16 month old with bottomless appetite

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My 16 month old has loved food ever since she was weaned. She was born around the 9th centile and hung around there for the first six months while breastfeeding, then as soon as she started eating zoomed up to the 50th and is now around 50th/75th (haven't weighed her in a while but that's where she was at her 12m review and she is getting towards the end of 12-18m clothes).

I'm glad that she enjoys food but sometimes am a little alarmed by how much she eats and the fact that she seems to lack an 'off' button. She has what I would consider big portions for her age (e.g. lunch today was half a tin of beans and a slice of toast with half a banana for pudding) and would usually happily continue eating if I gave her more food. She does very occasionally indicate that she's had enough but that's quite rare.

She's a very independent eater, has been spoon feeding herself since 12m and drops very little. I've never forced or even really encouraged her to eat. There's very little that she doesn't like. Most food is healthy and freshly made by me, little meat so lots of beans and pulses which she happily eats. Plenty of veg and wholegrain bread, pasta etc.

I'm pleased that she enjoys food but also very conscious of establishing good eating habits. I don't want to allow her to overeat but also want to obviously make sure she's getting the food she needs and allow her to learn when she's full. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a child like this and has any suggestions of how to get the balance right?

What height centile is she on? She sounds fab, maybe she is heading for a growth spurt? I wouldn't worry too much if she's in proportion?

Not sure of her height centile to be honest, she's never been measured! She looks in proportion to me though and seems to follow clothing sizes pretty closely. I'd think it was a growth spurt but she's always been like this since she started weaning! I think I'm just noticing it now because we're starting to visit family etc a bit more now post Covid and everyone always comments on how much she eats 😕 usually affectionately but it's making me more aware of it!

A slice of toast and half a tin of beans and half a banana isn’t a bottomless appetite. They eat a lot as they’re growing a lot, it slows as they get older

That's just an example, I find it hard to describe her portions because I don't measure things out but it seems like she eats a lot in proportion to an adult sized portion. I often think "she'll never finish all this" and then she always does. And still has pudding. (Well, fruit.) And I've seen posts on here about children's diets where half a tin of beans and a piece of toast is considered a lot for a much older child!

That's normal and OK. It can be common for young children to eat huge amounts close to what an adult with a small appetite would eat, because they are growing and their brains are developing. As long as you're not pushing her to eat big portions, or feeding her a very high in fat/salt/sugar diet, (all of these things are fine and important in proportion) it's fine. Follow her lead :)

Sounds normal to me. Is she walking? They burn huge amounts of energy rushing about and are still growing really quite fast at that age so need lots of food.

I know you didn't ask, but but they shouldn't have too much wholegrain stuff under the age of 5 because it can actually falsely make them feel full. Diet should be lots of simple carbs and plenty of fat when they are under 2. If you think she may not actually be full at the end of a meal, maybe more greek yoghurt/cheese etc.

I have one the same, 21 months now. Fairly big portions, always up for more, very independent eater.

More recently she's taken to swiping food (fruit usually) off the kitchen sides or opening the fridge and yelling for 'bore bweebwees' (More raspberries). If she sees someone else eating it will remind her and she'll start asking for food, and she seems to look forward to the food aspect of any outing or activity more than anything else.

I'm trying to stick to set meal and snack times, distract her if she asks for food outside these times or offer something like veg if that doesn't work. I don't want to make food an issue and want her to learn to listen to her own body and appetite, but don't want her to pick up a habit of constant grazing. It's harder when other people eg grandparents seem to want to endlessly feed her, and DH drives me mad with his constant snacking because I think she is starting to copy.

SR nutrition has a good blog about portion sizes for babies and toddlers - and if you scroll down talks about those with bigger appetites. I'd link but on an ancient phone that if I go to find the link I'm guaranteed to lose the whole post, but Google should find it!

How lovely! Don't worry, just enjoy your gorgeous lass enjoying her healthy food.

This is helpful, thank you. She does sound similar. Mine will also demand food whenever she sees someone else eating and this is something I want to manage better as like you I don't want her to develop a snacking habit.

I think it is possible to overfeed them. There are overweight toddlers out there. I measured and weighed mine out of curiosity recently. As long as their weight centile isn’t too far away from the height I think it’s ok. Mine is 90th at the top for height and weight so I follow the portion sizes for her main meals, measure out things like porridge oats and pasta and try to stick to two healthy snacks.

The problem with looking out for centiles is that apparently toddlers who are becoming overweight will grow up in height first and later in weight. So parents tend to feel proud that their child is getting taller and taller and "so big for their age" and won't realise that they are overweight because they will be in proportion. Although they may just be tall - I worry a bit about DS2 in this way as he is tall. Although lately he doesn't eat much so he's probably not overweight. DH is prone to feeding him too much junk though.

When you see really overweight toddlers, the culprit is usually poor diet overall for the whole family - high in saturated fats, salt and sugar, for example a lot of commercial "snacks", too many sweets, fizzy/sugary drinks, takeaway food and convenience foods. Of course all of these things are fine in moderation but they should not form the majority of anybody's diet. Or a very disordered attitude around food where food is used emotionally or as a crutch constantly encouraging children to eat.

The food you mentioned is carbs, carbs and carbs. And sugar. They don't do a lot for satiety. Does she eat a decent amount of fat and protein?

DD ate like a horse and still does. She very tall. As is her dad. Being in proportion to height is more of an indication than strict weight. DD has followed the top of the curve for both. More so height!

My daughter ate bigger portions at 2 than she does at 6 - they need a lot of calories to fuel humongous growth.

Yes, as I mentioned she eats a lot of beans, lentils, pulses. Also fish and eggs. She also eats a lot of cheese and Greek yoghurt. I just chose baked beans in toast as an easy example to explain portion sizes.

But beans, lentils and pulses are still high in carbs. Cheese and eggs aren't but yogurt can be.

It's all fine and healthy. But understanding that carbs and sugar make you hungrier is worth knowing.

Thanks, I hadn't really thought of beans etc as a carb as I often use them for protein in a meal but I suppose they are carby too. I'll try and find more alternatives. Sugars are already pretty restricted - the only sweet food she has is fruit and I limit that. (The banana in the example is half because that's all I give her - she could easily put away at least one whole banana given the chance!) I know baked beans are sugary too but that's maybe a once a fortnight meal.