child eating issues at wits end

squoog

I have 4 children including 4 year old(almost 5) boy/ girl twins. My 4 yr old boy has only grown out of stealing food in the morning and having incredible tantrums ( so incredible we took him to see a paediatrician), about 3 months ago.
My son is really active and occasionally won't finish a meal but does want lots of snacks.
Looking at your food diary it struck me that he has a long day and certainly isn't overeating compared to mine.
My 4 yr olds have
Breakfast - bowl of cereal/porridge with milk probably 1 variety box amount. sometimes 2nds or a slice of toast as well.
mid morning fruit and or yoghurt (they eat more if at home than they get at school)
Lunch - 2 boiled eggs and 1 slice toast or sandwich usually 1.5 slices. + veggie stix
afternoon snack - varies but last week they ate an apple, a banana and a clementine each every day!
Dinner - childs melamine plateful 2 fish fingers, potato and broccoli
Pudding - yoghurt/fruit/icecream etc
they drink water or diluted juice, may also have a smoothie some days and occasionally a couple of biscuits in the afternoon.
If you are having tests maybe you could relax about food for the time being. It is important that he can learn his own limits on how much he is eating (unless there is an underlying problem, but you are investigating that now.) Of course I say no to my kids, they will always have room for a couple more biscuits etc But in general if they are asking for something healthy, ie carrot sticks, rice cake, fruit I usually say yes as I think they are hungry. All of us have days when we eat more than others and if food is too restricted it can encourage them to eat whenever they get the chance. If he is not overweight, try not to worry too much and it might be useful information for the medics if you let him have more or less free reign and see how much he really will eat.

raffe

looking at your food diary it doesn't seem as if he is overeating at all, somedays it doesn't look enough mine looks more like squoog's menu.

Steel_2

raffe wrote: »

looking at your food diary it doesn't seem as if he is overeating at all, somedays it doesn't look enough mine looks more like squoog's menu.

But how often do your's and squoog's nippers bother you for food in addition to what they get? Did the OP say hers bothered her every 30 minutes or so (or did I just make that up?).

I'm assuming that the menu OP has posted is one that is controlled at the moment to try and sort his eating patterns out.

OP if you did not have any controls in place for times and quantities for him to eat, how often do you think he would eat? Would he eat almost constantly in addition to his set meals or would he fill up on snacks and not eat his set meals?

welshmoneylover

Hi

Just skim read this thread and I'm wondering whether it is attention seeking?

Perhaps the only 'quality'time he gets with you is in the kitchen?

Feeding fruit is a good thing but in my experience it doesn't fill 'em up!

Good luck x

alm721

my brother was tested for prader willi, he tested negative but is very much as op describes, I can only echo others advice to rule this out.

inkie

Can I ask how much fluid he is taking per day? There is a lot of mention of food stuffs, but is he getting enough fluid (especially with the excessive sweating)? Quite often thirst and hunger can be confused in adults, and so I would imagine with children as well.

Sharra

It also doesn't look to me like he's eating too much.
I also think something to bear in mind is that what is considered 'healthy' adults is different for children. This is why it's recommended younger children have full cream milk for example.
I think keeping the food diary is a really good idea so you can actually measure how much he is eating- it might not be as much as you think. Lots of adults even need to eat often. But i think it is a good thing he is getting checked out - I really hope you get some answers soon.

Also on a side note - re the carb/protein debate - actually humans don't physically *need* carbohydrate to survive - we can make our own glucose from protein.
Sharra
x

cte1111

My DD is 8 and has always had a big appetite and generally been very into food. We go through phases with her when she is asking for food all the time, so you have my sympathy. The way we deal with it is to have 3 filling healthy meals a day and in between maybe 1 'unhealthy' snack. If she asks for food at other times then she's told to either finish her meal if it's something appropriate to eat cold, or help herself from the fruit bowl.

I am trying to teach her self control about food, but it is hard. When she spent a week recently with other relatives she was at one point allowed to eat as much and whatever she wanted at a wedding and did literally eat until she was sick. Not good but hopefully part of the learning process.

I'm glad the OP is hopefully getting some support from her health visitor and doctor, will be reading with interest to see what they come up with.

mummyofboys

Hi everyone

Sorry i forgot to state this is a controlled menu at the moment, i havnt included on here everytime he has asked, he asks all the time literally every 30 minutes, even after he has eaten big meals and also sometimes whilst still eating them! I have not included the fluids as he drinks plenty of waer through the day at nursery and at home he has milk or water and juice with his tea, it is more the constant food requests not the drinks. If i let him he would be in the fridge constantly

dangers

I notice that he only has one piece of fruit mid morning and that has to fulfill him until lunchtime. I work with 3/4 yr olds and we offer a selection of fruit with a carton of milk, followed by a rice cake/bread stick/cracker at 10.30am. Generally, the littlies will eat 5 or 6 slices of fruit, sometimes more.