Does anyone else have a child with no 'off' button when it comes to eating?!

[lynniep]

I'm not worried - he obviously takes after me
He's not overweight or anything (although always on the portly side of chubbilicious!).
I just wondered - my DS is 13 months now and will carry on eating stuff as long as he can get his eager little paws on it. Not usually the savoury bit of a meal, and he often can't be bothered with a whole slice of toast, but I think if I gave him fruit (banana or mandarin oranges or raisins) or fromage frais endlessly he'd just carry on eating it till he popped!

My HV told me they stop eating when they're full, but I'm not convinced - I know he's got a sweet tooth and I think he just likes the taste so much he keeps stuffing it in.
I always feel like I havent quite given him enough after a meal because he'll accept more fruit, but his tummy always looks stretched to capacity!

What are your little ones like with food. Anyone have a gannet like me?!

Yes, mine when hungry and pleased with what he's got would always eat and eat. Though at 13 months he may well sometimes sick it back (DS aged 20 months got at a tray of cocktail sausages with unhappy results, and later that summer an entire bag of dried apricots...)

Don't worry too much about him being a bit chubby at 13 months, as he will get less so once he's on his feet: let him eat but encourage him to run around too.

Oh he runs around alright. I'm pretty sure thats the only reason he doesn't look like a beach ball

my dd, has always had a mssive appetite. I generally dont' stop her eating but she's approaching 6 now and I have probably over the last year started trying to educate her about healthy choices.

she does stop when she's full but she'll put away the same as me easily.

If I 'm honest I do worry about it but not to the point where I'd actually take any action, like talk to my gp or whatever.

I'm very into children-being-children if you know what I mean and ultimately as long I don't let her sit in front of tv day in and day out living on takeaways and junk food I'm pretty confident she'll be fine.

DD is the same age, and also a human dustbin. Sweet, savoury, it all goes down. She was looking a little heavy, but seems to have had a growth spurt and is now just a normal chubby toddler.

I too remain unconvinced that she stops eating when full. I guess not all children are the same.

My DS, aged 11 months, has never yet refused food.
Like you, the HV told me he'd turn his head away when he'd had enough. Nope. Finally I got wise to him, and when he's eaten a sensible portion and more, I stop feeding him.
He's always been at the higher end of the weight scale but apparently his father was exactly the same as a baby. I am trying not to worry about it as when he starts running around hopefully he'll run it all off.

ps. my dd is and always has been around the 95th centile in both weight and height.

My ds is like this... he is 20 mths.

For example, last night for tea we had chicken breast, mash and varied veg, he ate all of his, then had dessert, then when dh came in from work he had some of his tea too! i swear this child has hollow legs!

Yes, my second stepson (10) has no off button. He has always been like this, since birth (I only met him when he was six). He does not stop eating when he is full, only when he is prevented from eating more.

Some of these children (not MOH's DD) are still very young. There is still time for them to hit a fussy or more selective phase. My DS was like this then, did get slightly more difficult but at 7 is a brilliant eater of anything and everything. He is smallish, skinny (but just in the average 7yo way of being skinny) and reasonably but not excessively active. I assume he has his father's metabolism.

My ds eats and eats and eats, always has done. He was a right chubster when he was little and he's a right rake now he's a teen but, he still raids my cupboards in the morning.My brother is the same though.

ds also like this, 10 months. sweet or savoury, if he likes it, he'll just keep on eating.

sometimes he cries when he's had what i think is a large portion, and he wants more (pudding!) i give him more when he does that. is that what everyone else does?

missorinoco - I do give DD more if she cries. but if she cleans her plate, and doesn't make a fuss, then I don't offer more.

DD is like this, I have to question ehr as to whether her belly is starting to hurt when she eats what I think would be too much, she would just keep eating.

Though she is 7 so it's more of an issue, I think she lost the knack of listening to her body when I used to make her finish what was on her plate which is why I no longer believe a child should be mad to 'finish'.

DS is allowed to be finished when he doesn't want any more and has a much healthier attitude towards food.

DD1 is 6.5 & would eat us out of house & home if we let her. She is on the small side but still only weighs in at 2.5 stone.
She is very active but I was similar as a child in build though, not appetite and only put on weight in my twenties.
She's good about making healthy choices and sometimes I have to coax her away from the fruit bowl before she bursts.
As a baby she looked like she had malnutrition when she'd fed as the rest of her was like knotted string and she had an enormous tummy.
HV actually gave me a booklet when she was about 3 called 'Tempting Toddlers' to see if I could encourage her to eat more, quite clearly thought I was lying about how much she consumed.
As long as it's healthy for the most part, try to discourage sweet tooth, and he is active I wouldn't bother about it just now. Plenty of time to be more disciplined as he gets older.

DD rising 7 never stops eating 3 weetabix for breakfast this morning 30mins later I'm hungry, she quite easily out eats most of her friends but is skinny as a rake.She was slightly chubby size till about 18months. Now weight is on the 50th centile but height is over the 91st centile. She's terrible about junk food but at the sametime is happy to eat the healthy food. So I'm teaching the difference and hope she will make the right choices as she gets older.

6.5 weighing 2 stone..

now I'm interested

my dd approaching 6 weighs a shade under 4st.. should I be more concerned than I am? she's by no means a rake but I would say she was 'fat' either.. (in the past I have starte threads about being secretly worried about her weight) but to be honest I think she's evened out now.. seems to be at that 'leggy-puppy' stage at the minute.

she's always had a belly but I do think she looks healthy

wouldn't say she was fat

I do think maybe she should be more arouns the 2.5 - 3st mark as that seems to be the range for everyone else

I think you are wrong mascara. DD is 3 (OK nearly 4) and she weighs 2.5 stone. DS who is just 7 weighs about 3 stone 9 but he is not that tall.

sorry, not sure what you mean, do you mean I am wrong to think she might be overweight? I'm not sure she is overweight but the she is heavier than your 7yo son..

She is properly taller as well! DS is on the shorter side of his class and bear in mind that she is 5 nearly 6, and he is just 7, so not as big an age gap as you might think. Also I bought him some age 6-7 school trousers from Mothercare and they just fell straight down.

I think you are wrong to think that 2.5 stone is a good weight for her. DS's best friend, who is much taller than him but not 7 until end of July is 4 stone. And 3yo DD who is 2 stone 8 is referred to as petite my some friends. She is really not, but just shows how perceptions differ.

I would keep an eye on her weight but try not to get too concerned.

I wish Tom was like this. He is almost 2, and it can be a nightmare at mealtimes!

DS is 3 and weighs about 3stone, DD is 7 and weighs about 5stone.

Neither of them are overweight.

moh dd is small & has always been in the very low centiles for weight, I think 3.5 to 4 is actually closer to average. Don't think you should be worried at all. Wish I still had dd's problem

Yes, like I said she doesn't look 'fat' she's not slender but I think she looks healthy and I know she eats normally, gets enough exercise etc

but I do think sometimes that she could eat a little less

ds1 aged 5 (just) will happily eat 4 weetabix for breakfast, some juice and will declare 1 hour later that he is "starving"

Weighed him, 3st exactly so continuing his perfect curve of half way between 50th & 75th centile since he was born.

He jogs to school, I have to do a quick pace to keep us and he jogs back from school.