Toddler whining, demanding behaviour & constantly asking for food

[Paddingtonthebear]

She's 22 months old and eating non stop at the moment. She says she's hungry even when she's in the middle of eating something. Is this normal/a growth spurt?

Her behaviour is not great at the moment either, tantrums galore. She can be utterly delightful but we are never far from her kicking off about something. Also waking up too early (5am) so really tired too.

Tbh she's driving me a bit mad with incessant her whining and demands. Her speech is really good, I don't know what she's frustrated about she just seems so annoyed.

Any advice?

Is she getting enough sleep? I know always eat more I'm tired and that could affect her behaviour too.

If she tantrums, how do you react? Sometimes looking at your reaction is the key. Have you noticed a pattern too, for instance if she's tired or if you are doing a certain activity? How's her language? Sometimes they can be frustrated by not being able to express themselves.

If she's constantly hungry can you give us an idea of what she eats and drinks in a day?

If this was my boy I would say massive growth spurt. He eats like a horse then wakes early because he's hungry again. Of course I don't know your daughter so it might not be.

With j I would load him up with cereal which he adores at regular intervals. We often have 2 breakfasts (esp if he's woken early) and tea can be a full meal and them a couple of wheetabix! I would also move tea time back a bit so it's near bedtime.. During the day I'd fill him up with drinks (he mainly drinks milk) and something filling like rice cakes. He's not much of a fruit snacker. Two definite snack times one mid morning and one mid afternoon.

Hang in there!
K

Her speech is good, 3-4 word sentences. Usually wakes up at 6.30am ish. Bed at 7pm, usually a bit before, she asks to go to bed. She does go through phases with her food where she fusses and doesn't eat much. I think she says I'm Hungry even if she's not.

Today she was up at 5am and went to bed at 6.50pm. 1hr 15 min nap which wasn't long enough. She ate:

Morning: Beaker of milk, crumpet with butter, two whole grain crackers with peanut butter, a banana, some raisins

Lunch: Chicken wrap with soft cheese, cherry tomatoes, an orange, chunk of cheddar cheese

Afternoon: Rice cakes, an apple, oaty bar

Dinner: Large bowl of spagetti with homemade roasted veg and tomato sauce, two small slices of crusty baguette, a yogurt

Beaker of milk before bed

Is she drinking enough? Sometimes children cant tell the difference between thirst and hunger. Id start by getting her to drink a few extra glasses of water each day and see how she is.

Yes she drinks water regularly through the day

I wouldn't say that amount of food you listed was excessive tbh. I wish my 2.11yo ds would eat that well! I definitely notice a link between ds's emotions and hunger for sugar - if he feels a bit unsure he asks to go in the 'cupboard' where he knows mummy hides the nice things but I usually test it with fruit or something boring like toast and if he refuses those, tough. Protein is the food for filling up, and it looks like you've got a good balance of that in her diet. Maybe encourage cereal for breakfast? Could it be boredom or other unexplainable emotion she is mistaking for hunger?

We also go through phases of early wakings - he goes to bed at 6.30ish and is dropping his nap. The gro clock has helped a lot but it mightbe a bit early for your dd if she's not yet two?

I'd say up the protein and introduce a morning snack around 10ish.

Just had another look at the list of meals you provided. Does http mean she has nothing between 5 or 6 when she wakes and lunch time?

Http - *that

I would also definitely add a morning snack and/or second breakfast as ds calls it when mummy comes down two hours after he's got up with dh

For one idea, ds gets up at 6ish, has breakfast of cereal and milk then has another breakfast or fruit snack at 9.30ish before lunch at 11.30/12ish. Usually hungry again at 2ish then dinner is around 5/5.30ish. Bedtime milk at 6.30ish. So he has food offered every three hours or so.

The milk was about 5.15 and the crumpet was breakfast at 6am, the crackers at about 8am, banana and raisins were throughout the morning. She also had toast at 10am ish, I forgot that before. Lunch was by 12, she had the rice cakes about 1/1.30, slept from 2-3.15pm ish, then had the apple and oat bar between 3 and 5, dinner was about 5.15pm, milk was at 6pm

She sounds great!

Could it be teething? My son asks for food (his language isn't so great though) when his teeth hurts...

If it's not teething or a growth spurt, have you indadvertedly got in the habit of 'rewarding' her tantrums. Ie. if she demands food/attention/toys, do you give in to pacify her. If so, she may have 'learnt' that to get something, she just needs to throw a tantrum.

Forgot to say above, is she sickening for something. Kids tempers always deteriorates if they are going down sick, even if they still seem well at the moment.

I'd also up the protein. There's a lot of complex cars there (crumpet, toast, crackers, pasta) which burn fast, and produce rapid blood sugar spikes and drops which in turn lead to hunger and can influence mood.

I'd add protein at breakfast - eggs or cold meats maybe and make sure every meal contained some.

*Carbs

Tbh this just souls entirely normal to me! Certainly is with my 20 month old. He eats and drinks and shingles all day unless he is outside with a football. Maybe getting her out and busy might distract her?

DD is 23 months and exactly the same. As are all the others in the NCT group - I think it's developmental.

We fixed the early waking with pyjamas - even in summer she was cold in the mornings so she's in long jammies now and is sleeping till after 6 (a comparative lie in)

DD eats and sleeps much the same as yours. Does she go to nursery or play group? DD is much better as she's so highly stimulated on those days.

I find endlessly narrating our day and running through what's next helps, so she understands what's coming up. Lots of closed choices help with the tantrums. I set out a lot of different 'invitations to play' throughout the day and rotate toys so she doesn't get bored

It has improved a lot in the last few weeks - hang in here

All I cam say is that ds's growth spurts have always been characterised by excessive hunger, early waking, tiredness and challenging behaviour. There's usually a peak in his behaviour that makes me think he's been replaced by an alien before he improves again. I'm afraid he's 3.9 so it's not something your dd will grow out of any time soon! Currently his appetite is seemingly insatiable and he tells me he's still hungry having literally just eaten. On the plus side, it's a great time to get him to try new foods as he tends to eat anything that's put in front of him!

I give him loads of fruit as it doesn't tend to spoil meals, is healthy, but he at least feels like he's had something. Cucumber and carrot sticks are good too. He'll also eat when he's bored so we go out and do something.

She goes to nursery two days a week. The rest of the week we go out twice a day, we get the same tantrums when we are out, usually if she doesn't want to walk in the right direction or wants to be carried, or constantly trying to look in her rucksack for food, or saying I'm hungry every 10 mins. but she is generally happier when out and about doing stuff.

Food wise she won't eat egg at all. I wish she would, she's never eaten it. She will eat beef and ham. Wafer thin chicken yes, but not "normal" chicken. I'm conscious not to give ham more than once a day due to the salt content? She often has porridge for breakfast.

She used to sleep through from 7pm to 6.30/6.45 but on and off for the last 6 weeks she's waking at least twice in the night and then awake for the day at 5am. She's obviously tired but I don't know how to break the cycle.

I'd add more protein. Just keep a cooked chicken and add a few carved slices to lunch or snacks. Also I'd ditch the rice cakes and offer wholemeal bread. Rice cakes are usually made from white rice which, if I'm right, is bleached brown rice with all the goodness taken out.

My ds will eat yoghurts and babybels but dd (3yrs) will not touch dairy at all.

Be careful with raisins. I've just had a lecture from the dentist for giving dc them everyday. Apparently they stick to teeth and cause cavities.

I give her white or granary bread, I thought the FSA advice was not to give toddlers too much fibre inc wholemeal bread?

"If you tend to eat high fibre foods, remember that young children's stomachs can't cope with foods such as wholemeal bread, pasta and brown rice. Also, too much fibre can sometimes reduce the amount of minerals they can absorb, such as calcium and iron.'

We received completely contradictory advice to that from a consultant and dietitian when ds started refusing pasta, potatoes, white bread and crackers. My apologies. Dd has been brought up on wholemeal bread and brown rice with occasional chips thrown in as a treat for not complaining about her brothers diet dominating mealtimes. She's 3 now and no tummy pains or constipation ever.