So when do you tell your child enough is enough.............

[SleeplessInTheStaceym11House]

.......with food???

My dd is 2.9yo and a lot of the time we have a real problem getting her to eat, yet other times she eats for England!!!

Take today...after eating all her breakfast she decided she was still hungry but we had no milk so she couldnt have any more...at 8.30 she was whinging she was hungry so i gave her grapes and strawberries....but 10.30 she started 'i'm hungry' again she was made to wait till lunch. FOr lunch she asked for a jam sandwich, usually she leaves the crusts, she ate the whole thing and asked for another one so i made her another one, which she only left 2 crusts of so thats 2 sandwichs and she says 'i'm still hungry' so she had some more grapes and strawberries (she wanted a yoghurt but ran out yesterday) then asked for a banana after that!! which she ate!! then at dinner she ate, with no tantrums, no whinging, no nothing!!

i was just thinking, when should i tell her enough is enough, at lunch time i felt i had to say 'stop' but was feeling a bit funny telling her to stop eating when normally i cant force her to eat!!!!

what do you all think?

My dd1 is a lot like this. Seems t always be hungry, all day long. As long as they're not eating crap all the time, don't worry. Probably a growth spurt.

I think it's OK. If they are eating healthy stuff then it all works out over time.

agree with nnb

When she isn't hungry for a banana and is hungry for a biscuit, that's when she's yanking your chain.

let them eat, i say.

when you even out the bad-eating days, with the stuffing-their-faces days, it probably averages out to a nice healthy amount!

Agree about the growth spurt. If hse is hungry enough to eat things she normally dislike, she is genuinely hungry. No need to make her wait.

thanks people! if shes still on about it tomo il just let her eat!! breadsticks and cheese are a good idea thanks! normally just do fruit/carrot and cucumber sticks!

I have feeding times

Breakfast as soon as they get up/ get here (im a childminder)
10.30 - snack (can be fruit, biscuits etc, today they had 2 pieces of fruit which the were allowed to choose, i usually give younger ones less so they eat lunch)
11.30 - younger children have lunch & 1 pudding (reason for younger ones having dinner earlier is so they can then go for nap while older ones eat)
12.30 - older children have lunch & 1 pudding
2.30 ish - younger ones might get something if they seem hungry if not then they have snack with older ones
3.30 - snack (smallish snack eg yogurt)
5.00 - dinner and then if they eat it all they get pudding, its very rare my kids ask for anything else after this but if they do i would give them something like cereal.

something with less sugar and more protein and complex carbs would keep her full for longer.
Don't think a jam sandwich is very filling tbh,esp if white bread.

her breakfast time is around 7.30, depending what time she gets up, i wont let her have breakfast before 7am. she has lunch at 12 due to getting her used to earleir lunch as shes afternoon pre-school from sept. dinner is at 7pm, so she always has an afternoon snack!

ggirl id love to get her to eat something other than white bread i really would! jam isnt her normal sandwich btw!

ds is 2.3 and has some days when he eats oodles, other days just pecks at things. if a hungry day he will have a mid morning snack and maybe two things in the afternoon as well as usual three meals. his eating is generally healthy and he is quite adventurous foodwise so i just let him get on with it. v tricky when run out of something though.

Doesn't sound like she#s eating that much, to be honest. Grapes and strawbs aren't very filling for snack if she's hungry.

IMO She needs to have lucnh which includes protein to keep her going longer - beans on toast, scambled egg if she won;t eat sandwiches with protein in them.

DS is like this, this afternoon he ate two cherry bakewell and two satsumas and a packet of raisins for his snack (kept insisting he was starving), then a huge plate of fish pie & strwberries afterwards for tea.

Other days he picks at stuff and I have really limit his snacking.

He goes through phases and just now it's a hungry one. Usually lasts a few days, then back to picking.

He's 3.4.

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possible growth spurt!

My dd was like this - when I collected her from nursery some days, it was a job to get her to stop eating. She's like me - eats when she's hungry, will not eat when she's not. As long as it's healthy stuff then I wouldn't worry.

this may come as a shock - recc. calorie intake for 1-3yr old girls is 1165 - i'd be suprised if she had that if you take in to account portion size.

lol @ kami's menu.

what is a spelt cracker?