my toddler won't stop eating!!

[wiosna]

my 16 m o DS wants to eat all the time. He has a good diet, 3 meals a day + 1 snack. all home cooked meals, no junk. He always finishes his meal, he shouldnt be hungry. but he's obsessed with food. in any social situation where there is food around he will just go from one person to the next begging, he will pull food off the table and cry endlessly if he doesnt get it.

if we have people over if we're going somewhere i try to make sure he's fed beforehand or i give him plently to eat at the begining to make sure he's not hungry but that doesnt change anything, he just want more.

it's getting to the point i'm reluctant to take him out or i have to leave early cause it's embarassing. i can't just let him eat all day, he already weighs 13 kg!

nursery says he just doesn't know when he's full. but i'm worried it's a bit more than that. i don't want him to have eating disorder or be fat for life!

what can i do?

If your worried then you need to start being firmer and not giving him extra food - perhaps offering water instead or distracting with toys or something?

Can't you just give him bits to gnaw on once he's eaten, raw broccoli stem, raw carrots, apple will keep my toddler going for ages. Also check to see if any of his molars are coming in, DS eats permanently then I think the pressure of food on the gum alleviates the pain.

good idea with the raw veg. i might just carry some round with me.

i guess i'm just not comfortable with the idea of constant snacking, but looking on line there seems to be lots of kids that won't stop eating and then just grow out of it. i can only hope...

Wiosna, just a thought, is your DS very often able to engage in other activities with adults and children or is he always just looking for food? If it is compulsive and he can't enjoy playing with adults or children very regularly because he gets distressed by not having food, maybe it's worth talking to your GP.

My children are grazers. Both of them. They are 3yrs and nearly 2yrs.

Both went through stages of wanting to eat constantly, like your ds. They had 3 meals and 2 small snacks a day. Now I give them smaller portions but more of them so they have 6 smaller but equal sized "meals" a day with Lunch being slightly bigger.

They have food at 8am/10am/12pm/2.30pm/4pm and 6pm. 4pm now being their "dinner" and 6pm being a slice of toast or small bowl of porridge or small bowl of fruit and yoghurt before bed. They get free access to water all day and breast feeds for the nearly 2yr old. The 3yr old has milk with breakfast and supper too.

This has really cut down on them wanting to eat constantly because it's never more than 2 1/2hrs before their next meal.
Some children are fine on the "standard" 3 meals/1-2snacks a day but others (and more than you'd think ime) are grazers and do better on smaller but more meals through the day.

shortninbreads post though is something to think about, and yes, If you do think there is a problem like that, go and have a chat with your GP.

Do his weight and height match on his centile lines?

My DS is 17 months and just over 14kg which puts him right at the top of the charts but as he is the same for his height I'm not concerned. If he is in proportion I wouldn't worry about it.

I actually think 3 meals and 1 snack a day isn't really a lot, but I think xMinerva's idea of spreading the food is a good one.

Does he drink enough? Sometimes thirst can be mistaken for Hunger.

I too have 2 hungry monkeys. They however are the opposite and skinny beans... they just seem to burn it off super quickly (usually from too much Jaw action!)
DD2 is on the 9th centile for both height and weight but eats like a horse!!

I think you can limit snacking, although might be hard if he's not talking much yet. I'd do 2 or 3 snacks and 3 meals though. I used to let DS graze on breakfast stuff because he was always really hungry in the mornings, until 10am if we hadn't gone out by then, and then say there was none left. Snack at 11ish, which would be one thing but might be a decent portion e.g. a whole banana or apple, bowl of fruit, 2-3 slices of fruit bread, 2 fromage frais, etc. Then nothing until lunch which would be at 1ish. Afternoon snack at 3, dinner at half 4/5ish and something carby before bed to hopefully fill him up, like more cereal.

3 meals and 2 snacks a day is actually recommended even though this can feel like a lot! My 23mo DS has always eaten loads, well at least it feels like it. He always finishes his snack first and cleans up after the other toddlers. I figure though, as long as he is eating healthily, so he has lots of fruit and veg, and savoury snacks (like pretzels, rice cakes) and plain yoghurt, rather than sugary biscuits. Also make him sugar-free cookies (with fruit) which he loves.

Do have to watch though, because he will sometimes want to just keep on eating when we're at home if he gets bored. But just need to be firm with him, give him some water, provide a distraction and even though he gets upset initially he tends to get over it quickly.

Hi Wiosna

I hope im doing this right as it is my first post. I found your message as I was searching for the same thing my nearly 16 month old is the same could eat all day, and its OK if we are at home as he only eats when i feed him which is 2 bottles of milk 3 meals and the odd snack. Its when we go out thats the issue, we went to a 3 year olds Birthday party and he was literally trying to take all the other childrens food running up to the table and grabbing everything crying because i was trying to hold him back it was so embarrassing i had to take him home everyone was looking at him, i don't want him to be known as the greedy kid. I get comments from people everyday saying "he's big" the last weigh in he was 31lb he is quite tall too. But hes also so sweet and loving I just don't know what to do??