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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:
Bonkerz · 01/03/2016 18:01

Definitely not enough

My son is 5 in May and today has eaten

2 X waffles with strawberries and blueberries and a yoghurt

Carrot and soya milk carton

Jacket potato/tuna/sweet corn
Fruit salad

Apple

Goujons, potatoes and corn

Party ring bag/banana/melon and blueberries
Fruit tube and raisins.

Winifredgoose · 01/03/2016 18:01

My son is 5 and 5 months. He is very tall and very slim. Today he ate:

2 slices of toast with peanut butter
Some dried mango and prunes
1 glass of milk

Food at school including hot meal

1 nakd bar and a handful of nuts

A bowl of pasta with tuna and mixed veg

A yoghurt.

Some days he eats more, some less than this. I would say he regularly eats more than your son. I have always followed my children with food. If they say they are hungry, I give them food. If at any point my child looked as if they were becoming over weight, I would obviously reconsider this.

TheHelpfulHiker · 01/03/2016 18:02

My 14 month old eats a similar amount to what you have listed. He is tall and very active. I dread to think how much he'll eat by the time he's five but I'm sure it'll be a hell of a lot more than that.

WorraLiberty · 01/03/2016 18:03

But given she doesn't realise she is starving her child, it is only right she is told. Most have been reasonable.

She's not starving her child for goodness sake.

She just needed to add something else to his dinner, to fill him up a bit more.

Don't exaggerate.

PaulAnkaTheDog · 01/03/2016 18:04

At the age of five ds was eating:

Bowl of cereal and fruit
Piece of fruit and/or bag of carrots at break
Sandwich, fruit, cucumber sticks, crackers and yoghurt at lunch
Toast/Brioche and strawberries/carrots/pepper after school
Chicken and veg/ spaghetti Bolognese and salad/ fish and veg etc for dinner

Possibly a bit of toast before bed

Your ds doesn't sound like he's getting a massive amount tbh. If he's saying he's hungry feed him more.

Tiggeryoubastard · 01/03/2016 18:04

Not feeding a child properly IS neglectful. And it's more concerning that the op seems to think that it's a massive amount.

CaptainCrunch · 01/03/2016 18:05

I'm not surprised he's still hungry. That's a tiny amount of food, mostly water based with the fruit and hardly any protein or carbohydrate.

Coconutty · 01/03/2016 18:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 18:07

Sorry worra, I do think three meals - two tiny (cereal, chicken, beans) - is not enough at all for this child. No, he's not being starved but malnourished certainly.

ButterIsAngelSpunk · 01/03/2016 18:08

Poor kid, no wonder he's bloody hungry. Agree that fruit is good for you but it's not filling by itself. My two year old ways far more than that in a day -
Two slices wholemeal toast with butter
A banana
A biscuit
Eight (!) mini vegetable samosas
Munch bunch yoghurt
Large bowl of pasta with peas and sweetcorn
Another munch bunch
And a milkshake before bed!

formerbabe · 01/03/2016 18:09

Childrens appetites do vary...Some days my dc seem to eat constantly and sometimes I feel like I'm nagging them to eat their dinner. However in the ops case, she said her ds is hungry...If he's hungry, he needs to be fed...its extremely basic parenting to be frank.

I hope this thread has given the op some ideas about what she could give him for meals and snacks.

Gileswithachainsaw · 01/03/2016 18:10

But given she doesn't realise she is starving her child, it is only right she is told. Most have been reasonable

she's hardly starving her child.

I'm equally stunned at the sheer volume some of your kids eat. it gets equally ridiculous the other way

it's a reasonable amount of food of you laid ot out

its the make up of the food that's not very good and is lacking in he fat and protein etc that would fill the child up.

so I'd calm.down with the neglect

WorraLiberty · 01/03/2016 18:11

Also, the people who feed their small kids enough to fill an adult always say 'My child is skinny/slim'.

It's very rare you'll get a parent list that amount of food and then admit their child is overweight/obese.

Yet nearly a third (31%) of children aged 2–15 are overweight or obese, so I can only assume these threads are fairly self selecting.

The OP is not starving or neglecting her child, just because she's not feeding him a banquet every day.

Sure, he could do with a bit more of a filler on his dinner plate, but that's not neglect or 'starvation' ffs.

Yankeetarts · 01/03/2016 18:13

Some of your dc eat more than my 13 year old dd on a school day

WorraLiberty · 01/03/2016 18:13

OMG we've now got a 'malnourished' too Hmm

How many calories in a grip?

I think we need to order a lorry load.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 18:13

My DS is 6 and would be happy with what the OP listed as long as there was a snack before bed.

Maybe like a lot of people the OP doesn't realise how small school dinners are, and is assuming her DS is getting a proper sized cooked meal. I know until I saw one myself I thought it would be adequate.

Haudyerwheesht · 01/03/2016 18:13

My 5yo is admittedly a good eater but has had

Small bowl cereal and a mini yogurt
Biscuit
Tuna sandwich, cream cheese and crackers, carrot sticks and a yogurt.
An empire biscuit as a treat
Sausages (2 skinny), a potato waffle, a small Yorkshire and a spoon or two of sweet corn
A cereal bar

GreatAuntAda · 01/03/2016 18:14

Sometimes my dc eat loads. Other times not so much. I guess it depends on how fast they're growing.

PaulAnkaTheDog · 01/03/2016 18:14

What the fuck? Malnourished and neglect? Get a grip people!

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 18:14

Yeah but again, Worra, those statistics (re overweight children) are not just down to the food they eat.

There is no way anyone can argue that what OP has listed is enough for a five year old; what's worrying is that she sees it as 'eating a lot.'

snottagecheese · 01/03/2016 18:15

Jeepers, my 7YO DD (who is, granted, more the height of a tall 8YO) could eat all of that just for breakfast. Well, not quite, but she'd certainly eat a lot more than what you mention in a day - in fact it wouldn't really be enough for DS, who is a tallish 3 (DD is slim, DS more chunky but not fat, just still got some of his toddler chub and is naturally a bigger build than DD I think). Others are right - it seems to me that it's carbs that are missing. My kids generally need some pasta or potato or rice as part of their dinner, and DD will often have a sandwich after school to keep her going.

OliviaDunham · 01/03/2016 18:16

Worra and Paul - my 10 year old DS doesn't eat as much as half the people have listed. I don't blame the OP if she doesn't come back.

Alisvolatpropiis · 01/03/2016 18:16

I think you need to add a baked potato or something similar to his dinner in future.

Hmm at the "starving him" comments.

arethereanyleftatall · 01/03/2016 18:16

I so agree with worra.

Goodness people, give the op a break.

Op - it is a lot of food, but the problem with your menu, is there's not much filling food in there. Like others, I would have included a jacket potato with the evening meal.

notgoingabroad · 01/03/2016 18:17

Nope, sorry I am standing by what I said.

That little boy is hungry and his mum thinks he's hoovering food down like no ones business. In fact it's two tiny meals and a bit of fruit!