Does your child seem to never stop eating?
@faln_angel1205 (1192)
United States
September 20, 2008 1:12pm CST
Okay all, before i start my rant, i am asking this because i am starting to be concerned about my son. My husband and I as well as relatives of both families are obese. I dont want this to happen to my son since it seems to be genetic
My son turned 5 in May, and at his last doc appt in August, he was 44 pounds, and just under 4 feet tall. According to teh doctor, he is considered UNDERWEIGHT yes underweight. He is definitely smaller then most of his friends and kids in his class, but he doesnt exactly look underweight. What gets me is HE NEVER STOPS EATING. The kid has a metabolism any person would die to have. This is an example of a normal day for his eating.
Breakfast about 630 beffore school, either 2 waffles or a bowl of cereal. He has a snack at school at 10 a,m usually pudding, crackers, etc Lunch at 1240 eitehr a sandwich and snakc with juicebox that i send him with, or if he does hot lunch it might be pasta, pizza, or nuggest, and milk. He gets home at 3, before we are in the door hes askign for dinner, i usually end up giving him another snakc similar to the one he has at school. Then he will get dinner, sometimes it is diff then what me and hubby have most times its the same...chicken with a side, steak with a side, pasta, salad, veggies, things of that sort. Within about an hr after dinner hes asking for food, not snack but wanting more of dinner (and he eats plenty at dinner time) or a he asks for a sandwich, in most cases i give it to him, cuz i am always afraid he could actually be hungry and im denying him. If he was overweight or even at the avg weight for his age i wouldnt give in so much. Then befor bed which is about 830, he is aasking again to eat.
he is active at school but at home, he barely plays outside as we live in an apartment without a fenced in yard, and i cant always be outside with him for him to play, so his activities are playing in the home and not exactly running or riding his bike type of stuff.
So do i need to be concerned that he seems to never get enough to eat, or is this normal? I havetn talked to the doctor about it, because i dont want to sound crazy..i mean some moms wish their kids werent picky eaters and would eat more like my son does..and i dotn want to seem like a hypocondriac
any thoughts are appreciated
3 responses
@pam210 (344)
• United States
20 Sep 08
He may just be going through a growth spurt. My kids always seem to eat more when and then I notice they have grown a few inches. I don't think you have to worry if he is really hungry. I think it is more of a concern if kids are eating out of boredom. One of the worst things is eating while they are watching tv. He seems like he is eating small amounts of food throughout the day. I would just make sure he is eating healthier snacks. I tend to give my kids fruit or light popcorn instead of candy, cookies and chips. I would rather give them dried cereal instead of cookies or chips. My kids really aren't veggie eaters so I try to push the fruit.
@faln_angel1205 (1192)
• United States
20 Sep 08
the snacks are small amounts, but when he wants FOOODD as he says it, its quite a good portion..for example, i made a tombstone pizza today cut it in triangles and i put two on his plate and three on mine, he said mom you cant have more than me..i was shocked he was even concerned with it. Then after he finished his two pieces he went in and grabbed two more, and asked for the last piece which i told him no, i felt bad but thats more than half a pizza..i thought that was way to much. He had cereal for breakfast, also had a pudding snack pack, and a pack of fruit snacks betweeen the hours of 8 and noon, the pizza was about 1230...we never have candy in teh home, if he gets candy its as a treat once in while when we are out shopping for teh day or something. He has done this what i would consider excessive eating pretty consistently since he was about 2, i dont think its growth spurts..lol but i guesss its possible.
@tgrider1121 (56)
• United States
23 Sep 08
I wish I had that problem. I can't get my child to eat for anything. I dread dinner time, the girl screams and cries and everything because she doesn't want to eat. Its not only dinner, its all meals. But I really don't think your son should have a problem just yet. I would be concerned if all he was doing was laying in front of the tv and eating all day. If hes active then hes burning it off. When you give him snacks offer him healthy snacks, like fruits or vegies. When you give him his meals put them on a small plate so his plate still looks full without being as full as a large plate.
@ProudMommy22 (705)
• United States
23 Sep 08
I had that same problem with my youngest son. Which isnt probably good for him lol But hes only 9 months old and weights 23lbs and is short. They havnt said he was over weight yet but im waiting on it. But i will not deny my child food if hes hungery then hes hungery.However i would if it was to the point he is WAY over weight but he isnt even walking yet so sure hes going to be chuncky. Now my oldest son hes 2 years old and hes different he classified as underweight for his age he weights about 27lbs i think is what he was when he went to the doctor but the doctor said he was fine. He dont sit for a min hes gotta be doing something or he isnt happy. hes short as well and he'll only eat like once a week really good but for the rest of the week he'll nip pick at stuff. So i wouldnt really be too worried about it right now considering im going threw that too but my children are at a younger age then yours is so im not sure how that works really. I jsut know how my children are. They seem to be fine though.
