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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Wtf do kids eat this much?

444 replies

Esmeismyhero · 01/03/2016 16:35

Ds is 5 and 3 months (I don't know if that is relevant)

He goes to school, he does karate one day a week and the weekend he is usually running around out etc. After school he watches his iPad, does homework, runs around the house, plays toys etc.

He is very slim but very tall for his age. Lately he has been eating me out of house and home.

Today for example he ate

A bowl of cherrios
An apple
A school dinner
1/2 punnet of grapes
5 strawberries
2 x chicken dinosaurs
Beans

He is apparently still hungry????

Hasn't he had enough? Or Aibu?

He will have milk before bed and I'll ask dh to give him a carrot if he is still hungry while I'm at work tonight. He likes eating whole carrots on his own, I keep finding the carrot stalks hidden :/

OP posts:
JuxtapositionRecords · 01/03/2016 19:58

spandexpants come on now, you know what you have posted isn't a 'similar amount' to what the op has posted!

charleybarley · 01/03/2016 20:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 20:06

Today has been a rubbish food day, my 6 year old DS has had

Weetos & semi skimmed milk
Fruit school snack
School dinner (probably cheese jacket potato and a pudding)
Packet of crisp
Turkey Burger & skinny chips
Cheese chunks
1 slice jam sandwich

He's actually eaten more than I thought he had to be fair, though as I said it's all rubbish.

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 20:08

No, it's not. Protein and calcium (milk and cheese) roughage and cards from potato and bread and some vitamins in the cereal and the fruit.

I love jam sandwiches. I like banana sandwiches too.

Juanbablo · 01/03/2016 20:10

My children do eat more than that. School dinners can be quite small. It's not a shitty diet you are feeding him at all, but probably needing a little more in the form of protein and carbs.

lavenderhoney · 01/03/2016 20:10

Oh yes-we get invited for tea at school friends and it's quite snacky - small slice of pizza each and some kind of dip/ veg, but not much ( two bits of carrot each) DC expect dinner as well when they get home :) I was quite shocked tbh but they seem to need more.

Op- have you asked your ds what he would like? growing DC need so much food - I've known ds eat a pizza at a friends and expect a proper dinner and he's not kidding. The boy is like a stick and super fit. Dd the same. I just ensure carbs and veg/ protein. Children are growing and their bodies tell them what they need- like being pregnant and stuffing down cheese rolls I suppose.

hiccupgirl · 01/03/2016 20:12

It's not a huge amount of food but similar to what my DS who's 6 eats. But I would say he's a really light eater in comparison to most of his friends. His idea of a big dinner is 2 small fish cakes with half a small tin of baked beans and that is sometimes a battle to get into him. If my DS isn't growing, he generally isn't really hungry.

If your DS says he's hungry then give him something to fill him up like buttery toast. If he's normally a light eater, he's saying he's hungry for a reason.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 20:13

Not enough veg though, and the serving size of the jackets are tiny. I also love banana sandwiches - but it's better if you stick bread in to toast, while toasting slice the banana and put it on one slice of bread while it's hot, add some cinnamon and squash it together Smile

ChicChantal · 01/03/2016 20:14

A colleague of mine once told me that her boys, aged 6 and 8, ate more than she did.

DownstairsMixUp · 01/03/2016 20:14

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

ShesGotLionsInHerHeart · 01/03/2016 20:18

Bloody hell, there's toddlers mentioned on here who seem to be eating more in a day than I would eat in 2 days. Shock

Alwayssunny · 01/03/2016 20:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GhostsComeWith · 01/03/2016 20:18

To be honest I am more amazed at just HOW much some kids are packing away! Seriously some of them are eating more than my dh!!!

Op when dd was your child's age she probably would have eaten similar though we do not have school dinner so she brought a packed lunch which she rarely ate 'not enough time' so I got into the habit of thinking of school lunch as a snack and then giving her s proper lunch at home so egg & toast, soup and brown bread, bacon sandwich etc. she was super fussy and had a tiny appetite. She was and still is tall and very skinny (10th percentile weight and 90th height)

She is doing better now at 10, she is still considered by family to be fussy and hard to feed but I have found our rhythm now. For instance today she had:

B: bowl Cheerios and organic full fat milk, glass of water
School lunch: dairy Lea dippers with extra bread sticks, satsuma, Frube, actimel. She ate about half.
3pm lunch: small bread roll, banana, glass of milk
Dinner: pasta with chicken in a creamy tomato and basil sauce with Parmesan, cucumber slices, olives and 2 small slices of garlic bread. Are most.

She is having a couple of squares of choc now before a shower.

None of her portions are big but she is eating similar on a daily basis and I am happy with that.

I would add toast / pasta / potato to the evening meal if he will eat them.

coffeeinaredmug · 01/03/2016 20:20

I have a feeling we won't be seeing OP again.

GhostsComeWith · 01/03/2016 20:22

PS the school lunch is dreadful but I put things in there that she will eat, she will refuse a sandwich / wrap etc as says they 'go funny' but will eat a fresh one as soon as she come home. I judge her nutrition by her 3pm lunch and her dinner tbh.

Gileswithachainsaw · 01/03/2016 20:23

Me two ghost

I mean my 9 yr old ate

2 boiled eggs and soldiers fir breakfast

she doesn't usually eat much lunch so she eats say a slice of cucumber
her yogurt
maybe half her sandwich (which is one slice of bread )
an apple

and a small bowl of stew and peaches

she eats less than her 5 yr old sister.

I feel full just reading the list.

it's like man vs food with kids

AStreetcarNamedBob · 01/03/2016 20:23

My 3 year old would eat more than that.
Doesn't sound like a lot. I'd certainly believe he was still hungry please don't withhold food from him especially as you say he's slim

DownstairsMixUp · 01/03/2016 20:27

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

bakeoffcake · 01/03/2016 20:28

I think what the OP's son has had is fine, except I would have given him toast or bread if he's still hungry, not a carrot.

Why do people find it hard to accept that not all people/children are EXACTLY the same?Hmm

I remember when my two were growing up and their friends often came round for tea, they would eat much more bigger portions than DDs. I realised that my two had smaller appetites than the "norm" but they weren't starving or malnourished.
They are 22 and 25 now, perfectly healthy and happy, but still eat small portions, as do I.

Gileswithachainsaw · 01/03/2016 20:28

Doesn't sound like a lot. I'd certainly believe he was still hungry please don't withhold food from him especially as you say he's slim

KIDS ARE MEANT to be SLIM

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 20:29

I think the point there was that there was nothing to be gained in withholding food from this little boy.

bakeoffcake · 01/03/2016 20:29

I don't know why I put in the extra more there.

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 20:31

By the way, are these toddler food diaries making anyone else hungry? Grin

Gileswithachainsaw · 01/03/2016 20:35

quite the opposite not

Grin

I was in tesco earlier. I'm surprised there was any food left after reading this lot Grin

madmomma · 01/03/2016 20:35

Lol @ spinach and kale smoothie for a 5 yr old. My 5 yr old would look at me like I had 3 heads if I put that in front of him