Greedy 16 mo

[theexmrsbarryscott]

My 16 mo dd is so greedy, she will literally eat and eat and eat, last Sunday she had a dinner at home and then we went to our in-laws and she had another dinner - both were quite large.

I can't have her in the kitchen with me as she just cries and cries for food and points to the cupboards where she knows her 'treat's' (breadsticks & raisins) are kept. Nobody can eat anything in front of her as she will just be crying and tugging at their knees 'begging' for to be given some. I refuse to give in to her but my dh always gives in.

I do feed her a really healthy diet, probably the worst thing she eats is yoghurts and she does get the occasional biscuit (god I sound really mean!).

She will eat absolutley any food, she's not overweight but does have to wear larger tops as her belly is so big!

Is this normal?

by "A really healthy diet", what do you mean? What would she typically eat in a day? Breadsticks are fairly void, nutritionally.

DS was like this at that age, now at 20 months he has calmed down ALOT - maybe it's a growth spurt?

DD is 15m and although off her food atm she is usually the same. Started doing this a few months ago when she realised where the food came from. We went away recently and I kept a pot of rice cakes etc in my handbag for days out and the Plane trip etc. Now every time she sees my bag she empties it looking for the pot

She is quite big but not really a fat baby, she is 75th percentile but also has a little budda belly, I think it's cute

she eats healthy homecooked organic food - breadsticks are just something to give her between meals now and again, rather than giving her chocolate etc.

Yes, but what food? I am certainly not critisising, but 'healthy homecooked organic' could merely mean steamed vegetables with pureed tomatoes - which is great for an adult, but not calorific enough for a toddler.

oh please dont say she is greedy

ok

breakfast - porridge with milk

dinner - usually something like cottage pie (made with beef and lots of added veg) and yoghurt & fruit for pudding

tea - again variations of dinner, but meat/fish based with potatoes/pasta and veg, again yoghurt & fruit for pudding.

snacks - raisins, breadsticks, fruit - occasional biscuit

also she still has a 180 ml of milk in the morning & 210 milk in the evening.

Yes make sure she is having enough fats and protein. Babies and toddlers need a lot more fat than you might think, so giving her "adult healthy" food is not necessarily going to fill her up.

Obviously I'm not saying fill her up with biscuits and chocolate, but cheese, crackers, breadsticks to dip in houmus, jacket potatoes with baked beans/tuna/cheese or toast with peanut butter (if not allergic) or cream cheese all good snacks and meals.

my eldest girl went through a phase like this where she was hungry all the time she would sometimes eat a grownup size portion of pasta and a sauce at a similar age to your DD. I think it was a growth spurt as she did calm down, she is now 7 and v tall for her age but slim. could you give her lots of heathy snack to keep her going? maybe she is getting over hungry between meals and would be more satisfied with little portions given more often? say a couple of little healthy snacks between each meal like a banana or a few cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks ect?

Oops took so long to post cross-posted there!

Looks fine to me, only thing I can see is that raisins are not a filling snack so maybe try cheese/crackers etc.

How about giving a chunk of cheese with the raisins and breadsticks? Although it sounds like she has an excellent diet already, maybe a dab of butter on her vegetables would help sate her appetite?

She is too young to eat what she doesn't need if everything provided is healthy, so (as I am sure you do) I'd let her eat her fill.

I find an avocado or a banana is a good, filling, healthy snack when dd is going through a hungry phase.

I don't think babies can be 'greedy' really - they just know when they're hungry and let you know. Obviously they also know when they want to badger you for a biscuit or chocolate, but if dd is haranguing me for a 'treat' but won't eat a piece of toast with cheese, I assume she's not really hungry and distract her with a game or a walk.

dd3 eats a lot mroe than that, and has done. she is a small skinny child.

for eg

breakfast - porriage, toast, fruit/yoghurt

lunch jacket potato, fishfingers and peas (favourite lunch is this)

tea, meat, veg, potatoes etc.

will also snack on fruit, crackers, sometimes cheese if she is in the mood for it, and drinks a lot of water/milk as well.

When DD is on form she eats:

Breakfast: 1 weetabix with full fat cows milk, 1 slice of toast with marmite or jam (a small bit) plus a small banana or pear etc.

Lunch: pasta and sauce, or a sandwich and half an avocado with banana mixed in plus fruit and 2 rice cakes.

Tea: Meat and Veg, like your cottage pie but she hates potato so more pasta or rice. Again with the yoghurt and fruit etc.

She has more milk feeds but is BF so I could not tell you how much, at Nursery one 5ml cup but at home 2 or 3 snacks at the most. Also she will often have a snack of rice cakes/breadsticks/the odd biscuit (Organix) or some cheese etc etc.

Maybe try giving a cup of milk in the afternoon?

HTH

Look, you've got nothing to worry about matey... my 8 nearly 9 yr old went through this today:

Two full bowls of ready brek with soymilk and a banana

a carrot, few inches of cucumber with hummus then an apple

Plate of whole wheat pasta with chickpeas in aubergine pesto sauce. 1 orange

Two generous helpings of my bean and veggie sausage bake (mash and veggies ect...) Bowl of spinach.

Glass of choc soymilk and a slice of malt loaf with peanut butter.

That is as much as I eat and I run 50 or more miles a week! He is growing like a weed though and a right little whippet.

They get a chunky phase and then slow down (at which point you'll be posting again about her new found fussyness and how does she survive on so little?! ) Enjoy her appetite while you can...