Unregistered 08:55 AM 10-13-2017
I have a 13 month old that LOVES to eat! This morning for breakfast he ate three slices of French toast and two servings of fruit. For snack he usually eats 2-3 servings. Lunch usually is the same as breakfast time. As a baby he would drink 8-12 ounces of formula every 2-3 hours, so he has always been a big eater. I have never had a child this young who eats so much in one sitting! He out eats all my other kids. His way of telling me he wants more, is by crying until he has more food in front of him. Once he has more food, he smiles and starts eating. He eats the same way at home. Sometimes I feel like he is eating way too much food for it to be healthy. I know that I am in control of the amount of food he gets, but if he is not full, he cries until the next meal. Anyone else experienced this?
hwichlaz 09:12 AM 10-13-2017
How's his growth? If he's a healthy size I'd probably allow it, but try to slow him down by giving him age appropriate amounts, and only giving half servings as seconds/thirds...kind of slow him down and give his brain and stomach time to communicate.
The crying for more food would be a red flag for me. He needs to learn that food isn't the answer to tears. I would try teach in him to communicate rather than cry until he gets what he wants, I would start with teaching him the signs for "more, please".
daycarediva 09:52 AM 10-13-2017
How's his weight? Growth? Development overall? There are medical conditions that cause overeating so I would want to know those were ruled out/not possible.
Then I would give him an ENTIRE cup of water before meals. I would start with vegetables first, fruit next, then protein, then grain. Teach him to eat slower, and when mealtime is over, all done.
That is an INSANE amount of food, more than my dh would eat in a sitting and he's a big guy.
During non meal times, I would work on waiting, asking, etc. with toys.
LysesKids 10:39 AM 10-13-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I have a 13 month old that LOVES to eat! This morning for breakfast he ate three slices of French toast and two servings of fruit. For snack he usually eats 2-3 servings. Lunch usually is the same as breakfast time. As a baby he would drink 8-12 ounces of formula every 2-3 hours, so he has always been a big eater. I have never had a child this young who eats so much in one sitting! He out eats all my other kids. His way of telling me he wants more, is by crying until he has more food in front of him. Once he has more food, he smiles and starts eating. He eats the same way at home. Sometimes I feel like he is eating way too much food for it to be healthy. I know that I am in control of the amount of food he gets, but if he is not full, he cries until the next meal. Anyone else experienced this?
Nope, I wouldn't be serving that amount of food EVER (heck I can't even eat 3 pieces of French Toast)... I'm on a limited budget & I care for nothing but kids under 24 months. He's eating way to much for the age and because the tummy is stretched AND he knows that crying gets him more, he needs to be retrained to eat proper amounts... parents need to get on board otherwise it won't work. I agree that he needs Water before meals and in between @ snack time
Unregistered 10:39 AM 10-13-2017
I just put him on the scale before lunch. He is about 27 pounds. Not completely accurate since he doesn't stand on it (he sat). He is average length for his age. Developmentally, he crawls, but does not walk yet. He is a first child, soon to have a sibling in January. In terms of sleeping, he is very back and forth. As a baby he rarely slept more than 30 minutes at a time for nap. Now he has good and bad days of napping. One day will be 20-30 minutes, the next he sleeps 2-3 hours. Mom and dad are very fit and active and I know they eat pretty healthy. Being on the food program, I am required to serve all components of a meal at the same time.
Childcare-yps 11:38 AM 10-13-2017
Are you licensed and following food program..?
If yes then I would say follow the food schedule whatever you need to feed him as per program requirement. Also do you have any meal plan for a day....hows he is doing at home, did you ask...?
Also i am agree with other comments that he should learn also and maybe medical condition which cause overeating, he is so small kid, i never know that 13 month kid eats so much like you said. sometimes parents dont tell us their situations so try to find out whats going on...
How many times you giving food to him, is he eating everytime so much? And you said his sleep also bothering, i would say talk to his parents may be something is bothering him and due to that he is just eating eating and not sleeping and doing nothing...
Mom2Two 11:24 AM 10-18-2017
My daughter eats insane amounts of food, but it's been clear since her nicu stint that her metabolic rate is just super high. She almost eats as much as an adult, but not in one sitting. Her stomach at that age sure wasn't big enough to hold three pieces of french toast and two servings of fruit.
But yeah, she has a medical history. She was growth restricted in utero then her bile ducts got clogged in the nicu from being on tpn after they suspected gut infection so she couldn't digest fats for about eight weeks so was in failure to thrive and weighed less than three pounds on her due date.
Somewhere in all of that her metabolic rate got reset to a weirdly high rate of calorie burn.