appetite of toddler?

rabialiones

my friend has an 18 month old little boy who is constantly hungry, yet she is worried he may have worms or something in his tummy as he is really skinny, yet eats like a horse.
he doesnt seem to put weight on, yet always wanting to eat. his diet consists of family meals and fruit, sandwiches, milk etc throughout the day.
he is always in the fridge , now he can open the door and help himself?
can someone give advice or anyone else come across this.
thanks

samf1971

How's his weight against the chart in his red book? Do the hv's seem concerned that he is underweight?

Toddlers vary a lot in what they eat but they are expending lots of energy growing and toddling around

mykidsmum_2

my oldest DD was / is exactly the same, she would eat loads as a lil un and was / is built like a racing snake! (she's 12 now and looks like a golf club from the side!) and she's always looking for food, tell your friend is she's concerned have a chat with the health visitor / doctor. Also maybe he's enjoying the fact that he can open the fridge etc himself and its more of a novelty doing that than it is actually eating?.As long as he's having a good varied balanced diet I dont think she has much to worry about. I have a nearly three year that hardly eats at all, but thats a different story .
hope that helps

rio

Is he growing heightwise? Boys grow more in spurts than girls do. My LO will eat an incredible amount of food when he is on a growth spurt - this could be the reason. I can remember when he was about 3 that he ate his normal meal and then wanted more. I thought he wasn't really hungry so I offered him bread and butter, which he normally turns his nose up, and he ate six whole slices!

Rachie_B

mykidsmum wrote: »

my oldest DD was / is exactly the same, she would eat loads as a lil un and was / is built like a racing snake! (she's 12 now and looks like a golf club from the side!) and she's always looking for food, tell your friend is she's concerned have a chat with the health visitor / doctor. Also maybe he's enjoying the fact that he can open the fridge etc himself and its more of a novelty doing that than it is actually eating?.As long as he's having a good varied balanced diet I dont think she has much to worry about. I have a nearly three year that hardly eats at all, but thats a different story .
hope that helps

my eldest son now 11 is the same ! always had a fab appetite ,he would eat all day every day if i allowed him to !

amandada

He sounds like a healthy boy to me! I couldn't get over the amount my son has been able to put away since he was very young-much more so than my daughter when she was a similar age. Now he's 5 and she's 10 and they eat pretty much the same portion size, and there's not a pick on either of them!

inkie

She is obviously worried about this enough to querry it - and so the best thing to do would be to see the HV, who can make a professional assesment. She will be able to see the whole picture.

HTH

Becles

I would get the little boy checked out by the HV or doc just to be on the safe side.

However my eldest has always been painfully skinny, yet he has always had a massive appertite. He's 10 now, and will eat more than me during the day, yet he's still like a stick!

He's never ill (100% attendance last year at school), and always has plenty of energy, so he's perfectly healthy.

rabialiones

thanks to all repliers, this will put her mind at ease.
just that when she sees other kids with similar or less appetite, who are heavier and bonnier than him./
she is often questioned about his food intake when people see him , and they think he is being starved, when he seems to be consuming more food than an adult and still seems to be hungry.