Toddler who constantly demands food

[678somuchtolearn]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has had this situation and any advice for how to deal with my food obsessed toddler?

My little boy (who is now 2yrs) got very very big from breast feeding from about 4 months (was over 100 on the centile chart). I tried really hard to limit feedings, but it was really really hard. He only started to slim down a bit at 1 year when I weened him. He is still quite a podgy toddler and loves his food. I am so grateful that he eats (including veggies!) as I can imagine how worrying it must be if your child doesn't eat, so I'm sorry if this sounds like moaning when I should be happy that he is a good eater, but we really are at the other extreme and it's exhausting, here's why:

• He wakes up from every sleep shouting for food immediately
• He is overwhelmed at the start of meals and screams like crazy while starting to eat
• He screams and tantrums for ages when a meal is finished (he has good sized portions and balanced meals so there is absolutely no way he is still hungry)
• He is not very active and would prefer to read a book than run around so he doesn't burn it off
• If I take him to the park he cries to come home for food
• If I suggest going out anywhere (to the farm/friend's house) he will shout no and shout 'cafe' and then food items
• If he can see other food while he is eating he will try and shove food in his mouth almost without swallowing to get the next bit (we've had 3 very scary choking incidents where we have had to hit his back)

-When he goes to the childminder he demands snacks as soon as he gets there

• He spends most of the day winging or screaming at me for food, even if he's just eaten. I never give him anything when he screams for it. I wait until he has calmed down and then offer him a snack later on to make sure he's not hungry.
• the list goes on :(

We've seen health visitors and the GP who can't see a problem, so it must be emotional..

I'm feeling quite down as I keep trying to take him out and inspire him or encourage him to be active, but he just wants to sit in his buggy and demand snacks (or he will play for a very short time until something reminds his of food)

Sorry to be negative, but it's gone on for so long now and I'm fed up. Any advice very welcome. Thank you :)

MyDS was chunky, and I just kept giving him snacks. He soon slimmed down and now at 6 I would say is very slim.

He still loves a big lasagne and garlic bread type dinner though and will eat twice as much as me.

Do the dinners contain lots of meat and carbs? What sorts of dinners are they?

Snacks can be healthy, carrots, cucumber, pepper, cheese, raisins, apples etc etc. Sometimes my DS at 1-3 years old would eat a banana, two apples, two oranges and a carrot in between meals. As long as it's healthy it doesn't bother me.

Weight should slim down over time as they get more active, one is still so young.

It could be normal. Some children are at the top of the centiles and this is perfectly normal.

Can I ask how tall he is? Often tall children can have a huge appetite.

Can I ask what he eats/drinks in a normal day too?

Thanks guys. His dad is 6foot 3 so pretty tall and I'm 6foot 5 so it's likely that he is storing up for the future! he's 2 years old by the way and average height on the chart. A typical day would be:

Breakfast: Porridge / grapenuts & banana / apple / berries
Snack: pepper / cucumber / sweetcorn / pitta / peas /oat cake/ celery / carrot/ berries / banana /cheese / kidney or broad beans (2 or 3 of these)
Lunch: (different every day) pasta/bread/couscous/rice & fish/chicken/tofu/ quorn sausage / egg / cheese & veggies
Snack: same types of things as other snack (but different to morning)
Dinner: Same types of things as lunch (but differrent) followed by plain yogurt
He drinks mostly water, a bit of cow or oat milk and a little fresh apple juice

Some days if I give in he might have another couple of oat cakes or some banana in between. It's all healthy and I'm so lucky he eats his veg (well so far anyway!!), so I don't worry too much, but it's more that his food obsession gets in the way of him being active and playing. Don't know if anyone else has had this..?

Cheers :)

I'd say he is probably hungry if that's all he eats in a day. Lots of it sounds great but have you thought of offering more milk or full fat yoghurt? You can also give boys oily fish at least twice a week and up to 3 times. Thus is a great way to try and fill them up.

My DS is older but we had a patch last year where he was always eating. After reading the Caroline Walker Guide for his age, I decided to make a few changes to what I was feeding him and he now snacks less.

Here's the guide for his age. Hope you find it helpful