It is 10 o’clock in the morning, and my child has eaten a bowl of cereal with milk (I remember the days of dry cereal with fondness) two nutri-grain bars, a cup of orange juice, two cups of water, and is now starting on the second half of an orange.
He is almost 4 years old, and I get that he is growing, but seriously, how much is too much?
My doctor says that he is fine because he is nowhere near overweight. Is actually skinny and quite tall, but I am just saying that he is eating like he has a tapeworm, and the tapeworm may have one as well. It drives me insane to sit down, get up, sit down, get up for more food for him. Yes you will notice he isn’t eating cookies and chips, but I think by lunchtime the only thing we will have left is ice cream, so there goes my idea of keeping him healthy.
This is hard on my grocery budget too. Buying all of these snack type foods really cuts into how many meals a person can afford every week. I am a meal person – I love suppertime. A nice chicken casserole, or beef shepherds pie. Slow cooked chicken, with roasted baby potatoes, and gravy, and my mouth waters even just thinking about it.
My sweet darling eating machine does not do meals.
I will cook all day long, well, as much as I can in between fixing him his next snack, make him a lovely plate exactly the way he says that he likes it at the moment – dress it up, potatoes and gravy for hair, chicken for eyes, long green beans for a smile. No interest. The next day, he will snack on cold chicken, and pick raw green beans out of the bag.
I have tried no snacks after 3, no difference. No snacks after 2, the same. He is a grazer. I guess that is all there is to it, but I just feel that so much food gets wasted this way.
Truly I do want your opinions though, how much is too much? When does it go from grazing to a habit that is unnecessary?
I am trying to keep my screaming internal for now when I hear the statement – “Mommy, I am hungry!” Oh, there it is again – I think I will break out the fruit roll ups.
urbanmoms.ca member Krista is Mother to a Redheaded Much loved Boy and has her own blog at: Me & Oliver Share your opinions — how much is too much? when does it go from grazing to a habit that is unnecessary? — in comments, below.
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Oops! I forgot one last idea! Maybe set aside on drawer or small cupboard with food for your son, and allow him to get his own grazings…PROVIDED he asks permission from Mom first! (My mom did that with my siblings & I, and it DID seem to cut down on her trips to the fridge!)
Good luck.
I have a 2 1/2yr old son, and he, too, would eat all day long if his dad & I would let him! His dad is the same way…it actually scares me a little to see how much my two men can eat. It’s not at all uncommon for our boy to be eating every hour & a half, or so. I DO have to say, though, that kids DO have smaller stomachs that adults (obviously – they have much smaller bodies), so I don’t think Susan’s comment was exactly right (sorry, Susan). After all, our kids’ smaller bellies WILL empty more quickly, ESPECIALLY since most kids are on overdrive when it comes to physical activity. My son gets out of bed in the morning, hits the ground running, and doesn’t STOP running until he goes to sleep. Krista, I really don’t think you have anything to worry about (aside from your sanity!!) regarding your son’s grazing habits, provided he’s eating healthy food (which, it would appear he IS). You might, however, be able to disguise some of the more *meal-type* food as a snack for him (just package the meals in MUCH smaller amounts)…for instance, my son LOVES meatballs, so I usually have smaller packages (3-6 meatballs per pack) in the freezer, that I just heat up when he’s feeling the munchies. Then again, my son will get into the fridge and grab an entire long english cucumber if we’re not watching, so what do I know! lol
I am so glad you all have commented with your experiences! It makes me feel that we are normal. Thank you all so much! He is sleeping right now, so I am spared from the line, but I am still trying to come up with snacks!
I have a born grazer. She has grazed since birth. I did have to teach her to eat an entire lunch when she started school, but the grazing starts the minute she comes home from school in the afternoon and doesn’t stop until 20 minutes before she brushes her teeth before bed. She is very healthy, and she does know when she is no longer hungry. She wants healthy snacks, and is known to eat hardboiled eggs, frozen peas, peanuts, soy nuts, sunflower seeds, cheeses, avocado, etc. My younger child eats 3 meals a day with one or two small snacks. He is NOT a snacker. He will eat one if offered, but he usually won’t ask for one. I would feed his hunger with nutritous foods, allowing breaks in the day between meals. They know at that age how to regulate their hunger and fullness.
My kid eats a lot too – always has. i guess i think as long as it’s reasonably healthy food, then it’s ok. it does startle me, though – how at 2 she’ll eat twice as much as i do (and I am no slouch myself)
My kid eats a lot too – always has. i guess i think as long as it’s reasonably healthy food, then it’s ok. it does startle me, though – how at 2 she’ll eat twice as much as i do (and I am no slouch myself)
Ah, perhaps not just a boy thing – I have a little ‘pink’ grazer. My daughter will be four in a few weeks and is a chronic grazer/snacker. I think she generally likes snack-type foods better than meals but it’s also becoming a bad habit. While I try and make her snack choices healthy ones it’s not always easy. Luckily she enjoys fruit and cheese and most other snacks, she will dig her heels in at suppertime regardless of whether she has snacked later in the day. We have also adopted the ‘meal becomes the snack’ approach and it does work. Also we don’t call it supper anymore when she is in that snacking mood – simply calling it a snack seems to make the difference for her. However, I have wondered if her tummy fills very quickly though because she will step away from the breakfast table and not three seconds later she will say – ‘I’m hungry!’. Makes me crazy!! I try not to worry too much as she is a child who could use a few extra pounds but she clearly has a high metabolism and as long as most of her snacks and her meals are healthy then she will likely be fine. Nice to see others share our pain!!
Yes boys eat a lot, especially when they’re growing fast, but CONSTANT grazing isn’t actually all that healthy, it can lead to overeating later in life and can be a bad habit to establish. Nutritionist say we should eat 6 small “meals” a day, that means building healthy habits in our kids too.
My 8 year old snacks a lot too, but he went through the same type of “now I don’t want supper” issue at about 4 years old too, it had become a “control” issue… The question is whether it’s actually “no interest” or does he figure that he can choose what he snacks on but since Mommy chooses what supper is “I’m not interested” (control issues seem to sneak up on you when you least expect them!)
Our solution was that his “snacks” were the last meal that he didn’t eat until it was all gone, after it was gone he could choose his own snacks… We never serve him a LOT of food at a meal, and if he honestly doesn’t like something he doesn’t have to eat it, but he has to take at least one bite. When he figured out that meals were not contestable, that he was GOING to eat the food I’d cooked for him if it took him 5 “snacks” to finish it, he started to eat his whole meal at supper time… He would and still does snack healthily in between, but the “constant” grazing let up.
This way the choice was still up to him, if he really wasn’t hungry then the food was available for him when he was… but if it was a bid to control what and when he ate then he was stuck with only the one choice, last night’s supper or nothing. He figured it out pretty quickly and we waste a lot less food now!
The way your son eats and a lot of children do is theoretically the correct way. It keeps your digestive tract going. At least he eats and it is healthy stuff too. Mine would eat only treats if I let him!
My 7 year old son eats CONSTANTLY…if he is not eating he is complaining that he is hungry. Of course, he nevers stops moving either and has to fuel that along with some serious growth but, I hear you. When a 55lb kid eats 3x as much as me, should that be of concern? Likely not according to my husband. He claims he was the same way. Never thought I would say this but, must be a boy thing!