[jemso]

so the background. DD is 13 months old, still BF and started solids at 6 months.

after taking a month or so to take to solids she would eat anything we gave her (which is good i guess cos we dont have a picky eater) i dropped her down to 3 BF per day at 8 months and we are still on 3 BF a day now.

here is her current food routine:
breakfast: BF and 1.5 weetbix and prune juice (she also has constipation issues which i control by her diet)
morning tea (only started on morning tea at 12months) fruit, usually 1 pear, or 1/8 rockmelon.
lunch: homemade food, usually meat/fish and veggies (about 120g)
afternoon tea: BF and cruskit or sandwich (1 piece bread with filling, usually avacado) or fruit.
dinner: homemade food, no meat only vegies (has rice or pasta with it) about 120g
supper: (does not always get this, only if we are eating dinner) cruskit or rusk or fruit.

yet, even with all this food she still always seems hungry. she doesnt cry for food or anything, but EVERY time we eat something she hangs around like a starving dog.

so maybe the real question is: is hanging around mum and dads food (and whining when you dont get any) normal behaviour or does it sound like i dont feed her enough?

she has always been very "healthy" with her weight. up until 8 months she was 85%ile or above, and has crept down to 36%ile since she started crawling/walking - this now matches her height %ile.

from what i can see the food i give her should be enough (i think of her stomach as the size of her fist, and she definately gets more than that) but i dont want to starve her, yet dont want to overfeed her and teach her bad habits for later on.

This post has been edited by jess869: 24/10/2010, 10:56 AM

[sophiasmum]

Why no meat with dinner? The protein may keep her fuller longer. I also notice not much dairy foods such as yoghurt and cheese. These will also fill her up and are good snacks. I would offer yoghurt for dessert after dinner.

Maybe fruit alone for morning tea is not enough, you could offer toast as well. Bananas are good fruit as they are more filling than say water based fruits.

I also think children prefer Other People's food, mine are older but no different, so if she's wanting some of yours go with it, she's broadening her diet and wanting to try new things now.

[Obesa cantavit]

All kids have different appetites. My DD3 would eat that or less a day atm. However, DD1 at the same age would have nearly twice what you have written. She would have 2 weetbix and toast for breakfast. Yogurt and cruskits for morning and afternoon tea and at least 2 to 4 pieces of fruit a day. She would have full bowls full of lentils, veg, stews, pasta etc for lunch and dinner. She was always onthe 20th percentile for weight and 90th for heitght. She is now nearly 7 and off the charts for weight and height for her age. She is tall and skinny and now hardly east anything

If she is hungry, feed her.

[jemso]

I don't give her much dairy or bananas or apples because they can aggravate her constipation. I do give her cheese sandwiches maybe once a week, but it clogs her up for days afterwards. With not giving her meat at night, I stopped it as a trial cos we were having big probs with her having a hard time going to sleep, and when we made night veggies only she seemed to get to sleep easier. It was awhile ago now, so will give it a go giving her protein at night again too.

Thanks for your replies, and I will definately be giving her some more food. It's just so hard with the first bub cos I try to do the right things, but often I just don't know and it makes it harder when you get conflicting advice from everyone, aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh. All of my friends that have bubs thinks she already eats heaps, and their bubs are the same age, so I was a bit confused. But with everything I guess, every baby is different.

[claireabell]

It's just so hard with the first bub cos I try to do the right things, but often I just don't know and it makes it harder when you get conflicting advice from everyone

Yes, you are right!

It sounds like you're doing a great job. The quantities she's eating sound about right, but you could fill her up a bit more with the types of foods you give her.

My DS is the same age as your little one and some of the things he loves inc scrambled eggs, which i make with milk and shredded cheese, and mushed avocado and banana (he will eat this off the spoon or spread onto a sandwich.

My little guy loves criskits too, but I've found that the grainy vita wheats fill them up better. DS loves his with cream cheese spread on them.

I also tend to agree that a bit of protein with dinner will fill her up (needn't be meat, you could try eggs/quiche or beans/chick peas).

And she needs more calcium. My DD went cold turkey on breastfeeding at this age and it was so hard to get enough calcium into her. Yoghurt is a good choice, and it's also easily digested.

Good luck. It sounds as though your DD is a great eater, which is wonderful.

[Guest_Shauna+Molly+Annie_*]

At that age I would stop giving her food especially made for her and start giving her food 'family' dinners. Simply give her a sample of the food you are eating and see how she goes.
The smells of your food probably just seem more yummier.

Also regarding the constipation I would tackle it by giving her foods to eliminate the constipation instead of removing whole food groups like dairy trying to prevent it.

This might result with her diet becoming unbalanced.

[lucky 2]

Hi,
The link below should help re diet.
I agree with others in that bubs diet seems low on protein and fats, high in carbs which are quickly used by the body and not sustaining, ie hungry soon after!
The things I thought of were porridge rather than weetbix, mixed with milk (cows/soy/rice-with calcium added) and fruit and ? coconut milk, quinoa with apple and sultanas.
Yoghurt. Legumes-ie lentils, kidney bean etc for dinner, so a evening meal without meat but with protein and veges.
Avocado, veg oil in food, and as another pp said, just family meals made suitable for bub to eat, ie texture.
I used wraps with prune paste or nut paste, ie peanut or cashew or almond paste, lots of energy and fats and yummy.
http://raisingchildren.net.au/nutrition__f..._nutrition.html
Do some reading, talk to your CHN for some ideas, she will likely have some print outs for you on balanced diet for a baby/toddler.
I think the basis of bubs diet is there you may just need to add to it and it doesn't mean the foods mentioned above will add to constipation, on the contrary things like legumes and different more complex grains/carbohydrates help with fibre intake and ease constipation.
All the best.

[Natttmumm]

Why dont you add protein to the dinner meal. Try to make sure each meal has carbs and protein. You could always add an afternoon BF. I think around this age you can add a dessert after each meal so yogart, custard, rice cereal with fruit. If her weight has dropped she might need more

[mumofalittleone]

Sounds like you are doing a fabulous job of feeding your little one. Yes, all the conflicting advice is confusing at times and that is when you need to pull in a little bit more confidence and just try things to see how they go.

I'm just assuming your DD dosen't have a medical issue causing the constipation? If that is the case she sounds just like my DD at that age - bananas, cheese, yogurt were sure fire cloggers. But being such good foods I really wanted her to have them. So to counteract I incorporated high fibre foods like prune/pear puree and dried apricot custard (soak and cook dried apricots until really soft and then mush into home made custard of egg and milk, no sugar needed). Bananas I added a little at a time and made sure to space them out a few days apart. Eventually her body adapted and tolerated all the foods. Now these are her favourites - especially cheese.

I also sometimes used a little prune juice in her water and if things were really bad I used the coloxyl drops you get from the chemist. Both worked well to help get things moving along and it seemed to help her settle at night too as I imagine her tummy felt better. As the previous person said, lentils, beans etc were a firm favourite and certainly helped too.

Other than that, I would say just keep offering more food and some of what you are eating too. She may just have a big appetite, especially as she gets more active and crawls/walks around. My DD eats the same amount as us now.

I also heard an interesting thing from a nutritionist that said children up to five have a natural appetite control and will only eat what they need. This is why some kids will eat some days and not others, they just don't need the food. On the other hand those that do will keep eating and as long as we offer them good choices it should all be alright. Hearing it put that way really made sense for me and took some of the pressure off the worry about food. Only wish I had taken note of her name and the book she had written for future reference.

[ecb]

so maybe the real question is: is hanging around mum and dads food (and whining when you dont get any) normal behaviour or does it sound like i dont feed her enough?

Yes. Resoundingly yes. This is completely normal behaviour. My girls eat enormous amounts of food yet still manage to make room for more if there is an adult nearby from whom they can scavange. I have asked around others with kids the same age and most of them do it. Not necessarily a reflection on how much you are feeding your LO. It's about them being interested in doing the same things as mum and dad.

This post has been edited by ecb: 25/10/2010, 01:29 PM