Is this normal toddler behaviour?

[catfart]

My 23 month old DS has a huge appetite, all I seem to be doing is cooking or running back and forth to the fridge and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong as he's always wanting more food. Everyone comments on his appetite when they come round in amazement. I live in the middle of nowhere so have to be really on it in terms of cooking and having my cupboards full and I just find myself worrying, I need easy snack ideas, things I can make in batches and freeze (I do this for his meals and some lunches).

Anyway, this is a typical day...

6.30 am - Big bowl of cereal, cheerio's/weetabix/rice crispies
7 am - slice of toast with butter
7.30 - Big Banana
9 am - big glass of yoghurt, fruit and granola
10am - He's bleating for more so I give him nuts...I'm at a loss, sometimes I just give him an early lunch or he has a cooked breakfast of 2 sausages, 2 bacon and baked beans.
11am - Big plate of pasta (piled high side plate size) and roasted vegetables or big bowl of soup
SLEEP - AMEN

1.30am - He's after more lunch...try and fob him off with an apple or another banana - If not he has a homemade fruit smoothie ice pop
between 2-4 I am pestered constantly for snacks, any ideas? I was making savoury muffins.
5pm - evening meal with us, so fish pie and veg or Moussaka etc possibly desert
6.30pm up for a bath and he's yelling to be taken to the fridge for more snacks.

There is also lots of cheese nibbles in there.

Is this normal? He's not overweight, he's happy....not got worms! Its just my entire day feeding him.

Does anyone have any really easy simple snack ideas I can just whip out the bag to save this constant feeding frenzy?

Thanks

He refuses to eat sandwiches by the way.

It was normal for my older son, now a teen. He still eats for England.

My younger has a smaller appetite. I wish my younger would eat veg. cry.

Could be a growth spurt? How long has it been happening?

I wouldn't give sausages and bacon. That's too salty and processed. Sausages occasionally maybe.

Also what about giving him milk to drink? DS would have an afternoon snack of milk and a biscuit in the afternoon.

Its been happening for 2 months now, relentless. I do hold off the sausages, open a packet of chipolatas once a week or less and we all have them, he'd eat half the packet in one go given half the chance. I'm trying to cook it all for him so I know what's going in that bottomless pit of his.

He's just woken for his nap and is demanding more food now, he last ate at 11.45, big healthy salad with sweet potatoes and noodles, I'm at a complete loss, he has eaten so much already today.

Iggly, I'm still BF him, its dropped to morning and evening mainly and occasionally in the day. I could try him with a glass of milk but wondered whether the big smoothie and yoghurt earlier would have covered that?

Numbertaker - Is your son a big lad? Was he eating like this as a toddler and it continued, I can't imagine what my DS would be eating if it carried on at this trajectory!

DS is like this some days. Then other days he gets a sniff that there are sweets, biscuits or ice lollies to be had and refuses to eat anything else. Of course, I won't let him just eat sweets for the entire day so we end up in a stand off which usually results in him not eating anything

BertieBotts - My mum gave him a ice cream and he was like that, I ended up making and freezing these homemade yoghurt lollies with fruit whizzed in instead and he's on those now only he wants 2 of them...they are adult sized lollies not mini milk size either

Honestly I would just go with it. Perhaps limit food to mealtimes and snacktimes and arrange activities in between to distract him!

yes DS is just the same! wants massive portions of things, yet sometimes hardly eats anything. He's tall for his age and high on the weight charts but it must be in proportion to his height as he doesn't look chunky at all.

He barely ate anything and then this started at around 22 months, it's weird. If he's distracted though he doesn't ask for food. Maybe he's bored?

Yep, I think its the constant grazing between meals and I can't keep up which is getting me in a tizz. I have been filling a lunch box with things which he carries round obsessively and that did work for a bit but I keep running out of ideas on what to put in it.

I give him things to do, we live in the country and he's outside chasing chickens, cooking with me or on his tractor but he keeps going back to the fridge regularly. He'll only really settle on things like colouring or stickers if he has a snack plate next to him he can pick on.

My DS has always had a big appetite.

He is 5.5 now and I limit snacks to an apple, satsuma or occasionally a banana.

He is a little overweight, but he does love fruit so that seems to sort snacks out, and with portion control he is stretching out IYSWIM. He is very tall with a big head (adult size bike helmet!).

DD is a fussy eater so I just can't work it out!

Blimey! I'm not sure my DS eats that in a week! However, it is all good nutritious stuff, so if he is a normal shape and doesn't look like a mini michelin man I'd say it is not unhealthy. Stressful for you maybe, but nothing to worry about.

My DS is not particularly physical though. Doesn't sit on his backside all day but not the most boisterous either. :)

With Jenner, I have the exact opposite problem! I think I would love to have your problem but I guess the grass is always greener... As others say, as long as he isn't massively overweight, probably not a problem for him - just one for you in terms of keeping you busy!

Have you tried porridge instead of weetabix/cereal? It should keep him a bit fuller for longer. My DD (24 months) loves it. She would also eat it as a snack, or for lunch. It's extremely healthy and you can add milk/ nuts.

Mama he is eating cereal+toast+banana+yoghurt+fruit+granola... all before 10am at which point he fancies a snack - not sure subbing in porridge is going to make that much difference even if sprinkled with nuts!

I reckon OP just has a big strapping lad on her hands and will be bankrupted by her food bill entirely when he hits his teen years. Arf!

Oh! Snack ideas - soreen (can get ready sliced) is fab and takes a while to eat as fairly chewy. Also these are ace www.9-bar.co.uk/ I get them from Asda, they are healthy but kids love them and they take a while to eat too.

Mama - Tried porridge and he sadly didn't go for it as I thought that might fill him up for longer. I'll try him on it again.

Jenner - Will try those! And yes, I am scared for my future food bills!!!

My DS is very tall (was long and 10lbs when born), he's in 3 year olds clothing so maybe he is just bigger? and a gannet.... He's banging on about food now as I type and has wandered off with a banana.

He's eating roasted vegetables for lunch and more veg for tea?
That IS very odd indeed. Very Odd Indeed for a toddler.

Lljkk - varies, he may have leftovers like fish pie for lunch but mostly its veg soups or roasted veggies yes as I'm having to watch the budget, I have a halogen cooker on the work top I whack them in and he yells like hell at it when its on, of course they're too hot to eat and we have to wait for them to cool down..cue more yelling.

Maybe he needs more protein??? Isn't that meant to keep you fuller for longer?

Does he drink enough water? How are his poos? Just wondering if he's sometimes thirsty but asks for food instead as kids can't tell the difference at that age apparently. Ds asks for a lot of food when thirsty - or when bored!! If we're out and about he eats less.

Yes def give more protein. You can get cheap drumsticks and roast them. Or mince and make burgers?

Iggly, he's doing 3 - 4 big poos a day at the minute....they can sometimes be a bit loose other times firm. He's always drinking from his cup (weak squash) and hops on me for a little BF (he was BF'ing non stop 2 months ago and his appetite was not much then) so I don't think its that.

I made a batch of moussaka's, did them in those individual pie dishes (like you get as a pub grub meal) and gave him exactly the same portion size (so adult size individual pie dish) as my husband and I - he ate the lot just now and finished off with a banana and small apple, I kid you not. There was lots of lamb mince in there (used 1kg in total), potato, aubergine, cheese, eggs etc so fingers crossed that will do him for this evening.

I weighed him yesterday and he was 2 stone, I'll measure his height in a bit and check his weight is right for him (he was 99% percentile when he was born for height, so will see where he sits now). My husband has just taken him off for a walk. I can guarantee you he'll make a beeline for the fridge when they return.....

I also think he could be thirsty. That's a lot of salt, one piece of reduced salt bacon is 1g so that's more than double his allowance in one meal. Baked beans are sky high in salt, just under 1g per 100g - all tinned foods are (I'm on a low sodium diet, hence my salt obsession.) I'd try milk as a top up and see if he cuts back on the grub :)

Nigel Slater has a recipe for homemade baked beans, minus the bacon of course. They are a very cheap and filling dinner actually - that's my tip!

How are you making the soup? With stock or kallo? Stock can be very salty also. I make a lentil soup that's quite filling with carrots. That might go some way to filling him up? DS has it with breadsticks.