Hunger.

[sunnygir1]

Mamas, I am SO hungry all the time.  My ds is 2yo, and I get hungry like I did when he was exclusively breast fed.  I eat a good and varied diet of vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, goat/sheep dairy, meat, and fish.  Due to ds' sensitivities (and my own) I am off:  gluten, cow dairy, eggs, tomatoes, chocolate, and a few other dibs and dabs.  I feel like I eat frequently and that preparing and cleaning up from meals and snacks for myself and the kids is a huge chunk of my day.  I was working on dinner just now and I totally ate a bunch of cold turkey slathered with hummus because I was so hungry and crabby I knew I wouldn't make it to dinner.  Do any of you get this crazy-hungry nursing an older child?  Any strategies that helped you?

[Mama Chickadee]

I have found that I am hungry almost as frequently as my little one (16mo), so I just make sure I eat whenever he does! Also, after having a sizable dinner, I put the kids down, and then frequently have another dinner (leftovers from a different night, or just another big serving of that night's dinner) I feel like a hobbit eating all the time, but what can you do?

I admit, I also will help myself to a big bowl of ice cream many times after my second dinner. Do you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or somewhere that sells coconut ice cream near by? Probably not the most healthy thing to eat ice cream on a regular basis, but it helps me keep my caloric intake up!