Daughter Wants to Continuously Eat.

Sometime i don't think my daughter undersatnds the difference between hungry and thirsty. try offering water. also if what she is eating is healthy fruits and veggies, I think it's ok to offer them to her. Breakfast 8 am. snack 10 am, lunch 11:30 pm snack 2:30 dinner 5:30

Toddlers and preschoolers are DESIGNED to eat lots of little meals (and in fact, if you're an older preson with a weight problem one of the first thing the doctor will tell you is to eat 6 mini meals instead of 3 big ones) And remember that a SNACK and a TREAT are not the same thing, so offer a lot of healthy snacks!

Is it possible that she is going through a growth spurt? I can always tell because my daughter will eat just about anything that I put in front of her. If she is normal weight and height, make sure she isn't eating out of boredom, and then let her eat any healthy snack that she wants. Giving her adequate protein and fiber will help keep her feeling full longer.

One litmus test I have is to offer a "less desirable" snack. If she is feeling really hungry, she'll eat it...if not, she'll have a tantrum (lol) and move on to something else.

She may also be thirsty, so keep her well hydrated.

Hi J.,

Is this a recent development or something that has been going on for a while now? Kids go through growing spurts, and she may be in the middle of one right now.

Try to see if she has out grown some outfits lately and measure her.

If it is not a growth spurt, offer her water to fill her tummy for a while. If after 20 minutes she is still hungry, give her an apple or other high fiber food.

Lastly, evaluate what you're feeding her. If it's a lot of sugar, her body uses that engery fast, so she could be hungry soon. Make sure you're feeding her filling foods, protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates.

Good Luck

R. Magby

She is probably bored and associating boredom with food. You are in charge of the type, amount of food and time that she eats. Then you will know for sure if she is hungry. Distract her with a game or such and if she is still hungry every 30 mins, she might need to see a doctor. Is she getting enough portion wise. That's another thing to check.

I've always understood at that age children are incapable of overeating. They are very good self regulators and if she says she is hungry she probably is. Check with a doctor but that is what my doctor has always said.

Is she overweight? If not then there must be a reason why she is always hungry. I mean, where is the food going? Is she metabolizing too fast? Is it just going through her without absorbing any nutrients? Or is she overweight because of an unhealthy relationship with food? Either way, I would take her to the pediatrician to find out what is going on.
Good luck!

my friend's daughter was like this and she's very thin! (not too thin)
so as long as she's eating healthy foods and is in the healthy weight range i wouldn't worry, she's hungry!

Has anyone ever checked her for reflux. I know most people think that is a baby phase but it isn't, I have a 4 yo and she does the same thing, she doesn't have any weight issues, she is a normal 4 yo for all accounts, but she was wanting to eat constantly, so at her last dr. visit I asked why we were having this problem. He said a couple of things could be happening:
1) She may have reflux.
2) She may be bored.

Since she was wanting to eat every 20-30 min. he put his money on the reflux issue. He put her on prevacid solutabs 15mg 2x day and it has helped tremendously.

He said that eating makes the burning go away. But then when the body is trying to digest it produces acid and then it hurts again. It's a bad cycle. Ask your dd if her tummy hurts right where the sternum ends. Dr. asked my dd and also showed her where he was talking about...because when I asked if her tummy hurt she said no but I didn't point out a specific place.

I have started setting meal and snack times and if she wants something to eat between those periods she can have water, she has started to understand she doesn't have to eat all the time, even though her tummy is feeling better, she got into a very bad habit anyway.

Good luck to you.

My 3 year old has days like this to. Some days he hardley eats, and other days he never stops. I wouldnt worry to much unless she is becoming overweight. You may want to get her checked out if she is doing this every single day just to rule out diabetes though. Other wise i would just offer healthy snacks. I try to cook mostly healthy meals and keep fruit and veggies on hand. So if my son is hungry he will eat grapes, or bananas, or cucumbers, or raisons, etc. He is extremly active and just burns it off quick. If everything checks out ok, then i would just give her healthy stuff because she is probably just growing. good luck!

Sounds like a growth spurt to me. Especially if it just started.

My 16 yr old eats very often, always has. She has always been a grazer...extremely health conscious, very athletic, girly girl......not an ounce of fat on her body, works out at least 1-2 hrs a day with her cheer squad , on her own and private cheer trainer (weekly).

Like you, I was concerned but my pedi reassured me that grazing is perfectly fine as long as she is making healthy choices. I make sure that I provide healthy choices for her. She takes low fat granola bars, raisins, dried fruit and water to school. Her breakfast is a bowl of cereal or oatmeal with a piece of toast and papaya juice. She eats a lot of whole wheat pasta and I keep home made marinara on hand. This kid will choose an apple or fruit over some candy or chips any day. I am VERY lucky to have such a healthy eater.

When she comes hom from school, usually 5:30-6, she will eat fruit. She loves diced fresh peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries and blueberries. I toss them with a bit of lemon juice and touch of sugar.

We go through a LOT of water. We each drink at least 6-8 of the 16 oz bottles a day. Neither of use are much on soda, at most one a week which is Sprite or 7Up.

Think about the serving sizes you get at restaurants. The portions are so huge. I love a good greasy cheeseburger now and then but I cannot eat an entire burger. When I go out to eat, I always bring at least 1/2 home and eat it later. She does this too.

Maybe this helps you in some way.

Another thought: My daughter used to do the same thing. Complained endlessly of being hungry all the time, would eat all day long. She never got fat. Would just eat and eat and eat. Would genuinely cry and sound wounded if we didn't give her something to eat.

Then an amazing thing happened. When she was eight years old, I became very sick, so sick that the only help I could find was in the alternative healthcare field. One of the first things I was told to do was consume all organic food, get rid of all processed foods, and eat according to what my body could handle (discovered I had gluten and soy intolerance and was allergic to casein/cow milk).

We watched in amazement as, just a few weeks into our changing over to eating all organic food, our daughter ceased being hungry all the time. We've since concluded that her body wasn't getting what it needed from the food she was eating and was essentially "starving."

It has been almost three years now since we made the switch to all organic food and got rid of the foods that our bodies can't tolerate, and we only hear our daughter complain about being hungry--like right this minute, ravenously hungry--when she's going through a growth spurt.

It's an idea to look into.

This sounds like me. It took me a year to wean all the high fructose from my life. If I go out to eat or get some by mistake I can always tell. I want to eat everything in sight! I am continuously rooting for food!
Since I eliminated the awful stuff, I can eat a regular meal & not think about food for hours, until my stomach starts growling. I like sloppy joes with lots of carrots, celery, avacadoes & tomatoes mixed in. Usually I only eat 1. With high fructose holding my appitite on high, I finish a third one & look around for something more to eat, even though I am brsting at the seams! It is in everything - kechup, mustard, pickles, salad dressings, bread, crackers, cookies, snack foods, cake, frosting, cereal.
Try weeding this out of your diet & see how much better off you are! As a plus, I lost 30 pounds since April 1st when I finally found the last of the high fructose hiding in my food. The weight fell off so effortlessly that it was scary!

How big is a big meal?
Maybe she doesn't need a big meal at all.
Just a bunch of healthy foods that she is able to eat thhoughout the day.
I would worry more about what she is eating, not how often.
You are the parent, you regulste the amount.
End of story.

Things for you to think of..
Is she overweight?
Are you overweight and don't wanto to go down that road?
Are you healthy eaters?
Have you talked with her pediatrician at all?

What do you really want to do about this?

I really recommend the book "How to get your kid to eat, but not too much" by Ellen Satter.
http://www.ellynsatter.com/
It will really address your question and give you good strategies for the future. Although I haven't read all of the responses, they, generally, sound like what the book would recommend, in that offering healthy snacks at that age is what's most important. Good luck,
E.

My daughter (6) eats all the time too. The other day my husband made a joke that she was in the kitchen tipping all the food from the fridge into her mouth and she is skinny, skinny, skinny.
We have only healthy snacks for her to eat so I don't worry about it. On her last check up the doctor said she was fine and encouraged me to add more milk to her diet (filling and provides calcium).
If she is due for a checkup soon, schedule it early and talk to the doctor.

S.

Not to alarm you, but has she been checked for type 1 diabetes? Last year, my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes, and the main "symptom" that I noticed beforehand was hunger. With diabetes, the person feels hunger because there is insufficient insulin to absorb energy into the cells.

I wish I had checked her out far before she had to be admitted to the hospital. Good luck.

heres a good one; dont.

shes growing! she needs healthy food, and she needs it frequently.

always remember to give her something nutritious; nuts, apples and peanut butter, a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread. things like whole grains and apples are going to keep her feeling fuller longer. same with you.

you can buy a box of milled flax also for the same kind of effect; but do not use much. less than a teaspoon. sprinkle it on a sandwich, yogurt, cereal, ice cream. :P

but remember, always give her something nutritious first.
also; see if shes not thirsty more often than not. sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger. so try a glass of water first. a small one. ;)

good luck!