Is she really hungry?

[staceychev]

Alright mamas. Hit me with your opinions, even better if you have some links to share some info. Here's my question:

Is my small almost-five year old really hungry every three hours, or is she just a chronic snacker? Typically, this is how her day goes:

• 8 am: breakfast (usually an egg or sprouted grain toast with almond butter)
• mid-morning: snack at pre-k (I don't send this, so it varies)
• noon-ish: lunch (often a half almond butter and jelly sandwich, or mac and cheese, both with veggies and fruit)
• 2 to 3: another snack (current fave is pretzels, cheese, and an apple)
• 5:30 or so: begs for another snack even though I try to stall her--usually I give in (for example, she just ate some sunflower seeds)
• 6:30: dinner

She eats a variety of foods, mostly healthy, some indulgent.

So, the question is: is this a reasonable eating pattern that is serving her well, or am I setting her up for issues later in life? (I'm a bit paranoid about this, since I've struggled with my weight since my mid teenage years.)

[Mama Mko]

My son is almost 5 and that sounds very similar to how he eats. He also snacks all night long. I think it's good that he listens to his body and eats when he's hungry.

[pianojazzgirl]

That sounds like how my dd eats and all of her friends. Sounds 100% normal to me!

[elmh23]

Sounds like ours. We do breakfast at 7, snack at school at around 9:30, lunch at 11, snack at school between 1 and 2, comes home and has a snack around 3:45, dinner between 5 and 6 and there is often a snack around 7:30.

[staceychev]

OK--I feel better that I'm not screwing up her metabolism for all time!

[ssh]

Eating 5 to 6 times a day is much healthier than eating 3. The idea is to provide your body with fuel without getting very hungry. Eating once or twice a day really messes up your metabolism because your body 'thinks' there's a famine and your metabolism slows down so you won't starve to death. When you do eat, you're hungrier and overeat. Little ones natural eating patterns are much less like to cause obesity than our cultural 3 meals a day.

We let our DD completely self regulate her food intake and she usually eats 5 or 6 times a day. Sometimes she seems to snack all night, but it's things like strawberries and grape tomatoes. I'm surprised your DD doesn't want a snack before bed. Mine often just wants some veggie juice, but she goes to sleep easier if she has something.

[nextcommercial]

I'm on the daycare food program, and that's pretty much how often we are required to serve meal or snack. They always eat at those times, and are always hungry.

[One_Girl]

That sounds similar to what my dd did at that age except that she also had a light bedtime snack also.

[VBMama]

Sounds exactly like how we eat around here - 2yo, 3yo, 6yo, + me!

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by ssh

I'm surprised your DD doesn't want a snack before bed. Mine often just wants some veggie juice, but she goes to sleep easier if she has something.

I think it's because we eat late. She's usually is only up an hour after dinner, if even that.

[Llyra]

My kids are 5, 3, and 3, and they eat roughly six times a day, every two or three hours. So your DD sounds just fine to me. If you want to try and stall her until dinner, you might try making her mid-afternoon snack one that is particularly high in fats and protein, because those will keep her full longer.

[DevaMajka]

My ds would eat that on a light day. Other days he eats WAY more. Some meals he can eat more than I do! He's 5yo and 50lbs, though (skinny-ish and tall).

[LynnS6]

Sounds like what my 5 year old eats. Growing, active kids need a lot of fuel.

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

Overall it sounds fine. Breakfast doesn't seem like much. I would try and move the 2-3 snack later or split it up so she doesn't eat as much then and has some snack for later.

We also eat dinner at 6:30, K has his afternoon snack at 4. Even then he is sometimes hungry before dinner. But I make him wait. Of course he will be starving at 5 and when we eat dinner he will barely eat.

And I completely understand that being worried about future weight problems. DH and I both have weight issues and are very concerned about DS not having them.

[Alyantavid]

I'd say she is hungry. If mine only ate that much, they'd want to eat much more often than every 3 hours. But they're also huge eaters.

[mamazee]

I would feed her more breakfast, like instead of egg OR toast and almond butter, both, otherwise it sounds pretty good. But I find a large breakfast makes the rest of the day smoother.

[Grace and Granola]

That is exactly our eating schedule, minus the begging at 5:00, because we eat dinner at 5/5:30! If they don't eat a good dinner, then they might also have a piece of fruit before bed w/milk.

[phathui5]

If anything, you're setting her up with a healthy eating pattern for life. Fruit and/or veggies, some protein. It looks good.

[sapphire_chan]

Seems reasonable.

I would serve her larger portions at the meal times and then set the parts she doesn't eat aside as the snack though. Just because she's going to be growing and needing more so if she eats it all in one go, you know to make a larger lunch, etc.

[lonegirl]

It has been proven that eating small meals every 2.5-3hrs is much healthier for the metabolism than waiting and only eating 3 big meals. We are meant to be grazers and not gorgers.
I think for breakfast I would do egg and toast not or toast. I would probably up the protein overall to help fill her up between meals.
My son loves cottage cheese and fruit as a snack....the protein helps sustain the energy a little longer. He also love hummus on ww pita. For his mac and cheese....the base is box style (usually Annies organic) but I add to it real shredded cheese and a jar(toddler) of butternut squash or carrots for a veggie and dairy boost....it is his favourite way to have it.