is my DD's appetite normal?!

[dolster]

I'm a first time mum and none of my friends have babies yet so I'm just wondering if this is normal - my 16 month old DD has the most ravenous appetite - she'll eat absolutely anything and in vast quantities - for example - for dinner last night, a whole sweet potato, a whole fillet of salmon and a huge pile of veg and then she said she wanted more. The mornings aren't so bad but in the afternoons she is constantly asking me for 'snack' - she's a chubby-ish toddler but not overweight (or at least I don't think she is, she hasn't been weighed in a while). She's also extremely active. I'm very happy that she eats big healthy meals but its her constant demands for 'snacks' that slightly worries me....especially when I know she can't be hungry because she's just eaten loads or when I do give her a snack and she just demands more and more and more.... has anyone else experienced anything similar? I feel bad not giving her food if she's hungry but at the same time, I don't want it to get to a point where she's only content when she has a snack in her hand.

It does sound excessive to me, but I am used to a child who doesn't really like food very much.
I think I would offer your DD water, I honestly doubt that she can be properly hungry so soon after a huge pile of food.
could it ;be a habit?

Both my girls are like this...Sometimes they will eat more dinner that DH and I!
They 3yrs and 14mths and have amazing apetites. DD2 I am yet to find anything she wont eat! I seriously dont know where they put it all as they are so skinny! DH reckons DD1 burns it all off from her jaw as its constantly going with her chatting! :)

After breakfast DD1 will ask for fruit after 2 slices of toast. Thats more than I have every morning.

Snacks- DD1 always asks for snacks, even when she only ate and hour ago and ate tons. Sometimes she can have some fruit sometimes its a matter of just saying no and explain that she will have to wait till lunch/tea as she cant really be that hungry. Sometimes i think its a habit thing or sometimes abit of a boredom thing... I know i'll eat something!

DD was like this - she is now 5 and still loves her food! She has just been weighed at school and is bang on 50th centile for BMI so I know she is healthy, but she was always pretty chubby as a baby and toddler and it has taken her 5 years to work down the centile chart (from the 99th at 3 months!!)

I think that some children just enjoy eating and can get into the habit of using it when bored because they like doing it! Although the last thing that anyone wants to do is deny a child food, it is important to start thinking a bit about portion sizes etc. As long as the snacks are healthy then I would offer (within reason). I would probably stick to mainly veg if lots of snacks are being given, as fruit has so much sugar.

My DS is like this and always has been! He was a chubby toddler and friends marvelled at how much he ate, to be fair he wasn't fussy and their LO's were!
He now can easily eat a larger meal than me but he is so so skinny and very tall! I do make sure he drinks plenty as I wonder if he is actually thirsty and also use distractions to lengthen the time between eating! I try to give him healthy snacks so I don't worry that he's loading up on sugar and fat. I always look upon it as they are growing and my DS is never still. His BMI is bang in the middle of normal so I just assume he needs this amount of food plus he's rarely ill so he's obviously getting everything he needs from the vast amount he eats!

It's normal. Small children sometimes do eat almost adult-size portions. They need a lot of calories in proprtion to their size when compareed with adults. My 11 MO eats adult portions of porridge and fruit at breakfast and eats whole peices of fruit with about 125ml yogurt for a snack. She eats a lot less than us at dinner though. She'll still stuff down a whole fish fillet (adult size portion of fish) down, but will eat only one or two bits of roast potato, and two brocolli florettes with maybe a single peice of butternuit squash, not 4 or 5 like we do. Still seems a lot when you look at her size, but she burns masses of energy and is growing and developing fast. It's normal!

thanks everyone for the re-assuring messages! I have just been to the supermarket to stock up on veg - I think those snacks that are advertised as 'healthy' because they are organic and sugar free are actually pretty sugary (from fruit juice etc) and fatty so I'm going to try and get her to snack more on veg.