hmm so i have been reading the 'what your toddler ate today' post and the snacks and some meals seem quite small compared to how much elijah eats....now i'm not concerned about his weight at all, he is quite tall (almost a bit lanky really) and pretty slim, his arms and legs only have maybe one crease in them....but god does the boy eat a lot!!!

he can happily keep eating (although thankfully he is no longer sick hoorah!!!) for ages and ages, and he is quite clear when he has had enough so i'm sure i'm not overfeeding him.

an example: at teatime he had homemade courgette rattatoille with pasta (like nearly an adult size portion - like a bowl of cereal)...ate that.....then 2 petit filous...a pot of fruit....half a slice of toast...i thought well that's probably enough, came through here and he had found a bag of organix and a meusli bar i had packed for him and ate half the bag and the whole bar.......

that is after having 2 x snacks, a pretty big lunch and a fruit pot/slice of toast/bit of cereal/handful of branflakes and some plain yogurt for brekkie...

it seems like a lot, is that sort of normal? he is ALWAYS on the go from the second he wakes up til he falls asleep...

Sounds normal to me...Izzy never stops eating....she is always thinking about food and I am sure would be happy to be eating all day! If she can get hold of food she will eat it!

hahaha do you just decide how much she gets at mealtimes? at breakfast time he will usually do the 'all gone/finished' sign when he has had enough, and sometimes at lunch/dinnertime he will too.....but then other times he never seems to be full!

At breakfast she tends to eat about a portion (like those selection boxes you can get) but sometimes asks for more - or just more milk - which I always give more til she stops.
She also has a banana for breakfast but then 10 minutes later is asking for more...but I think she has had enough so I wait about an hour and if she asks again she can have something more!

Wow I wish my boy would eat like that lol.
My friends LO is a bit older than your LO now and she was the same, she'd eat for england..She's now 16mth and has calmed down a bit. But she was the same and would eat anything and everything in sight. I don't think there's anything to worry though..

...see you in a about a years time when he's turning his nose up at everything

hmm it will possibly be easier to gauge when he can talk!!!

haha zee, there are a few things he won't entertain (white bread, ice cream, chicken, mince, healthiest child alive????!!) but i think probably at least part of it is loads of things still hold novelty value

Zee wrote:

Wow I wish my boy would eat like that lol.

Zee wrote:

...see you in a about a years time when he's turning his nose up at everything

and that^^^

Thomas eats hardly anything - I don't know how he has maintained his 75th centile all this time because I swear he sometimes goes days on a banana and a slice of toast here and there he does have hungry days but even then he doesn't eat half as much as Eli

Hannah is a good little eater and will eat/try anything and unlike her brother she actually asks for food (if I didn't put food in front of Thomas he wouldn't ask for it ) but she doesn't eat as much as Eli. Typical day would be slice of toast, crumpet and whole banana for brekkie. Sarnie (two slice), chopped apple, handful of raisins and a mini pack of cheddars for lunch. Example of dinner is full jacket potato, 3 fishfingers and 4 table spoons of veg followed by a yoghurt or fruit pot.

Just be greatful you have a great little eater hun because the opposite is so stressful - Thomas worries me sick with his eating habits, I have no idea why he is like he is, I have done nothing at all different with my two throughout weaning and beyond, yet I have one that is the worlds fussiest eater and one that is fine

xx

eek debs i didn't realise thomas was that bad! at least he seems to still be following his centile, i have no idea what centile eli is on these days but judging from other children his age and how his clothes fit i guess still around the 50th...was thomas always like that or did it sort of come on over time?

i get what you are saying though, i probably dont 'overfeed' him cos he seems pretty healthy i just genuinly am amazed at how much he can consistently put away!!!

Thomas and Oliver are like 2 peas in a pod when it comes to eating by the sounds of it. Exact same with the toast and banana's here too.

Today Olivers food intake today consisted of;
Porridge & honey
2x dried prunes (offerd 2x cracker with cheese and some fresh pineapple chunks and refused)
Sausage roll (which he demanded round asda)
Half a black pudding, half a slice of toast for tea and a small banana.
^^^and thats quite a normal day^^^

He never asks for food or informs me he's hungry either.

I get all excited when he actually eats a meal it probably seems ridiculous to some people..but to have a child thats just not bothered about eating - when his mama and daddy Loooooooove their food - well, thats just odd lol

i wasnt showing off honest!!! i feel really bad now zee was oliver always like that?

Aww, don't feel bad lol, I just get amazed when I hear about how much other kids eat

I wouldn't say Oliver has ever been a 'brilliant' eater. When weaning he was ok, but always had a sweet tooth - not sure if that was cos he was BF (cos its naturally sweet) but he always favoured the fruity options so tended to do a lot with fruit mixed with veg etc. He did have his fave meals as he got older such as spag bol or fish pies..but now he won't entertain them He don't eat pasta or potatoes, funny with meats. The only things he tends to eat are cereal, sausage and beans on toast. He's started eating tinned spaghetti (if I say its Rorey spaghetti) They only way I can get him to eat things is to put it in a butty lol..The other day he had a Hotpot sandwich and last night he had a Peas and carrot s/wich - what ever floats his boat I suppose

I'm sure Eli will be fine though..like I said about my friends LO..shes a bit older now and has started deciding what she likes and doesn't like but she still eats like a good'un.

Lmao Mari!! We know you're not showing off hun - I would be over the moon if Thomas ate like Eli - I would probably shout it from the rooftops of Stockport . No he wasn't always like that hun - up until 10 months (started wening at 4 1/2) he ate fabulously - anything and everything, wouldn't say he was a big eater but never refused a meal. Then one day he just stopped eating I still to this day have no idea why, I put it down to all sorts - teething, a bad cold he had, a 'phase' (some blummin phase - lasted 20 months and still going strong) but nothing has really changed tbh. I hoped Hannah coming along would encourage him but nope! he just plonks his food in front of her instead now . Tbh it's been so long now that I'm resigned to that fact he is just a fussy bugger with a small appetite. It's really embarassing when we eat out or at family/friends because it looks to outsiders like I'm not feeding my son but I just know he wont eat and if I try to force the issue we have a major meltdown on our hands. I ask him if he's hungry and if he says no I just don't offer him a meal and give him a piece of fruit from my bag instead, it's just easier all round this way I have lost more sleep than I care to think about over this kid and his eating and I can't do it any more - he is fit and healthy and always on the go so that's fine by me.

Zee I swear Thomas and Oliver were seperated at birth, must've been something weird in the air the week they were born

Myself and Paul also love our grub so it's very odd to live with someone who isnt interested.

xx

Zee how weird but just last week we were in ASDA and I was getting beans when Thomas started singing "Rooooooaaaaary the racing car" and he had spotted the Roary spagetti shapes on the shelf. I asked if he would like to try it and he said yes so I bought it. He has always refused all spagetti hoops etc so didn't expect him to even try it once he realised what was in the tin but he did eat a little bit of it on toast so that's another option I have now - I'm hoping the novetly of the Roary ones will wear off though coz they are so expensive compared to the normal stuff but it's good that it's encouraged him to try it. I always said I wouldn't get sucked into the trap of character food etc but when you're faced with a kid that hardly eats you really will try anything to help the situation.

xx

Sounds like Elijah is getting the right amount to me, no need to worry.

I worry I don't give Immi enough, she was a fussy eater for so long that now she's suddenly decided she will eat food happily I'm not quite sure how much. She'll tell me if she wants more though. I try not to give her snacks either, but reading some of the what your toddler ate today posts makes me worried i should be filling her up more but again she'd go and get food or stand in the kitchen and yell if she was hungry so I guess i can't be doing too bad. Every child is different and you know what they're happy eating.

debs - maybe you should cut out the roary picture from the tin of spaghettis and stick it on other stuff like....an apple or some yogurt.....perhaps i am underestimating your child

it just seems like loads shell, but it sounds like it will probably change here and there, and it's much less when he is teething or tired, it also sounds like i should just be grateful and not worry unless he starts actually ransacking cupboards

Alfies going through a stage atm where he will eat all of one meal but not much of another. The past few weeks he hasnt been good at lucnh but ive decided its because hes too tired. so going to start moving his lunch forward to 11.45ish so he can go down for his 2 hr nap straight after. anyway alfies day yesterday was:

Brekkie - small box of Shreddies with blueberries and a slice of toast
Snack - box of raisins
Lunch - jacket potatoe with tuna and cheese (altho he faffed around with it and only ate maybe half but ate all the tuna and a petit filous
Snack - 2 digestive bics
Tea - chicken dinner (chicken, mashed pot, roasties,stuffing,yorkshire puds,carrots, peas,broccoli and gravy) Then he also stole 2 of our puddings (he loves yorkshires!)
Supper - 2 cookies (wouldnt normally have biccies before bed but he stayed at my aunties and she always treats him to bics and milk before bed!!)

I got him weighed the other week and he was 25lb 8oz!! And he is on the 91st centile. But hes not walking yet so will no doubt burn off alot more cals once hes on the go x

it does seem a lot but I'm sure he wouldnt have it if he wasn't hungry, you're giving him healthy stuff so I wouldn't worry.

Ava eats probably half of what Eli does but her fussiness seems to be improving and she's gone up to the 50th centile now. x

that's all the sand you have been feeding her!

i think you're right amy, he will probably eat the same amount once hes really on the go but you will find his trousers fall down

i guess he is just burning it off, he never sits still voluntarily unless he wants a story otherwise he is running from room to room (hmm maybe mummy is burning calories too ), his 12-18 month stuff is too big at the waist/bum with a disposable on but pretty good on the legs and arms so i guess he is just busy busy busy

Aw how great is his appetite!!!

Libby is fairly similar to Thomas and Oliver, but the only difference is she's only on the 2nd - 9th centile (she is a short arse like me but so skinny) - she only weighs around 23lb!!

Yesterday for example:-

Breakfast - Coco pops ( )
Lunch - Picked at a couple of pieces of cheese and maybe 3 hula hoops, left her bread (was a cheese sandwich), resorted to giving her a tub full of grapes just to get something in her as she loves them
Dinner - maybe 10 bits of tomato pasta then a banana

I really hope for your sanity that Eli continues to eat well because it really is awful seeing your child refuse food (especially being as small as Libby )

I just hope and pray Dexter is a good eater!! xx

Well when they made the mould for thomas and oliver they made a small girl one too cos Libby and C are both made in the same factory i swear. She is small-9th centile, fussy as hell wont entertain fruit and veg and doesnt eat loads-unless its chocolate of course so we enjoy what we can get in her.

Ive resigned myself to a lot of things i swore id never do like undending meals of fishfingers, waffles and 'sketti' where she might eat a fishfinger and 4 sketti rings and a bite of waffle and we live on pasta at least 3 times a week cos i can make sauces to sneak veg in. If i didnt put it down she would skip breakfast altogether and i frequently leave brekkie and lunch out for hours as she will graze over the course of a few hours, if i took it away before this she wouldnt bother

Yesterday for example:

Brekkie: half a fruit pouch and a fruit string
Snack: Bag of quavers (like chocolate crisps seem to be an exception)
Lunch: 2 mouthfuls pasta salad and a cup cake
Dinner: 1.5 sausages and a mouthful of mash

Shes even skipping milk now she was on 12-20oz a ay and now seems to be down to about 8. So id just enjoy it while it lasts mari im hoping awens gonna be like eli. LEt him guide you he seems happy

^ another good one for sneaking veg in is homemade pizza - she can either help you make it, or you can grate courgette and other things and hide them under cheese, and grate carrot into the cheese so it's undetectable mwahahaha

mari I read something recently that said Toddlers regulate their own requirements, either ona daily basis or even weekly and that basically parents shuldn't interfere in their childs intake. haha

Obviously as long as you are offering him a balanced healthy diet (which you are) then let him eat as much as he wants.

I would say if he started getting obese looking then yeah you have a problem but otherwise be grateful that he's such a good eater.

I have a fuss pot too

H goes through stages of eating well then not bothered. Lewis on the other hand eats loads and usually finishes off Harrisons as well. Luckily H loves fruit and veg. I made cottage pie tonight and put loads of veg in the mince and they both wolfed it down lol, well Lewis ate more than H lol x

braden drives me nuts with how often he is asking for food and drink etc seriously its constant all through the day, i could just scream at him smetimes!! he will generally have for brekkie - cereals, 1 slice of toast a banana half an apple and a box of raisinsdinner - sandwich, 1 or 2 slices, half pack of crips handful cucumber/tomato 4 cocktail sausages, an apple, maybe a biscuit or something for puddingtea - 2 sausages, 3 smileys pile of peas ice cream or fruit salad more raisins and sometimes daddy gives him akinder egg or something then he will still ask for more.... he will also have milk before bed and when he gets up. dita on the other hand is more like thomas and oliver. she will have half a slice of toast and a box of raisins1/4 of a sandwich, few crisps and cucumber and tomatotea - hard to get her to eat anything except veg n then milk before bed n when she gets up.x