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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:
applecharlotte · 01/03/2016 21:21

My DS has just turned 5 and is eating like a beast at the moment. Today he has had:

Two bowls of Shreddies with full fat milk
Large houmous and carrot sandwich
Banana
Organix Oaty Bar
4 x corncakes
10 small Organix animal biscuits
Large portion of cottage pie with veg
2 more corn cakes
Packet of milky way stars

He was still moaning that he was hungry at bed time. He none stop moves and I think school takes a lot out of him so just needs lots of fuel at the moment.

Quickchangeup · 01/03/2016 21:23

My dc is almost 5 and is currently having a growth spurt. Today has consisted of:

Brioche and banana, a few blueberries and a couple of olives at breakfast.

Lunch was a cream cheese and olive sandwich on brown bread. A small tub of blueberries and a cereal bar.

Snack after school of a gingerbread man biscuit and dried fruit.

Dinner was a homemade pizza with olives and sweet corn on, a small piece of apricot cake and yet more blueberries.

She would be so hungry and miserable if she ate less at the moment. Massive appetite due to current growth spurt. Her height and weight are perfect so I don't worry.

ShesGotLionsInHerHeart · 01/03/2016 21:24

KoreanLady paranoid much? Was just an observation...from some of the lists on here it reads like some kids are eating meals plus many snacks per day, which plenty people would consider a lot.

LilacAndLovely · 01/03/2016 21:28

kids are meant to be slim and eat child size portions. I'd say alot of the kids on here eat too much rather than ops eat to little

What exactly is a child size portion though?

Ds1 (8) eats the same (if not a bit more) as me. Same portion sizes. Which is correct, considering that the calorie requirement for an 8 year old is about 2000 a day, the same as an adult woman.

ovenchips · 01/03/2016 21:28

Hi OP. I think small children can sometimes eat a surprising amount - especially if they are having a growth spurt!

So it's perfectly possible that your DS could do with a bit more. I guess you can only be guided by his appetite. If he says he's hungry - keep feeding him until he isn't. Fruit and veg, though obviously healthly, don't necessarily fill you up so I would suggests carrots with, say, peanut butter on crumpets.

Sorry you've had so many posts criticising your meals. Sounds like you are doing a good job but just need to up the amounts to his new food requirements.

KitKats28 · 01/03/2016 21:28

Why do so many people feel the need to emphasise that their child is "slim"? Is it some sort of badge of honour or great parenting award??

I think it's absolutely amazing that so many parents on Mumsnet seem to feed their children such fabulous balanced diets and manage to shove 3 x 3 course healthy meals plus balanced snacks down their 1 year olds.

I agree that the OP's child doesn't seem to be eating enough, but yelling at her about how wonderful you are isn't really the way to educate someone (if indeed you really want to educate, rather than brag about your superior parenting skills...).

Not everyone has the benefit of a perfect middle class upbringing and it would really help if a lot of people on here were a little more aware of that. This site should focus more on helping people not berating them.

hownottofuckup · 01/03/2016 21:30

Sounds fine to me, although if mine wanted more later on I'd give them some warm milk.

DD said she was hungry on the way home from ice skating tonight, she just wanted chips! I said no and funnily enough she'd forgotten about being hungry by the time we got home and she had a drink.

Amazed by how much some kids eat.
An active 5 yr old doesn't need 2000+ calories a day like some have suggested, 1500 is more like it.

People eat too much.

deste · 01/03/2016 21:30

I don't think he is eating enough. Give him toast when he comes in from school or before bed.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 21:32

Well said KitKat

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 21:32

Unfair Kit

Yes, a slim child is healthy. That's not to say all slim children are healthy children but being overweight really isn't good for children. So I think being proud is fair enough.

I also feel there have been a couple of harsh points but mostly useful advice, suggestions and a general idea of how much children eat. A lot of children do eat a lot but they are growing very rapidly and never stop!

LilacAndLovely · 01/03/2016 21:34

Also, there are lots of people referring to school dinners on here and saying if their dc have a school dinner then they'll just have a snack at night.

School dinners are tiny IME. Perfect sized portion for my average-sized 6 year old. Far too little for ds1 who's a very-tall/big 8. We had to take him out of school meals this year because he was coming home ravenous every day, it just wasn't enough.

anotherBadAvatar · 01/03/2016 21:35

Thought that I was over feeding my 16m dd for ages till I saw this thread. She is 91st centile for height/weight and wondered if she was going to end up obese, but judging from many of you, she's about on par with daily diet:

2 weetabix or porridge, berries
Hard boiled egg
Lunch- ham sandwich, cheese cubes, cucumbers (rarely get touched), yogurt, banana or more berries.
Rice cakes with hummus
Roast chicken dinner with potatoes and veg, more yogurt.
8oz milk before bed.

In all honesty, she seems to be programmed to eat about every 2hrs or so, or she starts wailing/miserable etc. Does anyone else find this?

ElderlyKoreanLady · 01/03/2016 21:41

Not paranoid at all ShesGot. It's precisely what a few people have tried to say.

KitKats28 · 01/03/2016 21:41

Hang on I didn't say being slim was a problem. I just said it didn't convey superiority. My point was, if you feed your child a healthy-ish diet, you don't need to keep hammering the point home that they are slim. You could just say what they eat in a day without referring to their weight.

Let's face it; who is actually going to have the balls to come on here and say
"Today my kid ate a Mars Bar for breakfast, chip butty on white bread for lunch and a kebab for tea, washed down with 2 litres of Coke. Oh yeah and they're a lard butt".

PerpendicularVincent · 01/03/2016 21:42

Toddler DS;

Bowl of cereal
Banana
Cracker bread snack
Roast dinner
Pudding
Pizza
Yogurt
Raspberries
Blueberries
2 biscuits (DH is a softer touch than me Grin )
Milk
Juice

He's extremely active and slim, and eats more than me.

Sparklycat · 01/03/2016 21:44

Sounds like the amount my 2 year old eats.

ClashCityRocker · 01/03/2016 21:44

Well, this thread has soon turned into a stealth boast of how much wholesome and healthy food their kids eat - seriously, I wouldn't be able to eat in the day what some of the slim two year olds eat on here.

Op if your child is slim and hungry, give him more. I don't think you are starving your child or negligent. I also don't think it's that little too eat, depending on what the school lunch is like.

Fwiw when I was wee I'd have a bowl of cereal at breakfast, a glass of milk and biscuit at break, school dinner and pud, and then a sandwich for tea. This was pretty much the norm - none of my friends who had a hot dinner at school had a hot dinner at night.

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 21:46

You presumably stopped growing at least a decade ago Clash

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 21:48

Clash I was the same growing up, never had a cooked meal at home if I'd had school dinners.

The OPs in for a shock after she finishes work and sees all this, I just hope she can look past all the negativity.

ClashCityRocker · 01/03/2016 21:51

I am still not convinced that a two year old requires more calories than a fairly active adult, growing or not.

Onedayinthesun · 01/03/2016 21:53

^Eating me out of house and home....
^
Really? Hmm

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 21:54

They have tiny portions though. So if someone says their two year old,has cottage pie, it won't be an adult portion (obviously.)

PerpendicularVincent · 01/03/2016 21:54

Not mine Clash, DS couples healthy food with junk Grin

tobysmum77 · 01/03/2016 21:55

This was pretty much the norm - none of my friends who had a hot dinner at school had a hot dinner at night.

What difference does it make if food is hot or cold? Strange British customs.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 21:55

Me neither clash, and chances are we were a lot more active as kids than ours are now.

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