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.

mabel - just remembered, my DS went through a stage where he'd eat lots at breakfast, a small lunch and hardly any dinner

I just stuffed him with food int eh mornign and figured it would keep him going if he didn't eat much later in the day

agree on the eating a lot in the morning thing. DS2 does this and also my nephew used to eat hardly any tea, small lunch and a hige breakfast - he's 18 now and eats like a horse and is super fit and hunky so I wouldn't worry about it (says she who worries daily about the amount DS1 eats )

mamaG just re-reading posts....would love your recipe for apple scones!

1 dessert apple
3 oz butter
12 oz SR flour plus little extra for dusting work surface
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 oz caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 pint milk plus 2 tablespoons for glazing

1. Set oven to Gas 6 / 200C / 400F - brush baking sheet with a little oil

2. Cut the apple into quarters, cut away the core then peel and dice Heat 1 oz of the butter in teh sacepan, add hte apple and cook gently without a lid for 5 mins until softened. I actually used 1.5 apples as mine are small gala apples

3. Put the flour, half the cinnamon and 2 oz of the sugar in the bowl Add the remaining butter and rub in until mix resembles tiny crumbs.

4. Add the cooked apples and the egg to the mixture then slowly stir in enough milk to mix to a soft dough (I put all the milk in then needed to add extra flour as was a bit too sloppy!)

5. Tip out the dough onto floured work s uface and knead lightly until smooth.

Roll out until about 1 inch thick. Using 2 1/4 inch cutter, cut as namny as you can and put on the sheet.

Brush tops with milk

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together in the small bowl then sprinkle over tops of scones.

Bake for 12-15 mins

We've only made this once, but they were delicious.

thanks..might have a go this afternoon!

Adults often eat most of their calories at an evening meal.

Kids are programmed to eat most at the start of the day. So if you are worried, feed him a whopping breakfast and a big lunch but don't worry one bit if he eats nothing for dinner. I got this advice from my Gt Ormond St Eating disorders book!

From what you say though I think his food intake sounds absolutely fine and quite normal - and loads more than my dd in both quantity and variety. I would stop worrying unless he actually loses weight.

mamaG made them yesterday afternoon...mmm lovely!

oh good, glad my typing wasn't in vain