Do you ever cut them off?

[dakotablue]

OK so DS is almost a year old. This morning he ate 2 count them 2 whole eggs. I mean minimal dropping so you could say 1 and 9/10 eggs.

I think he could have eaten more... he had maybe 10 puffs (organic corn puff cereal dry) then he ate 1 whole egg and asked to for then the next eggs then ate a few more puffs. He was getting antsy, but then he nursed after....

Do you ever cut your kids off from eating when more couldn't possibly fit? should I have pushed for a little more? I don't want to deprive but I eat two eggs for breakfast.


On a side note. DS actually said eggs today!! Once while waiting and then again when I questioned what he said

[CherryBomb]

Not usually. I figure they know if they're still hungry or not. If it's junk food, sure, because I know they'll eat that till they're sick (like Halloween candy). And if it's within half an hour of bedtime, too bad because it's time to start getting ready for bed.

[Fujiko]

There was actually just an interesting thread regarding this issue over in Adoptive/Foster Parenting. The long and short of it (removing adoption issues) is that some kids just need a LOT of food, and that you shouldn't restrict them normally.

My 8-month-old nearly out eats his 3.5 year old sister. She's always eaten like a bird, and he eats like a pig.

[Honey693]

Sometimes I'll see if DD will eat something else, but if she still insists on that certain food I don't take away food. She went through a phase when she was 18 months or so where she would eat 3 or 4 eggs every morning. It seemed really weird to me, but since then I've realised she'll go through food phases and eat massive amounts of a certain food at once. After the egg thing it was bananas, then watermelon, then cottage cheese.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, ds2 *routinely* eats more than ds1. DS2 is 13 months. DS1 is 3.5 yrs!!! Its kinda crazy, but no, in general I don't 'cut him off'... though at some point I'm done eating and unless he's really vocal about wanting more, I'll stop giving him more...

[jeanine123]

Nope. It usually only last for a few days to a week or so and then they're back to the normal amount of food. And a few months later I'm buying them new clothes or loosening up the waist band on their pants.

[Smokering]

My one-year-old nephew eats TONS - way, way more than DD did until quite recently, and possibly even more than she does now at 2.5. DD was a late/light eater, and a few months ago I was bragging to SIL about how she ate 3/4 of an avocado. She just laughed at me and said "DS eats a whole one!".

Oddly enough, her DS is very skinny - he just turned one and has barely doubled his birth weight. And DD, despite occasionally seeming to subsist on air, isn't skinny (or fat, just normal little-kid size). They're both fine, though. So... I'm inclined to think it doesn't matter too much. Some kids eat a ton, some don't; and I definitely wouldn't be worried about a kid on the eating end of the spectrum! Two eggs is fine. Full of choline, he'll have a good memory when he's older.

[umami_mommy]

my 3 year old eats way more than my 8 year old. i've seen her eat 3-4 hard boiled eggs or 7 (yup 7) pieces of bread with butter. i usually let my kids self regulate with food other than junk. which they can both eat too much of. it's not too much different than nursing on demand.

[organicmidwestmama]

my almost 2 year old just did this a few days ago, saying "more eggys" and ate two eggs and fruit and cheese. i thought it was awesome! i would "cut them off" on cereal puffs or the like though as those are kinda processed but im sure a few arent gonna do any harm.

[bonamarq]

well the only food i've had this problem with is blue berries - and I HAVE to cut her off or she gets sick....

So I think it really depends on the food and overall circumstances - when dd was 2 (and very verbal) we had a discussion about "sometimes our mouth says more but our tummies say no more - we need to listen to our tummies" because we all eat and eat something just because it tastes so good - I think this was surrounding Indian food (we all love it )

But eggs - I'd love to see her eat more of them!

[mommy212]

I haven;t restricted my baby ever, and his weight is fine. Their desires for food fluctuate, and I try not to let it worry me.The only thing my ds has ever over eaten in milk, which is rare as well, he really seems to have a good idea of what he needs to eat.

[Alyantavid]

No I don't cut them off. Well I will if it's junk food, but something healthy like eggs? No way.

My 4 year old regularly out eats his 8 year old brother. He's always eaten alot, it's just how he is. He's growing perfectly.

[Banana731]

I do. 2 eggs and fruit and toast is more than enough for an adult at a sitting, so it is certainly enough for a child or toddler who obviously has a much smaller stomach. Children go through growth spurts, sure, and if they need a snack again soon during certain times then fine. But I don't care if it's healthy or not, eating too much is a bad habit. It takes time to feel full after a meal, you have to learn to recognize the signals that your body is sending you and plenty of adults are not good at that, why would a child be an better at it. I don't think you can compare breastmilk and food, it's not the same.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Banana731

I do. 2 eggs and fruit and toast is more than enough for an adult at a sitting, so it is certainly enough for a child or toddler who obviously has a much smaller stomach. Children go through growth spurts, sure, and if they need a snack again soon during certain times then fine. But I don't care if it's healthy or not, eating too much is a bad habit. It takes time to feel full after a meal, you have to learn to recognize the signals that your body is sending you and plenty of adults are not good at that, why would a child be an better at it. I don't think you can compare breastmilk and food, it's not the same.

That's exactly why I let my kids decide when they're full, so they'll listen to their body and not just have to rely on someone else saying they've had enough.

[KatWrangler]

Depends on the food.

For some reason my kids will eat bowl after bowl of cereal. Same with Cinnamon Toast. Finally after the 3rd bowl of cereal or 4th piece of Cinnamon Toast, I will say Enough! Go play for a little bit.

[dogmom327]

We eat really nutrient dense food (no processed food) so the only thing I restrict is fruit as both my kids are addicts and that's the one thing they will make themselves sick on.

on the blueberries bonamarq! That's a dangerous one around here too!

[EdnaMarie]

At that age, I wouldn't unless my child would eat until vomiting (some kids actually do that). Of course, I don't mean candy or party foods. We do restrict fruit when we've gone beyond our daily budget, but that rarely happens unless they're eating it to the exclusion of other foods. It doesn't sound like your LO is doing that.

[Drummer's Wife]

Two eggs isn't too much, IMO. My kids will eat at least two eggs, several pieces of bacon, hash browns, toast, and fruit on the weekends when we make a big breakfast (which usually ends up being brunch).

They don't make thenselves sick, and my 2 middle boys at actually a bit underweight (they are tall and skinny).

Especially when we are talking about real, healthy foods, it's important to let our children listen to their own bodies. You don't learn about over-eating by having an outsider cut you off b/c it seems like a lot of food to them. That's silly!

[bonamarq]

Banana731 brings up a really good point - especially with say the 3 and up crowd - if they have an large amount of food and still want to eat - I encourage dd to wait a few minutes first - if after 15 minutes she still wants that 4th whole grain pancake (very dense) then okay, she can have it - but usually she eats two - is done for a couple of hours and may want more later (after some fruit of course).

And i have certainly see her eat out of boredom and that too is not a good thing... no hard and fast rules here - it's all very situational but we never struggle with it and dd is naturally quite slim

I try to be very careful about food as she is SO MUCH like my MIL and MIL has a long standing eating disorder (anorexia)

[Llyra]

The only thing I restrict amounts of is junky carbs-- sugar, refined flour. Those can be addictive, and it's hard to stop even when your stomach is telling you it's full. So I might say, okay, we're going to have one cookie, and then we're done. But I don't restrict whole, natural foods like eggs, vegetables, natural fats, dairy, fruit, etc. And if the cookies are gone, and somebody's still hungry, they can have more of something else.

Although if something is very expensive and a treat for us-- like uncured pastured ham, for instance-- I only cook a certain amount, and when it's gone, it's gone. That's different, though.

For the most part, I teach them (it's my mantra, actually, and even three year old DD can recite it), "eat until your belly tells you it's full, and then stop."