Wtf do kids eat this much?

[Esmeismyhero]

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 :/

Esme I didn't think your child was starved or neglected either! I'm amazed by what some peoples toddlers eat. I can only hope mine starts eating like that! Yesterday she had 2 spoons of weetabix, a little box of raisins, a tablespoon of potato with a bite sized piece of chicken, a little slice of malt loaf, a tablespoon of scrambled egg, half a cherry tomato and a quarter avocado at bedtime. I assure everyone she was offered plenty food (both at nursery and at home!)- and this was a good day for her, we often have days where she will only eat an one meal.

Esme feeding kids can be such a minefield, right?? I've stressed a lot over what my DD1 (Now 4) will eat. She has never been a big eater generally and I use to worry when I was weaning her.

However... I think it's true that kids largely know how much they need to eat. Sometimes this self-knowledge gets damaged by what's happening in their life and there's comfort eating etc but it's clearly not the case here.

Also, I think there should be more emphasis on physical exercise over diet. You can be fat and fit, and if you are, you will be in better health than someone slim and not fit! So as long as he is physically active, I wouldn't worry. :-)

Be careful with the bran flakes, though. Massive amount of salt and sugar in those! Also, Sainsburys own bran Cheerios (Hooplas) have less sugar in, if you fancy giving them a go.

I think what food you feed your DC is definitely the new BF v FF on MN. Especially if it includes a discussion on carbs/sugars

Great thread Op interesting read I've learnt a few things reading this and picked up a few ideas.

I hadn't got a clue what other 5yo eat either!!

It seems to be the norm where I live to have 4 meals a day - breakfast, hot lunch (which is the main meal) at half eleven, 'day meal' at 4/5ish and then supper at 6/7 so quite often my DD gets 3 hot meals a day plus breakfast but she does eat very small portions (for instance half a chicken leg and 3 potatoes and the only veg she'll eat is frozen peas). Supper just ends up being her dinner re-heated as she hardly ever finishes the whole portion.

She's like me, needs to eat little but often. I can never keep the meal routine when its holidays though so its more like 3 meals. Oh and we had grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast today - oh so healthy hah!

Bloody hell my two year old eats more than that on a typical day and he's short and skinny. No wonder the poor kid is hungry. No carbs for dinner? Lots of sugar in fruit, little protein and fat. He's a growing active lad he needs more food than that.

Sorry if I sounded pedantic, I guess I was!

I think I'm so used to viewing "carbs" in an adult-diet way I just looked at the list of stuff and thought "I cant have that!" and then thought it was odd people saying "where are the carbs".

My apologies

littejolee your a bit late to the bbq

OP I find it tough too figuring out if I am under or over feeding my kids. I have PCOS and have a few stone to lose. I had gestational diabetes when pregnant with each of my kids so I am very aware of what I give them. My kids are 7,6 &2. There are days the 2 year old eats more than the older 2 and days the 7 year old just cant be filled. I make sure their portions are suitable and serve on a side plate rather than a big dinner plate. I try to teach them to eat to hunger and offer a drink first if theyve just eaten and I feel its thirst rather than hunger. But never refuse food but might lead them to different options of healthier or more filling foods. If one of them is going through a growth spurt they do eat a lot more. Im crap at portion control for myself but I do try with the kids and thats when I worry if I under feed because of my own worries or offer too much because I eat too much myself. The older two do a lot of sport, dancing and horse riding so I try to trust them if they tell me they are hungry that they are and then know when to stop if its good wholesome food, a lot harder to stop eating if food is junk.

OP I found this sheet useful I helping me decide what was a good portion, for feeding my younger two. I read the thread last night before it got too lairy,but this pic was on my.other phone and thought it might help you in the future.

I'll have a read through the.rest of it now

My daughter eats a lot more than that.
Typical day....

Cereal and a yoghurt for breakfast
Possibly a slice of toast
Piece of fruit in school
School dinner
A meal tea time
Possibly a treat crisps or chocolate or maybe another yoghurt
Snack before bedtime
Plus whatever else she eats when I'm not looking

She is quite small as well so wouldn't say your little one eats to much. Their so active they burn calories off quicker than anything.

And on another note my 17month old son doesn't eat much really but drinks lots. He eats enough apparently but I always worry its not enough. But cant make him eat when he doesn't want to. Also taken to he wont let me feed him at all. Very messy when there rice, noodles, yoghurts etc involved. Haha...m don't worry hun sounds like some people just being picky. Every child is different. U know your little one the best:) xx

I love reading what people/their DC eat in a day. Not to judge! I don't know why it's so interesting, I guess it's like a little window into someone else's world. Am also scrolling through the thread for ideas for DD's meals. I'd love a thread where we all just posted what we fed ourselves/the kids but I've a horrible feeling it would turn into a bunfight, so to speak.

Not had time to read everything but as a mum who did a lot of feeding of growing large sporty boys hope this helps.
I fed boys on huge amounts of peanut butter and Nutella on brown bread. Good quality fish fingers, sausages (lots) and poultry with a range of carbs. Brown rice, pasta, potatoes mostly mashed and pancakes. The latter were great for being able to wrap more veg in. Peas and ketchup accompanying often.
By their teens they were helping themselves and in their late teens able to take in the 7000 calories a day needed to maintain their strength as elite athletes. Not cheap but worked..... Good luck

The thing is mellow not many people will actually list what their dcs eat.
It's like the packed lunch box threads, in all honesty most kids have a sandwich, drink, yogurt, a piece of fruit and maybe a cereal/snack bar
But when anyone posts a thread about packed lunches 90% of it is hot food in a flask, suishi, soup, couscous and veg salad etc.

I've had 3 dcs in school and to be honest hot food flasks and suishi are very much in the minority, but reading these threads you would think no child ever ate a sandwich

Hi Esme, I've read the first lot of comments and all of yours - I was relieved that you understood that people are just concerned for a child they may think was being starved, the hidden stalks worried me lol, but I see now it's just one of those comments you write and don't realise how it sounds.

You sound like a lovely mum.

Just to add my thoughts ... my youngest is 7, he's average height and skinny. I let him eat as often as he wants to, but I had to start insisting that he ate dinner with everyone when he didn't want to. If he says he's hungry I let him eat as much as he wants out of a choice of things like bread, yoghurts, breakfast cereal, fruit, porridge etc and sometimes worse things at the weekend like cake etc.

I just let the childrens bodies be my guide. When my 4th child was 5-6ish he started to look chubby so without him realising I just cut sweet things out and refused late evening eating and he very quickly normalised and now is a healthy slim teenager.

I understand your concern about him becoming overweight and I applaud that (I think it's child abuse itself to let a child become massive for many reasons) but I think if you just let him eat whenever he feels hungry, as long as you can see that he's not becoming chubby, it's perfectly fine - good luck with it! :)

I love reading the variety of things that are served up, sometimes I get great ideas from it. I did want to reiterate that although I feel I showed a lot of food on the list for my DS, the portions are small and he is skinny. He's just had his school check and he's perfectly in line for his height and weight so I don't think it's a case of all the big menus shown are growing overweight kids, the portions are probably generally quite small but the variety was bigger and more substantial than the OPs menu, that's all.

my boys eat tonnes and are great weights and shape, very well built, but slim.
I am always shocked at how little other kids eat. Mine both eat adult pub meals and are only in primary. Just one of those things.

Ha ha tantrums so true! and my ds pretty much has variations on exactly the same thing everyday down to sandwich filling, not adventurous at all and no complaints, everything eaten.

In RL I'm far more likely to see kids taking in jam sandwiches, big bags of crisps and chocolate bars on a regular basis than is ever listed on here. My ds is always asking for random stuff he's seen others having in their packed lunch and it's never cous cous

weather sorry, I didn't word it great. I'm a bit dry but it doesn't come across via text.

Well online shop came this morning I went through the thread last night and added a lot of what everyone was saying. Peanut butter, cheese, more bread for toast etc. So 120 quid later we will see.

He has pasta with veg and tuna tonight so I'll give him a bigger portion and see how he fairs. I use the kids plates from ikea and don't usually fill it up but I'll see what he thinks tongiht! Knowing ds he will probably leave most of it.

Thank you everyone, I'm not usually this neurotic? Is that the right word?

OP, Has anyone mentioned that you might want to up his carb intake...?

You sound like a lovely mum. I'm glad some of the responses on here didn't put you off coming back. Hope your DS enjoyed his sticky jam!

When ds was about that age he was an incredibly fussy eater. He would have stages of eating a lot (usually prior to a growth spurt) and other times he would hardly eat a thing. Some days he wouldn't eat half of what was on your initial list for the day.

Just play it by ear, if he is more hungry, he is probably needing more for this burst of growth coming up. It will seem one morning that he is just so much taller than when he went to bed the night before....

I am not fanatical about what is eaten when. As long he is getting in most of what he is meant to (protein, carbs ,etc), he looks well, feels well and has enough energy, you are doing just fine

Oh, and just a heads up, start stocking up for when he hits his teenage years...you have about 9 or so years to stock up

I like reading the lists too, always nice to get ideas for snacks and meals. Can't imagine putting cous-cous in a lunchbox! That's why I love that every kid gets a free hot dinner here at daycare and school, I don't have to figure out something healthy and filling (I'd just put in sandwich, fruit and snack bar tbh) and even if I feed her absolute crap the rest of the day like sausages and chips she's at least getting one proper balanced meal a day.