Help!! Toddler won't stop eating! Obsessive disorder?

[bellbottom]

Hello,

my daughter is 18 months. She's always been a great sleeper. And a great eater. Lucky some might say. Yes to the first one! But the second one has me worried.

She stuffs the food in her mouth super fast and doesn't chew it properly. She eats like she's deprived! And she wants to keep on going and going.

When Im out with her she goes nuts if she can't have the food of the other kids. At parties she just stuffs and stuffs herself.

I'm so concerned and feel so alone, because most parents seem to think it's not a problem, but that's only because they wish their child would eat more! So they can't see things from my perspective. This makes me stressed, as I feel I cant even talk about it!

Does anyone else have this problem? My daughter has always been slightly above average weight for her height, but not fat I would say. She does have a pop out belly! I just worry that she develops some sort of obesity. And that she perhaps has some kind of disorder, but I don't know what...

I've always fed her very healthy food. I generally avoid snacks - and if so, only give a breadstick, fruit, or natural organic bar without sugar.

She eats anything and everything pretty much! And LOVES fruit!

Does anyone have any feedback/advice/ideas?

Many thanks!

[birchykel]

Hmmm difficult, my girl is 6 now but was like ur child, she would eat lots and lots of fruit but i still worried. The doc said it was ok for her to eat like that at least its fruit etc but then of course her teeth actually went a little bad (her back teeth) because of some of the citrus fruits. I also realised she would want to eat when she was bored, so now she eats three meals a day, no snacking in between at all unless we are like on a day out having fun then rules dont count for that day but generally three meals and cos she hasnt snacked she eats it all up, has pudding and is fine unless bored but then I say no to her and encorage her to do something. Hard for you though as urs is much younger. Maybe talk to ur health visitor? doctor? Dont leave till the take u seriously.

Take care

[SarfEasticated]

I don't think you have to worry, there are lots of times in her life when she will go off her food - teething, tummy bugs, about the age of two when they eat nothing - that those fat reserves (if she has any) will really keep her going. She might be going through a growth spurt and need the extra calories.
She sounds adorable and with a great appetite for a wide variety of healthy food, which will stand her in good stead for a healthy teenage and adult life. Let her enjoy it and don't feel bad about it, you don't want to make her feel that eating is a bad thing.
Wait until she is 2 and then speak to the HV about it if you're still concerned.

[Febes]

My DD, 21 months, also eats loads. She is tall and has been on 9th percentile mainly but has gone up to just under the 50th recently so I'm not concern about her weight but somedays (most days) she eats and eats and is always asking for food and when we are out and there is food on offer she just stuffs her face. Eating cake after cake while her peers just have a few and then play. I feed her healthy meals at home and avoid snacking as it means she eats really well at meal times. I'm not overly concerned yet but I do think about it. It's also a bit embarrassing as DD hovers around the buffet

[Sidge]

Protein is better at reducing hunger so you might be better off giving her a small stick of cheese, some lean ham or some hummus with a breadstick.

Some of the stuffing herself at parties may be behavioural - if she isn't allowed crisps/biscuits/cake normally then she might go mad for them at parties because they are new and exciting. Even though children should have healthy diets they don't need a low fat diet, and it's ok for them to have the odd piece of flapjack or a Hobnob for example. Also children may eat from boredom so if you can divert her with an interesting activity you know she isn't truly hungry. Remember to offer her plenty of drinks, the hunger and thirst areas of the brain are close together and some children (and adults!) think they are hungry when they are thirsty.

You could always see your GP for a check up for her to put your mind at rest.

[SarfEasticated]

God funny how times have changed isn't it, when I were a lass we always had seconds of our puddings and loads of cake, it was just normal, picky eaters were seen as a bit weird, now it seems to be the other way round. As long as they eat a healthy balanced diet for a toddler (not an adult) I don't think we should worry.
I love my LO's tummy, apparently it goes when they are about 3.

[NotanOtter]

we do have this problem with ds 13 months
he cannot be in the room with food when it is being prepared
no one can eat in his presence without shrieking
he eats anything - mud /sand the works
we joke that he has an eating disorder
sometimes i worry that it is obsessive

[colditz]

Maybe she needs more fat and protein? If I was hungry, breadsticks and fruit would NOT cut the mustard.

Give her a chunk of cheese with her breadstick!

[Febes]

My DD is definately not banned from eating treats at home. I am a home baker so her snacks are cakes or biscuits but as I said not overly concerned and happy that she has a healthy appetite. I worry she might have worms actually. Must get a treatment.

[SarfEasticated]

We did BLW and its underlying ethos is that babies know what they need to eat. You offer them a supply of healthy food (including protein/fats/carbs/veg and BM or Formula milk) during the day and they pick what they need.

Come and have a look at the site and see what you think. Use the recipes for finger foods if you want to give purees, lots of people mix the two.

www.babyledweaning.com

[NotanOtter]

i just dont believe babies know whats good for them and therefore eat it
genius adults know what's good for them - they usually prefer fats and sugars
why are babies more discerning?

[thaliablogs]

My daughter, who is about to turn 2, is the same as this. Eats loads, will eat anything pretty much, while all her peers are fussy and eat only when they really feel like it. She has a very healthy diet, but just a lot of it. She was really on the chubby side but we switched to semi-skimmed milk earlier in the summer (she still drinks approx 11oz a day) and that seems to have made some difference. Still I worry she doesn't have the same appetite regulation as others, and was interested to read a scientific article which showed that children with a particular gene don't have the same level of appetite regulation as others. Given dh and I are both on the 'love food, must exercise to get weight off' side, she probably didn't start off with an advantage here!

So I'm trying not to worry, continuing to let her eat when she's hungry but keeping the snacks under control and cutting back a bit on portion size.

Good luck, I totally understand how worrying this is.

[SarfEasticated]

When you start introducing solids they get used to different tastes and texture, and get to like them that way My LO started on BLW when she was 6 months and actually still really likes broccoli, potatoes, meat, cheese etc, and will happilly tuck into a plateful of roast dinner. But only sometimes. Some days she'll just have fruit rice cakes and pasta. Apparently they choose a balanced diet over a week rather than a day, so I try to keep the faith on the days when she'll only have milk and yoghurt all day.

As Sidge said, maybe more protein to make her feel fuller.

[philippaf]

Its an old thread but I hope you can help me!
I got tears in my eyes reading your text- its the perfect description of my 22mo son!
I feel alone here. Doctor says all kids under 2 have a inner fullness indicator and everyone else say I'm crzy for worrying and probably talk in my back that I must have some eating disorder myself. Ive always been skinny and until 18yo more less I would eat basically nothing. Because I just wasn't hungry. In fact I wanted to gain weight, so its not like I had anorexia ok?
My husband is also skinny though he eats a lot. Thing is- both of us barely ate as a kid! So our son has nothing to do with us and I can't just assume his metabolism is like ours.
I've read 2 eating spoons of each food per year are the normal portion (I'm just sorry I didn't read this earlier!). I've checked- he can eat 3 times that! Plus he is not an avtive toddler! He prefers quiet playing and moves slowly. I'm going to check tomorrow his percentile in height abs weight. At 18mo he was in 75%.
I feel very alone and barely find info since almost everything is about piccky eaters.
Can you tell me how your daughter is these days?

[slightlyconfused85]

what's a typical days food for him philippa? I also have a very hungry 21mo little girl - she is always on the lookout for food and is a big girl but I am trying really hard not to worry about it thanks to advice on mumsnet.

If his meals and snacks are healthy then there's nothing you can do: if he is hungry then he should eat, unless there is an underlying health problem. If you let us know what and how often roughly he is eating I'm sure the lovely ladies of mumsnet will be able to reassure you.

[QuaintStork]

I know this was written a long time ago but I just wondered (on the off chance you might still be reading these!) if your situation has improved now your little one is older? I could have written this myself about my two year old boy. He talks about/wants food all day long and it’s a constant battle to try and distract him.