein at the start of the day and raw veg for snacks . Blood sugar stays stable not if you eat but if you eat the right things - Hunter gathers may actually have only eaten once a day and if they did graze it would have been totally un processed and more veg matter than fruit. Grazing on suger y crap is just about the worse thing for teeth and saying their teeth are ok at 6 &2 is not saying their teeth are ok at 8/12 when the state of their baby teeth makes a great deal of difference as to how their grown up teeth will turn out

emm im quite sure someone will correct me if im wrong...and this is a respinse to the implied criticism if the op, but isn't 'Three Meals A Day' a relatively recent socially-constructed way of eating,rooted firmly in western culture?

Yes, as are all eating patterns over the past 100,000 years, as they are all social constructs of either environment or social convention. There is no widely accepted theory of the best way to eat either, many tribes eat every 3 days, rather than 3 times a day some societies have complex rules around food. But 3 times a day suits most western life styles and constant grazing on sugary food is undoubtedly bad for a child teeth.

Lots of sweet stuff there. What about filling up on oat cakes and rice cakes? Or veg?

Thanks for the input, all responses taken on board.

Need to get out of the habit of fruit, yogurts, refined carbs etc and look at oatcakes, houmous, peppers, carrots, cheese, ham type snacks.

Not worried about mealtimes as they always have home-cooked and plenty veg. Will make more of an effort with soup and wholemeal bread too, I think.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond

Sirzy, why wouldn't you have let him have more if he was still hungry? I don't get that. It's not like he's on a diet at the age of 3.

He had eaten plenty, he wasn't hungry he just wanted to eat and that is a bad habit to get into.

DS 4

7am biscuits x 2 and a actimel.
8am 2 slices wholemeal toast with jam and marmite (slice of each)
12pm scrambled egg, sausage, beans and toast.
2pm a pear
5.30pm Roast beef dinner - pudding homemade cake.

DD5

The same except she had 2 bowls of cornflakes for breakfast

DD9

All of the above. and asked for more. I sure she has hollow legs and doesn't stop growing like a weed.