Overeating Toddler, Any Experience?

C.,

Without knowing how much your son is really eating, it is hard to say...but you describing his actions of starvation and eating off the floor, and not doing anything except scarfing food seems to be more than just being underfed. You must take him to a specialist and have him looked at. On top of several diseases that manifest in kids as overeating, there is the general issue of obesity at some point, early onset diabetes, heart problems, etc. My hubby is a nurse and he tells me this issue is very prevalent today in kids. But hubby says there are diseases where this is a symptom...cerebral palsy is one. There is another that is fairly rare, but it is called Prader-Willi Syndrome and the overeating, tantrums for food, etc seem to mimic this disease...it could be early signs that he will have an issue with binge eating. Again, this is not to scare you...and it is hard to say without seeing what he is eating. I mean, if he is eating the same amount as you or your hubby and still hungry, there is an issue there for sure. But either way, to be on the safe side, I would have him looked at more closely. Hope that helps!

When I say this, I am not judging. I am simply stationg my opinion...
Plesae take your son to a gastro doc or endocrinologist. I am not sure which will be best. But I can't imagine a child behaving that way is "normal" in the sense of healthy/normal.
It is not anyone's fault I don't think. However, it is concerning.
If you go to the American Pediatric page online or Kidshealth.com (or .org) you will see the guidelines. But something is not right.
Eating to the point of vomitting is not good for you or him. I feel so sad for both of you.
My son had reflux as well, but we never experienced this. We gave him water or watered down juice as fillers and stuck to times for snacks instead of getting into the habit of eating all day.
I wish there was someting I could do or better advise.
Hugs,
E.

C.,

Great! I'm glad things are working out with your son. I wish I had seen your first posting. But I wanted you to know that my daughter has reflux and sometimes we have to make her stop as well. But most of the time she stops herself now.

Let me also say that kids just eat more than us women. I am a large woman and all my kids out-eat me and have since i got them at ages 3-5 (adoption) i think that is normal. The other things you mentioned were concerns. But maybe since he couldn't eat well as a baby, he was catching up. Thats what mine did. They had been neglected so they ate everything they could for the first 6 months. i let them and now am glad I did. Now they are perfectly healthy and proportion themselves.

Hope this helps.
A.

Wow this sounds like my son Zeke. I have an older son and a 19 month old niece, and when the three of them sit down to eat. Zeke eats his food and then Damion's and then Alexis' food. Then after that he eats what ever fell on his shirt and floor. It get pretty gross!! The entire time he is eating he is just like humming/grunting. It kinda scares me too how much he is eating but then after a while he is running it off. He had a lot of stomach problems when he was a baby, first GERD then candid of the esphogus. So I just let him eat almost as much as he wants and then just let him play to his hearts desire. Good luck, and hope that helped!!