Bottomless Pit? help

All my 2 year old dd wants to do is eat eat and eat some more. She'll finish eating and ask for more snacks. I know she's growing but she'll even have a piece of food in her mouth and be grabbing for another. Is this normal behavior? Am I doing something wrong? I feel like she's eating a lot for a 2 year old.

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

My ds is a bottomless pit at times too. He goes through phases. I don't think it's a big deal especially if your dd is eating good foods.

If you want you can try giving her food or snacks with more protein and fiber in them. That may help keep her full.

Bottomless Pit? help

My ds eats tons. But he's skinny so I don't worry. I try and keep meals healthy but as long as I get veggies and fruit in I dont worry too much

Bottomless Pit? help

Dd too but she goes through phases. I feed on demand as long as it's healthy.

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

I wish I had that problem! I chase DS around all day trying to get him to take just one more bite! And when he does eat it's only pizza, Mac and cheese or chicken nuggets. Argh!

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

My son is 23 months and eats literally more than me and his father -sometimes combined in a single day. We cannot believe it but he's skinny, when he lays down I see his ribs! His height is way off the chart. And that long and lean thing runs in my family. So I don't worry but the biggest reason why I don't worry is Bc everything is super healthy - all fruits, veggies, proteins and natural stuff. Snacks are like Greek yogurt and a banana. Dinner is quinoa and chicken breast. That kind of stuff.

He doesn't eat anything processed or with artificial colors or added sugar.

Message edited 7/25/2015 8:57:30 AM.

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

I think in most cases it's normal.

Just make sure all the food is "fuel", not junk, nutrient dense, not just calorie dense, and I'm sure she'll be fine.

Just adding this in incase it's not just hunger - she could actually be a bit dehydrated and be thirsty, and not actually hungry.
Or it could be a food intolerance (dairy, gluten,etc.). A full belly feels better than an empty belly. So if a little one has a stomach ache from digestive issues, they tend to eat more because it makes them feel better. It's very unlikely that's the case, but I know I'd rather be informed than not, so I'm just sharing things I've learned along the way

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

Has she been doing this for a while or is it an on and off thing?

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

I think my 2.5 yr old just went through a mega growth spurt. She eats 3 very large meals a day, plus milk 3x a day and on top of that wanted 4-6 snacks a day. At first I thought it was boredom but then I realized she must be growing. She would eat a big pasta and meatball dinner and an hour later ask for a granola bar.

I did have to move her snacks to higher ground so she wasn't just munching 24-7. Now she has to ask me. Some days she only has 2 snack and sometimes more…my kid eats ALOT!

Message edited 7/26/2015 12:25:16 AM.

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

My ds is exactly like this. I think he has a bit of a food fixation... he's not really overweight... but he'll be in the middle of eating a meal & yelling that he wants food... I'm like, it's right in front of you... he bangs on the refrigerator door & yells "num num!" (which is his word for food)... but I feed him HUGE meals & tons of snacks already. We can hardly eat in front of him, he's grabbing the food off our plates & screams if we don't share with him. Sometimes I feel like the only time he's happy is when he's eating! I try to distract him but I do feel like a lot of it is boredom... on days we are more occupied he doesn't seem as obsessed with it. I just try to give him healthy food in large quantities & a lot to drink & distract him to try to stretch out the time a little bit between his eating because I feel like otherwise he wants to eat 24/7. I run out of ideas of things to feed him & I feel like there must be something else he would enjoy as much eating!! I don't know if it's normal or not.

Re: Bottomless Pit? help

I think it's normal. My son is just over 2 and he wants to eat CONSTANTLY but to be fair, he's always been more of a "grazer". He doesn't usually sit and eat and big meal, he likes to munch throughout the day. He's a peanut so I don't stress but it's annoying because I feel like I'm ALWAYS feeding him!