My DS seems to survive on a ridiculously small amount of food....is this normal

[mabel1973]

Ds1 is 2.5. He is not a fussy eater and tries most things I give him and eats a good range of foods, however he often eats only a few mouthfuls and then tells me he's finished and gets down from the table and no amount of cajoling will get him to eat any more, and obviously i don't want to make an issue out of it.
I am not serving him large portions, he eats less than my 8 month old.
There are a couple of meals, things like sausage, mash, veg and gravy where i know he would finish most of it, but i can't give him that every day, and i can't really remember the last time he finished a meal, he used to be a really good eater.
He is such a skinny little thing, I am worried that he can't be getting what he needs to grow properly.

don't worry about it.

My DS is skinny and some days eats hardly anything, others eats like a horse.

I'm sure its a phase

e doesn't have days where he eats like a horse though...thats what worries me

Write down a typical day's food - you might actually be surprised

Does he snack? My DS has a drawer with raisins, oatcakes etc and can reach teh fruit bowl and I encourage him to help himself whenever he wants to those things. Its quite suprising how it adds up.

I have to admit, the eat like a horse days aren't very often

to be honest i don't let him snack, i have found that if i do he eats nothing at meal times.

tell me what he ate yesterday

It is totally normal. You would not believe how little my youngest would eat when he was 2 (well, probably you would believe it!) He did not fade away or suffer from lack on energy. Somehow, they just survive. Now he is 4, he eats a lot more and is even growing.

Yes, totally normal at that age!

My DS yesterday

home made malt loaf for breakfast
box of raisins
half an apple
lunch - cheesy pasta
yoghurt
home made apple scone with jam
beef and carrots
oatcake

My DS is similar, I think it's just a phase too, as he used to eat really well, but now even the old reliables, pasta, fishcakes, he hardly ever finishes. He's 2 and one month (2.1?)
Very skinny too. 10 month DD is nearly as heavy as him!

Try not to worry, as long as he eats consistently.

he drinks a lot of milk/yoghurt drinks though. I think they fill him up too much, so I try not to let him drink them before meals.

yesterday he had

2 weetabix
a small piece of bread with marmite on
a cheese biscuit
some cherries and strawberries
a boiled egg and soldiers
a yogurt.

this wasn't a typical day as we were out with my parents in derbyshire though.

Mabel, I am not just saying this, that really does sound like a decent amount of food. My 4 yo even now would only have one weetabix for breakfast. When he was 2, he would have started with one and never finished it.

mabel - is that a good day or a bad day? I think that sounds good, I'd be pleased if my DS ate that

If he has plenty of energy I wouldn't worry.

Ds (2.7) doesn't eat much. On average about half of what MamaG put down.

He has plenty of energy though so he seems to be getting enough for him.

Daily he eats (and this is so much better than he used to)
2 pieces of toast (breakfast)
lunch - 2 oatcakes, a carrot or just carrot and fruit.
Afternoon he tends to have a banana or satsuma.
Tea = 2 waffles or if really tired has a yoghurt and a banana.

Not a brilliant diet (he has problems) but that gives some idea of his daily intake.

Except when he's ill (like atm) he has plenty of energy.

x-posted.

That doesn't sound too bad. 2 weetabix is quite a lot.

I will see if I can find some threads from when ds1 was that age - he is still ridiculously fussy, but I'll see if I can do a comparison. He is skinny skinny as well - only weighs 38lb at 5.11.

I think that sounds like an ok amount of food too Mable. For a 2 year old. My dd doesn't eat much either. Usually one decent meal a day.
And a wheetabix for breakfast.

Today so far she's had
I wheetabix with milk
A small dish of dry cheerios. A handfull.
A small banana
A few hula hoops
2 or 3 tiny ( crumb size)bites from a roll
A bite of my cake.

( we had friends over for lunch)

She'll probably have a bowl of pasta for tea and a yog. Thats it.

writing it down it seems like more than i think.
I do think he tends to fill up at breakfast.
he had a bowl of cheerios and a slice of toast for breakfast today and this lunchtime i cooked him an omlette with cheese and peas (made with 1 egg) and some cauliflower and potatoes (yes i know nice combination) he only had 2 mouthfuls then said he'd finished. i've let him have a yogurt for pudding (he always eats them)

i think i will try writing it down as i may surprise myself.
he has taken to drinking quite a lot of milk in the last couple of weeks, which i've encouraged as he did stop drinking his milk for a while

Mabel and Armadillo - that's plenty of food!

Unless they are tired all the time, always getting ill/run down etc I wouldn't worry too much.

My ds is 3, barely eats and he's been like this for about a year and a half. I have tried everything to get him to eat. He just won't.

Funnily enough, sausages and mash is one meal ds could eat every day of the week!

I was like this at that age and in fact even for years afterwards.

So was DH.

Needless to say, DD1 is definitely NOT a big eater. She never has been.

Are you a big eater? How about your partner?

DD1 is more of a grazer, just as we are - so we started letting her snack on healthy stuff.

what is it about sausage and mash!!!

you have all made me feel better. I guess having an 8 month old that demolishes everything in sight has made me more aware of what DS1 isn't eating rather than what he is eating IYSWIM

what is it about sausage and mash!!!

you have all made me feel better. I guess having an 8 month old that demolishes everything in sight has made me more aware of what DS1 isn't eating rather than what he is eating IYSWIM

Here are a couple of entries....

Yesterday ds (2.3) ate Bowl of rice krispies Piece of toast with marmite Fromage frais Oat biscuit Chips Beans Peas Carrots Tomato Sauce (!) Fromage frais Apple Marmite sandwich Ham sandwich Grapes Milk But sometimes he will go the whole day with only half a piece of toast - he was obviously hungry yesterday!

Ds (3) Breakfast - bowl of rice krispies and raisins, half a piece of toast and marmite Lunch - Cheese sandwich (cut into quarters, ate 1 quarter, i.e. 1/2 piece of bread), 2 dried apricots, fromage frais Tea - Pasta, peas and cheese - ate about 10 pieces of pasta, and all the peas. snacks - 3 bites fruit cake drinks - orange juice diluted with water. He is very thin! This isn't what I offered him incidentally - just what he ate of what he was offered. He is given more food than this!

ds (age 4) had; Breakfast - cereal (shreddies, crunchy nut cornflakes and rice krispies) Lunch - packed lunch at school - hot cross bun, cracker, 3 cocktail sausages Snack - at after school club - toast and chocolate spread ! Tea - Shepherds pie Supper - will have more cereal Dd (age 2) had Breakfast - as ds Snack - grapes Lunch - satsuma and apple Snack at playgroup - apple and banana Tea - Shepherds Pie

Those were some previous entries I found which is quite interesting - things he used to like!

A typical day for him now is;

Breakfast - a bowl of Shreddies or Cheerios
Lunch - packed lunch at school - which is, a cheese sandwich, a fruit smoothie, about 7 grapes, and a jammy dodger
Tea - something cooked - often pasta, cheese, peas, fish fingers etc
Supper - another bowl of cereal

You seem happier mabel, I am glad

Until I wrote it down and actually saw what my DS ate, I was worried too - thats why I was nagging you

Had to pop out yesterday afetrnnon, but back this morning to say thanks for all your help and advice.
DS had his tea at my mums last night and had a bowl of pasta with tomato and minced beef, he ate probably about 10 pasta bows, i am going to start writing it down today, so i can keep track better. Although this morning he had a bowl of cheerio's and then asked for more, I was going to give him a very small handful, but DH promptly gave him another large bowlful and now he is asking for a crumpet. I think i need to watch the amount he eats for breakfast, as sometimes i let him have a boiled egg with soldiers as well as cereal, so when you think about it, it's no wonder he hardly eats the rest of the day!
Thanks again, i feel reassured.