Toddler Eating Too Much?

My son is like that. He eats as much as I do sometimes! As long as you are feeding him a healthy diet and no junk I wouldn't worry about it. Let him eat fruits and veggies for snacks and make healthy meals and he'll be fine.

If he's not overweight, and he's eating healthy food, I wouldn't worry about it.

My son could eat fresh fruit all day long. We have a rule, you can have all the fresh fruit and veggies you want whenever you want. But it has to be fruit or veggies.

He may also be going through a growth spurt. If you don't feel like there's anything wrong with him metabolically, then feed away! If you're really concerened though, have his levels checked at the doctor.

Kids are better at listening to thier bodies than we are.

My guess, he's getting ready to grow. Keep an eye on him, if it lasts much longer and he begins to gain weight and not height then take him for a check up. My daughter will eat like crazy then gain several inches.

Stock up on the healthy little snacks for him, that way you have something good to give him when he asks.

he might be going through a growth spurt but i wouldnt limit if it is healthy food maybe do some bulkier food i would limit it to second helpings of dinner though and wait like an hr or so before he gets a bed time snack if he is not over weight i wouldnt worry too much

My kids do this when they are going thru a growth spurt. It's like they have never-ending hunger. It can last a couple of days to a few weeks. I do limit what they eat though and give them fruit/yogurt for snacks.

I have experienced this several times with all of my kids (have 4 of them). I do think you need to consider a few things.

For starters, kids do need to eat more frequently than we do. They metabolize much faster than us. However, they don't need to eat as much as we do (which I'm sure you already know).

Secondly, kids are learning lifelong food habits at this age. So, be aware that you need to teach your child to listen to their body, listen to their hunger cues. Kids don't always know when they are full. Sometimes, they are thirsty and confuse their thirst with hunger. Also, sometimes kids want to snack out of boredom.

If you just fed your son 30 minutes ago, give him some water and occupy him with a game or a task. You'd be surprised how many times their "hunger" goes away :)

My 4 year old is the same way with me. She can eat (sometimes) all day long! So, I usually ask her to drink water first. If, after she has drank water (maybe 10 or 15 minutes later), she still feels hungry, I try to give her snacks that are filling (like fruit or high fiber snacks)- otherwise, she'll be back in 30 minutes asking for more.

Hope this helps :)

My five year old twin girls eat constantly - they ask for a snack within minutes of finishing a complete meal. We are usually amazed, and the sitter says they eat more than any child she has had. Now - we feel that it is a healthy part of them growing - only becuase they both aren't even 40 pounds yet at five years old.

I suppose, that if your child is healthy and growing, that there is nothing wrong with eating becuase they are so busy at this age. Now, I don't want to tell a parent what to feed a child, but of course, healthy snacks will make us worry less, since we aren't feeding our child greasy fatty snacks all day. Cheese sticks, gold fish, clemetine oranges (they can peel and eat by themselves at that age), go-gurt, dried cereal, and of course an occasional "yummy" treat. My girls also drink lots of milk (they rarely even want juice, which, in my opinion it is better for them to have the milk). Good luck with those growing kids!

Becki's response is great. Teach him that our bodies take at least 20 minutes after we eat for us to feel "full" so if he wants more food immediately, offer water like she said and wait, and distract him so that eating isn't just for fun or pleasure.

Also, look at what he's eating. White breads, white pasta, white rice, crackers, processed starchy foods all "burn off" quickly and leave us feeling hungrier much sooner than other foods; the body burns these processed-flour foods up too fast. If you haven't already, try switching to to whole wheat. (Not everything labeled "whole grain" is truly whole wheat -- first words on the label must be "whole wheat flour" for it to be really 100 percent whole wheat). Try whole wheat breads, pastas, crackers, etc. He may fuss but if you make the switch and don't comment, he will get used to it and so will you. If he sees you eating white spaghetti while he isn't he'll really protest!

High-fiber things like fruit and veg are filling too, thanks to fiber. Fruit is great but also can be high in natural sugar so give carrots, celery, cucumber, etc. as snacks and not always all the fruits he wants.

Juices also are not all they're cracked up to be. Even "100 percent juice" juices have a lot of concentrated natural sugars -- natural, yes, but still processed by the body as sugar, so go easy on them. Our pediatrician always says the only three drinks she recommends for kids are water, milk, and some calcium-fortified orange juice, never apple juice, which she says is empty calories compared to fortified OJ. Again, the juices' sugars burn off faster so you feel hungrier much sooner. Milk would fill him for longer since the milkfat takes longer to digest. But go with skim if he's a big milk drinker!

Yes, he's probably in a growth spurt so he's really truly hungry, but now is the time to build good choices so that when he's 12 and hungry and away from you, he goes for the healthier stuff.

your oldest is probably stocking up for a growth spurt. that is the age my son went from bean pole to stocky. and went from size 4 to size 8 in 3 months

Growth-spurt.

When my kids are having a growth-spurt, they do that too.
Our Pediatrician, says that too.
It is fine.
We do not feed our kids junk, so if they are eating and needing to eat, we let them eat. They do not 'gorge', but they are HONESTLY hungry. And need it. Even if they are eating their regular meals, they still get hungry even 1/2 hour later. My kids get like that, at growth-spurts.

Last summer, my daughter was eating constantly... all day and night. And hungry honestly. By the time she went back to school, I swear she grew like 5 inches. Major growth-spurt.

Even when eating like that, my kids are lean tall kids. Healthy. As I said, we don't feed them junk. And, they are eating for hunger reasons, per their body. They do not eat out of 'boredom' or for emotional reasons.

Your son, seems to be hitting a growth-spurt.
Even my picky son, will do that when he is having a growth spurt.

all the best,
Susan