how much does your toddler eat and when

[Olive]

so DD2 almost 2 can and does eat all day, she contantly wants/needs food. im wondering if asking for it is more habit now or if shes really that hungry.
so wondering if other toddlers are the same.
should i let her eat all day or limit it to meal and set snack times?

[*TripleJ*]

jamie eats as much as he wants whenever he wants he does have a set lunch and dinner time but the rest of the day hes constantly asking for food

[Ozziehoffy]

At that age, I let them decide. I know that Elijah lets me know when he really wants something. With Oskar, I'm trying to get him to start eating more at the set times cos he will be in Prep next year and goes to kindy 2 days a week now. It's more that he'll decide he doesn't want much brekky then is hungry an hour later, unfortunately he won't have the option to have a snack if he's not at home or with me.

[beckoes]

I eat a fair amount and get very grumpy if im hungry and DD is the same, i ALWAYS have something in my bag for her, nuts, fruits, dry fruit, biscuits etc. And i ask her quite often if she is hungry. I belive because i let her decided if and when and how much she wants to eat she doesnt eat just for the sake of it or over eat.

Her normal day is...
up at 5.30am/6am-bowl of cereal, normally a wheetbix or muslie
8am-eggs on toast or beans, or toast and jam/pb, fruit pancakes
10am-fruit/nuts/cheese and biscuits
11.30am-lunch...what ever that is....noodles,veg,meat etc
2.30pm-small piece of fruit, home made icepole
4pm-snack, humous or cheese and biscuits, fruit etc
5.30pm-dinner and pudding....whatever we have and decent size potions (last night she put away two lamb chops, a baked potato, salad, corn on the cob, a mango and a yoghurt with passion fruit! and then had a milk about an hour later casue she was still hungry!)

sometimes there is other stuff thrown in, DH will sneak in a little cup cake or icecream and if we are eating at a time when she isnt she has to get in on the action! and she drinks milk between all this and still have two BFs!

I recon she is still growing and needs all the energy she can get, some days its less and sometimes she actually eats MORE! aslong as she isnt eating casue she is bored then i think its ok to let her eat whenever she likes. and aslong as she is eating proper meals...lunch dinner etc and not just filling up at snack times.

[~Kim~]

I have had from one extreme to the other. DD was just like your DD2 and just was hungry- she's still always hungry, but now she's only allowed to eat and understands why at brekkie, morning tea, lunch etc....DS on the other can get by on oh a rice cake and a tub of yoghurt ....I know which one was easier....

I used to worry DD was eating out of habit/boredom and as we both have morbid obesity seemingly running in our families I was paranoid but if you could see my DD grow at her rate of knots and how active she is...well I know where all her food is going. Totally agree with beckoes.

[Nelle]

Three bowls of pasta and a tub of yoghurt last night, and about 5 mouthfuls of dinner and half a cup of juice tonight.

My strategy (when I remember) is to have the appealing stuff (well, stuff that appeals to them, like cereal, sandwiches, yoghurt, bikkies, sweet fruit, pasta) at the main meal times, and then the rest of the time it's water, apples, carrots, plain crackers, or whatever they left over from the most recent meal. That way I know if they're eating, they're hungry. We get ours 'hungry' for tiny teddies and turning up their nose at a vegemite sandwich, so that gives their game away sometimes...

[*Sparklez*]

im the same, but more so that ds 3 is a very bad eater he is hard to get to eat all together and always has been.. but with all mine i just let them eat whenever but i had set lunch and tea times and i made it aware that this all had to be eaten if not then i would start putting limits on the eating to ensure they were eating properly itms?

but i'd say do what your comfortable with hun, as long as his not eating that much that its interrupting his lunch and dinner and his not vomiting from excess eating then he should be fine..

[Jellyfish]

My DD usually has 4 meals a day instead of 3 because her nap is in the middle of the day so breakfast around 7am, little lunch around 11am, big lunch after nap around 2pm, dinner between 6-7pm and then snacks in between although those are mostly breastfeeds! She eats quite a lot, I just give her as much as she asks.