Is it normal for a toddler to be hungry ALL the time?

[eversomuch]

DD is 2y 8m and she is constantly telling us she's hungry. She's always had a good appetite and is a normal, healthy weight, but it seems a little out of control right now. Sometimes I wonder if she says she's hungry because she see us eating (we don't always manage to eat at the same time she does) or if she gets bored, or if she just loves her food.

We are vegetarian but I always make sure there's protein in every meal. Maybe I need to increase this? We don't give a lot of dairy but calcium is not a concern as she has a very varied diet and gets it from other sources. She's an adventurous eater and there are only a few veggies she won't eat (including cucumber, peppers). She loves fruit but we try to limit it to just 2 or 3 times/day; at preschool, she hangs out at the fruit buffet so we don't give her fruit at home those two days of the week.

Any suggestions on what we can do to make sure she's really not hungry all day?

Here's an example of what she eats each day. Is this normal for a toddler her age?!?! She's pretty active - loves to run around outside, dance at home; doesn't sit in front of a telly/computer monitor all day (only watches videos for half an hour or so after dinner).

Breakfast
1 or 2 bowls of porridge (homemade with dried and/or fresh fruit and sometimes with nut butter mixed in)
Wholemeal toast with scrambled egg, or nut butter and small amount of honey or jam; sometimes a bit of cheese or butter
Homemade muffin (only occasionally)
Natural yogurt often with nut butter mixed in
1 piece of fruit (apple, banana, pear, kiwi, etc)
glass of water, sometimes with a little fruit juice

If she says she's still hungry: raisins and rice/spelt puffs, corn/rice cakes

Mid-morning Snack - one or more of the following:
Oat/rice/corn cakes
Vegetable pouch (such as Ella's or Plum)

Lunch
Something easy like pasta with tomato sauce and peas
Grilled vegetables
Fresh fruit or applesauce

If she says she's still hungry: raisins and rice/spelt puffs, corn/rice cakes

Mid-afternoon Snack - one or more of the following:
Oat/rice/corn cakes, bread or breadsticks -- sometimes with hummus but she doesn't always want it
Fresh fruit (depending on whether she's reached her daily quota)
Biscuits (such as Organix gingerbread men or animal crackers, etc) or cereal bar

Tea
Something like brown rice with beans or tofu, or quesadillas with beans & cheese
Cooked vegetables
Possibly some avocado and/or cherry tomatoes
Fromage frais or yogurt (possibly with nut butter)
Fresh fruit or applesauce (depending on whether she's reached her daily quota)

Don't know if it's normal but my nearly 3 year old is the same. My heart sinks when I hear "I'm still hungry" for 40 millionth time in a day.

Have you tried upping the fat content?
Mine go through phases - sometimes they eat loads, sometimes not massively bothered by food.
It reads like your heading towards a vegan diet? Might it be worth looking at diets for bring up kids as vegans, and see what a daily food diary looks like for that?

Not really heading towards vegan def not planning to give up eggs, for example, which both DC love but we are limiting a lot of dairy. (And I really don't like how much processed soya tends to slip into most vegan diets.)

Today she had a big bowl of pasta with beans and spinach for lunch, followed by a hard-boiled egg. She snacked in the afternoon (a muffin and some yogurt), but she didn't seem as hungry as previous days.

She eats very healthily, so I'm going to try not to worry about the quantity right now (as in, is she eating too much?). The real challenge is keeping the snacks (and meals) interesting when they're so numerous!

Wow. You seriously obsess over your child's diet. Quotas & all that. Could your dd perhaps deficient in vit b12?

Agree there's not much fat there, toddlers need a lot more than adults! Could you do a bit more cheese, butter, with crackers and fruit. Does she get any treats? What other proteins could you add in?

More protein, cheese cubes, turkey slices and ham.
Eggs. Chicken. Beef. Lamb. Salmon. Mackerel. Sardines.
Beans are a carbohydrate and must be served with a grain to get the complete class A protein.

Less carbohydrates like fruit juices. They just fill you up, and get your blood sugar unbalanced. Try hummus with carrot sticks and celery. More veg like broccoli and green beans serve steamed with butter. Lay off the pasta for lunch- it's just carb.

Nuts are a great source of fats and proteins.

Oatcakes are more nutritious than rice cakes.

More water.

Can I be nosy and ask why you are limiting dairy? A few glasses of milk through the day would keep her going a bit more. I also agree with upping the fat.

She may well be asking out of habit or because she's bored. DS did a lot at that age and still does sometimes (he's 6) but I offer him something dull and his reaction to that makes it clear whether he was actually hungry!

Would you state your son's height and weight (in kg or lbs). Thank You.

I would imagine she is probably actually hungry because she isn't eating enough protein/fat to fill her up.

DS2 is a similar age and yesterday he ate-

Glass of milk and bowl of cheerios/milk for breakfast

Brioche and a banana when back from school run with a few raisons

Lunch was roast chicken wrap with a babybel, cuecumber,cherry tomatoes,pepper and carrot and a handful of crisps! Followed by yoghurt and some mango.

Snack on school run was a huge chocolate rice cake and a satsuma

Tea-Roast pork (loads of it!) with roast spuds, brocolli,peas, carrots and cabbage and a yorkshire pud followed by a small chocolate petit filous and a bowl of grapes and chopped up apple

Glass of milk before bed.

No idea if Im doing the right thing or not but he needs to eat often if not he gets very grumpy.

The only "quota" we have is regarding her fruit and sugar intake. She'd be a complete fruitarian if we let her. It's no good for her to fill up on fruit and then not eat enough of the other foods she needs (veggies, whole grains, etc), or to just want sweet tastes all the time.

I have been increasing fat and protein to see if it helps. She's off and on about hummus and doesn't always want it as a snack. She eats loads of nut butter (all kinds), soya once or twice a week, and a huge variety of veg and pulses.

She eats eggs several times a week, so I don't think b12 is an issue. Would a deficiency cause constant hunger?

She does not get fizzy drinks or even very much fruit juice. She mostly drinks water.

There are loads of scientific studies showing that milk products are not the best source of calcium and can even inhibit the body's ability to absorb calcium from better sources. The countries with the highest consumption of dairy are also the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis. Controversial topic, but not really looking to debate it here. And, anyway, we've not eliminated dairy from her diet; it's just not a major component. I don't mind, though, giving more cheese and yogurt to see if that helps.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will see how we get on.

Is she confusing thirst with hunger?

Is she going through a growth spurt? Sometimes there are days where DD (same age as yours) eats more than me!

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about offering the same snack.

DD loves fruit too. I vary the type but honestly I don't worry too much about amount as she is ok about veggies, but can be picky. I do very small portions of fruit. Half a mashed banana is my go to I'd she is still hungry at bed time. It takes her longer to eat and she often registers as full after only a couple of spoonfuls.

Does she like avocado? I see it mentioned as a possibility. You could try putting mashed avocado on oatcakes for that mid afternoon snack. Lots of good fats to fill her up with there, more so than a vegetable pouch.

My dd is a similar age and eats about a quarter of what your dd eats! I have a friend with a dd who sounds exactly like yours though - constantly hungry and eats huge portions (they are not veggie). I don't think it's got anything to do with lack of protein / dairy, I think all toddlers are just different. I have spent a lot of time worrying about how little my dd eats but she is growing normally, as is the dd of my friend who eats tons.

I would't worry. Before she started school and was home a lot my daughter used to eat vast 'eye brow raising' portions of pasta, veg everything really. Now she is at school she eats maybe a third of what she used to as a younger child! And is still totally happy and importantly although tall in her class not gigantic and certainly not overweight. I think in retrospect she ate a lot at home because she enjoyed the food and discovering new tastes and flavours and now she's at school she enjoys that more so food has taken a back seat! Relax and let her enjoy it! I was worried how my daughter would cope without the usual portion sizes but she insists on school dinners which are tiny and no longer has time for the elaborate breakfasts and dinners of before!

My dd is 2.8 too and is exactly the same! Constantly bloody hungry and just would snack on fruit all day if I let her! I think she's just going through a growth spurt her diet is almost identical to what ihearttc described and she will often end up eating more then myself, it could also well be boredom as dd seems to be hungrier when I'm cleaning or paying bills etc.. And not focusing all of my attention on her yet when ds comes home from school and they play together she never mentions being hungry.