does your preschooler go through phases where they eat and eat and eat and are never full?

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DD will be 3 in a couple of weeks. She is still bfed but cutting down dramatically. She feeds only in a morning really and occasionally in an evening. Before when she was going through what I presume was a growth spurt, she chose bmilk first but having cut down on that, I've noticed that at times she is just never full. "I'm huuunnngggrrryyyyyy" is frequently heard wailed plaintively across whichever room she's currently in, hunting for abandoned food.

So far today she has eaten 2 weetabix, a bowl of shreddies, a pineapple and granola yoghurt, a banana and is currently circling the fridge muttering about crumpets.

She's definitely growing. She's outgrown all of her trousers again (has grown 5cm since Christmas actually) and occasionally wakes up saying her legs ache (growing pains?).

But the food consumption some days is astonishing.

She's just growing right? Is otherwise fit, healthy, active, happy, developing happily.

I remember the bfed growthspurts well. They were free though.

I dont know about the pains but ds gets periods where we just cant fill him and then the next week I find his trousers are too short.

Your dd's breakfast sounds very similiar to my ds's when he is hungry mode

I laughed at the image of her circling the fridge muttering ...

ds is 5 now and has been known to help himself..usually to fruit as its readily accesible but he has been known to try and raid the fridge which he cant reach without climbing

We often find her with her head in the fridge/cupboard/pantry eyeing up her next snack.

I know she's growing but cannot fathom where she's putting it all. She eats more than me. I'm not growing upwards though.

My DS (5) has had periods like this. Wait until they start school! He is like a child possessed when he comes through the door, and will eat anything in sight. He has an enormous appetite, and yet is a skinny chap.

The only thing I would say is check she is not a) bored - ime, sometimes children say they are hungry when really they just want something to do; and b) check she is not thirsty - dehydration can often be mistaken for hunger.

If I think my two have had plenty to eat and they are still asking for more food, I give them a glass of water and if they are still hungry 10 mins later they can have more food.

She definitely not bored. She'll be mid-game/walk/run/jigsaw/painting session and her stomach starts to rumble and she has to stop for a snack. And water is always available, constantly refilled as she drinks it regularly. Am a runner so know hydration and hunger cue crossovers really well!

It's definitely hunger. And it's like it for a few days, maybe a week and then goes back to normal. Occasionally she has days where food is the last thing on her mind and she eats like a sparrow.

I am not looking forward to school. When I met DH he was 17 and swimming for the county, BIL1 was 15 and captained the rugby team, BIL2 a gymnast and ballet dancer, SIL 10 and a prop forward. They would all get home from school/college at the same time and the cupboards would empty. They're the same now 11 years later. Just taller and hungrier. How is it even affordable?

I'm shovelling oats and other slow release energy stuff into her to stop the pangs.

She's just wandered past eating an apple fgs.

feed her high fat stuff to fill her up for longer - cheese, greek yoghurt, she may be craving protein than carbs.

She had greek yoghurt for breakfast, cheese omelette with lunch (as well as homemade sausages and roasted veg and a yoghurt flapjack), drinks whole milk and has whole milk with breakfast and in cooking. She gets plenty of high fat/protein foods.

She just has a period of being constantly hungry for a few days. And then grows like a weed.

Wondered if it was normal more than anything. Her diet's fine.

My DS (3, nearly 4) is just the same - he'll have a few days of eating us out of house and home, and then shoot up a few days later.

Ds lives on fresh air. He is 4 in the summer. I look forward to him going through a hungry stage.
Fwiw, most of his friends go through human-hoover phases, then it's back to the fresh air diet...

Maybe she needs more at breakfast? My DD would not settle for just greek yoghurt for breakfast- it's the meal where she eats the most!

It's normal, sounds exactly like my DD (2.9) who will eat like a maniac for a few days, then eat next to nothing, then return to normal. She has water and drinks a lot too, I worry at times this suppresses her appetite but she sure makes up for it!

my DD1 is the same at 2.1........she will eat massive amounts for a few days and ask for food constantly, then she will eat hardly anything for a few days. I just go with it and hope it balances out in the end!

Yes - DS1 normally eats like a bird but all of a sudden will eat tonnes and leave us gobsmacked - and a few weeks later he'll suddenly have grown loads!

Thank goodness for that. She seems to be normal.

And more for breakfast? She didn't just have greek yoghurt, was repeating that to explain that she does have protein. For breakfast as per op she had 2 weetabix, a bowls of shreddies, greek yoghurt with pineapple and granola and a banana. About an hour later she then had a crumpet and an apple.

Dd came out of a 'eating us out of house and home' phase about 4 weeks ago. Lasted around 3 weeks. After this short break she seems to be increasing her troughing food intake.

Look at her long enough and I swear you can see her getting taller. And the waistbands of her trousers keep shrinking in the wash, how odd... Makes me feel good cos I know that I must be doing something right with her diet! (have struggled previously to get sufficient calories into fruit and veg obsessed dd).