13mo always wants food - normal behaviour, right?

My 13-month-old DS2 ALWAYS wants food. He normally gets:

brekky - 2 x weetbix, fruit puree on top, full cream milk
lunch - 1 x sandwhich (minus crus), tub yoghurt (normal size tub) or similar proportion of food
dinner - vegies and meat (mushed up cos that's how he likes it).
(also BF first thing in morning and last thing at night)

In meals between he'll usually have a jar of Heinz vanilla custard (he LOVES the stuff), fruit (watermelon or more fruit puree), cruskits or jatz biscuits. He can eat and eat and eat. In fact he eats twice the amount DS1 (33 months) does :o.

So (obviously) he eats well at his meal times, yet when he sees someone else with food he gets excited, screams, reaches out for it and puts up a real fuss - verging on a tanty. I joke that he's a "bottomless pit", but I'm really starting to wonder why he always wants more food, even after he's been well fed. If he's not in bed by the time we eat dinner, I even give him steamed carrot sticks, beans etc to keep him happy while we eat! At least he's getting his nutrients :p

He's tall and is around 11.5kg and is almost 13 months. But DS1 was never like this (he ate well at mealtimes and in between, but never threw a fit when DH and I had food).

My gut tells me it's normal and he's just a growing boy - but like today (after a solid lunch) he chucked a fair tanty when DS1 and I sat down to our lunch - 10 mins after DS2 had finished his. He wasn't at all happy (understatement :shakehead:) until I put a piece of toast in his hand.

Other than his obsession with having food in his mouth, DS2 seems a healthy, normal little fella. Maybe I'm just reacting like this because DS1 is a mega fussy eater who will barely eat anything on some days!

DD2is the same hun, DD1 WAS also, enjoy it, soon he'll be a nit picky little begger that will eat like a mouse

LOL Skybie! At the end of the day it is much more pleasant when they'll eat anything put in front of them!

definetly!!! i cant beleive the amount that goes into DD2's mouth sometimes, i know shes not gorgeing herself or anything because she always lets u know when she's had enough. DD1 on the other hand seems to live off air atm, with the occasional nutella sandwich!

He' still so young Andie :) I can see how it would worry you, being that he seems to get so upset about food when he doesn't have it but I'd give it time.

In all honesty I have a friend who has serious undiagnosed problems with her boy concerning food but he is now 4 and has been like it since maybe 2?? Certainly wasn't when he was younger.

Give it time, and you are feeding him good food, try not to worry. If he's still like it in a couple of years and will eat ANYTHING (even eggshells.....or raw chicken....ratsack) then I'd worry ;)

What an awesome appetite for a growing boy, he's probably using all of it in energy.

xxx

Hi Bec - good to have your input. Hmmm about the ratsack - he's trying to eat the mouse pad right now, does that count? :p

DS2 is certainly on-the-go ALL the time, so I guess the food converts to energy.

You have just described my DS at a similar age! There was a point where he was eating more than me, always wanted food! You had to hide if you wanted to eat lunch or something. Now he is 16 months and he's going through a picky stage, hardly eats a thing :D if it's not one extreme it's another!

Luke is 14 1/2 mths and he eats the same size meals as his 4 yr old brother plus has morning and afternoon tea, so yeah I thinks its just normal, its also so much easier from my point of view he will eat anything after 4 yrs of a picky eater its so nice to give Luke something and no it will be eaten :)

My DD is exactly the same, you could have been writing about her! Brekky is a bowl of porridge, a peice of toast and a banana, morning tea she gets fruit, lunch is what every 1 have, and the same amount! afternoon snack more fruit or steamed veg, and dinner is whatever i have. and thats not counting everything in between!!! Sultanas is a good one to keep her busy for about half hour, she eats them one by one, or a cruskit, fruit, arrowroot biscuits, those hinze bars, she always is eating something! she is about 11kg, dunno how tall tho...

Sounds very similar to your little man :)

My DD has been an eating machine since she started solids - she eats insane amounts! She's 13.5 kilos @ 19 months but is the height of the average 3 year old and there's not an ounce of fat on her (still has no bum!)...so yeah, they're just growing! I wouldn't worry about it at all.

You'll find his eating will settle down then start up again as he has growth spurts, that's the way DD goes.

Thanks gals - I guess I didn't think there was really anything seriously wrong with DS2, but hearing all of you say your tots are the same kind of normalises it.
As I said in an earlier post, DS1 is such a picky "eater" (I use the " " cos some days he'll barely eat anything) it really shows up DS2's appetite. We even have to keep the dogs in a separate room to DS2 in case he thinks they look tasty :D Yeah, I'm joking.

My DD2 is a little foodie (that what we call her) - she loooooves food of any kind. We took her to Macca for dinner once when she as 13 months old and she polished off nearly a whole cheeseburger happy meal by herself :o. My other two (who are 2 and 3) wouldn't even eat a whole Happy Meal between them. Needless to say, we haven't been in a hurry to go back.

I figure with DD2 (as with all my kids) - as long as I am giving them good food choices, then they can fill up on as many carrot sticks, celery sticks, raw green beans and fruit pieces as they like (DD2, who is now 15 months, has decided that she like eating WHOLE peaches and can finish one in about 5 mins).

She weighs a little more than my other 2 kids at the same age, but she is a baby still, she eats well and drinks plenty of water so I just leave her with it. If she was eating junk - like chips and lollies, then I would probably be uncomfortable about it but I don't give her those choices so I am okay with it. Her body obviously needs it if she is eating it.