Does my 20m old eat too much??

[Mumof2under21998]

I regularly see posts of toddlers surviving off very little and I know all children are different, but I wondered if anyone else has the opposite problem and isn’t sure whether to be cutting off their toddler..?

My son is 20 months but very big for his age / has always been between the 75th and 90th percentiles since birth. Sometimes he’s picky with food when ill or teething but usually clears his plates / asks for more and usually grazes all morning right up to his nap after lunch. He has a milk allergy so hasn’t had proper cows milk for a few months (late diagnosis) but sometimes has a small glass of oat milk. He’s not super keen though so it doesn’t always get finished and we try and get his milk in through other means (I.e porridge / cereal). Otherwise we try and encourage water / weak cordial when asked but he again goes through phases where he’ll drink a lot of water/ not much. Portions are smaller than my own but I’d say a decent portion for a small child (never mind toddler) .. but it isn’t uncommon for his to be asking for 3rd servings!! Think a full / not heaped party plate.

I give snacks at times because he does finish his meals and honestly I run out of options, but try and incorporate fats / proteins. Half my life is spent getting ‘more’ for him to eat or restocking the house 😅

So do you cut off at all / think this is too much??

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2 bowls of ready break, a teaspoon of peanut butter, a bowl of oatgurt yoghurt, a pack of raisins, a banana.

A slice of seeded toast, a boiled egg.

Another banana (we usually cap at one but me and hubby hadn’t communicated)

2 plates of pulled turkey thigh cooked in gravy with mashed cauliflower, carrot and sweet potato.

A mini shortbread biscuit.

A pack of pombears after a big walk / lots of running.

5 chicken dippers, a potato waffle (a bite of waffle left and tomato, cucumber and orange given too but not much eaten)

A soreen lift bar.

Plus a couple of bites of my bolognese mince (we were using up leftovers today but I usually cook us all the same).

That's a crazy amount of food. But, are they staying on their centile or creeping up? If staying the same then it's a lot but will be fine. If creeping up then it's too much.

Seems very excessive - more than most adults would eat. Also cordial is completely unnecessary.

All of this in one day?

This is an extreme amount of food. I’m wondering if he is eating for relieve the pain of reflux (common in children with CMPA) or it’a fulfilling a sensory need.

Yes it feels it - we only offer a sensible portion at a time so the volume just comes form the constant ‘more more more’. If it was up to him he’d eat biscuits all day but we give something healthy as the more and he still has it and keeps going / asking..

If anything since walking at 14/15months he’s been consistently closer to the 75th percentile when as a baby he was 90th so he’s not increasing.

Do you have any concerns about his health? Tiredness, runny poo, bloating?

In that case I wouldn't be worried unless he's tired or grumpy or losing weight rather than maintaining (basically anything that could indicate type 1 diabetes or similar). Just going to cost you a fortune as a teenager 😂

I don't think it's too much. It's on the higher end but if he's a healthy size then I'd says it's fine. They go through phases and you're supposed to assess a weeks worth of food rather than a day.

Both of my older 2 had weeks of eating everything in sight. My son could eat more lasagne than his dad at 2 and he was always very low in the centiles. My DD ate 5 full chicken legs at a bbq when she was 1.5yo. I've alwasy let them regulate themselves just made sure to be offering healthy foods rather than snacks junk.

I would generally let a child this age eat until they're full.

But I would make sure everything offered was healthy. There is no need for a biscuit, a packet of crisps and a soreen bar on top of all that food. If he said he was hungry I would offer some cucumber/carrot/pepper sticks.

I don't think there's anything wrong with beige food if you have a poor eater (fed is best), but I'd also not offer that to a great eater. If he'll eat the healthy food, don't give him any (or only very little) food that isn't healthy. It's extremely difficult for an active child to become overweight eating good, healthy food. It's much easier for a child with a big appetite to develop a weight problem when you start adding in crisps, biscuits, cake bars and UPF foods.

We’ve only recently been listened to by the GP about the milk allergy (also seems to be soy from our testing) because yes he had constant loose stools which dated back to when he turned one and we switched from formula to cows milk. His nursery had been insisting it’s what’s they see in children with allergies but the GP initially said he was a good consistent weight / seemed healthy so they didn’t agree and were doing multiple stool samples.

After reverse testing after taking away dairy that confirmed the allergy so we’ve finally been referred to the dietician but are on the waiting list. Stools are better now but I’ll bring up his appetite when we speak to them too as it seems from the replies this is unusual as I’d suspected!!

Thank you - 5 chicken legs sounds crazy but yes I could also see that happening with him too given the chance 😂

75th to 90th for weight AND height? @Mumof2under21998. I'd replace the refined sugar, peanut butter, crisps and soreen bars with fruit. It's notable he is taking in far less milk than many dc his age so allowance needs to be made for that.

My DC had healthy appetites and broad frames - G/H feet, wide shoulders, not fat legs but beefy/big boned legs iyswim.

DD was quite beefy at 4. Thank goodness because she had a brief and acute illness when she lost 11lb. It was good she had 11lb to lose.

Thank you - this is helpful. I have been strict in the past about snacky things but have resorted to more convenience in all honesty sometimes when I hear ‘more more more’ and am either trying to prepare the next meal or juggling his baby sister (also CMPA and very difficult) just to get through. To date I’ve thought as he’s eating well so it will still be balanced but yes I should probably be cutting it all right back now so he doesn’t overdo it. Not an excuse but may be why there are 3 ‘treats’ on today’s list!

Thank you - as his main milk reaction was a funny tummy I am quite conscious of how much fruit he’s had in the past but now it seems we’re over that hill I can try and offer a bit more / less of the refined stuff as above. Peanut butter though our dietician for our daughter has strongly recommended as a way to get healthy fats in so he does have that most days (either in his porridge or spread on apple slices). We buy the one with no added nasties.

Yes for both, he towers over most 2 year olds in his nursery group . He usually gets a bit of a tum right before a growth spurt and then stretches out and both percentiles are usually on the same level.

It is a lot but if he’s an active toddler and on the taller side it’s probably ok. My toddler DS also eats a lot, far more than his older sister. I would say though that crisps, shortbread, soreen bar and chicken dippers all in one day isn’t a great diet and I’d cut back on food like that. One treat snack or meal in a day is fine but I wouldn’t do more.

DS (now 5yo) was also between those centiles for height and weight - at your sons age we let ours eat until he was full because I believe they need to learn to know how to tell that feeling. But, I did make sure that everything on offer was healthy. We tried to only use packaged snacks if we were out and had to buy something.

It does seem like a lot of for a child that young though. Could he be eating more when he’s actually thirsty rather than hungry?

No idea, what centile my 26 month old is on but on an average day:

Large bowl of. Porridge with banana and pears. Often with almond butter and flaxseeds in. (sometimes by 6:30 if he's really 'hungee'

Banana on school run.

Pesto gnocchi with peas and chicken and a chunk of cheese. Dates and orange after.

Half a sandwich and banana on school run

Meatballs, sweetcorn, new potatoes for tea, fruit. Greek yoghurt with honey and peanut butter. maybe a biscuit after.

He eats significantly more than me. Dad's 6ft 4 though 😅

I'd drop the pombears, soreen and cordial swap ready brek to a proper porridge jumbo porridge oat.

If he is in the same category for both height and weight its unlikely that he is overweight. I wouldn’t worry about the quantity (he could be having a growth spurt), more that over time he is in proportion and eating good quality foods.

Its worth bearing in mind that oat and nut milks do not have the same nutritional value as dairy milk so contribute less to growing for a child. They simply fill the same gap for people who cannot tolerate dairy. You might be better swapping the synthetic milks for water and more nut butters (look at a variety, it doesn’t have to be peanut) and goat/sheeps dairy produce (if he can tolerate that). Some dairy allergies only show in the lower fat and unfermented dairy produce - can he tolerate small cubes of cheese or yogurt? The higher protein/fat snacks might abate hunger better than nut milks and biscuit type snacks. Also swap out the readybrek for whole grain porridge made as overnight oats. You can then heat it up and add yogurt if he can tolerate eg sheep yogurt. I make up jars of mixed grains and then use the measuring cups to get a standard measure of grains and water for soaking.

Mine were all topping out the percentiles on height and went through spates of me being convinced they had worms due to volumes eaten.

The biggest problem you are likely to find with tall children is that people expect pre-schoolers to act their height, rather than their age.