2 Issues I'm Seeking Advice For

Hi C.,

The eating sounds quite normal for a 2 year old. As long as you keep the snacks healthy and he is growing well, I don't think you'll have a problem.

My daughter never tried climbed out of her crib either and we wondered the same thing. We finally made he move when she was 2 1/2 and had no problems. We made her part of taking the crib apart and she got to play in her big girl bed all day. When it came time for bed, she crawled right in, because she was used to it from playing all day, and went right to sleep. Good luck!

The grazing is very normal at this age. As long as you are giving him healthy and you've truly got to be doing that, it's ok. Don't start giving in to junk because that only leads to bad habits. My nephew has always done that and he is 16 now and 6'8" so it's just how some kids eat, it's actually a better way to eat anyway.

As for the bed, keep him in his crib as long as you can. Otherwise you are looking at a looooong time of no sleep. At barely 2 years old, it is so hard to get them to understand the whole concept of staying in their bed. All my friend who did it early bad for it big time. We waited (had twins) until 3 1/2 and it was no struggle at all. They were old enough to understand what the deal was. Goodluck

My daughter turns 2 today. We finished her big girl room this week. Baby #2 is due in feb, so we wanted to be sure our daughter wasn't getting kicked out of her crib since she loves her crib. So, she is taking naps in her twin bed. We use a bed rail and she doesn't try to get out... I think it feels like a crib to her. If I wasn't pregnant, we would hold off on the transition.

As long as your son is eating healthy foods and thriving don't worry about his eating habits. If your concern is about sitting down as a family together at mealtime, keep him busy as the table with other things like drawing and such. Most nutritionists tell you it is better to eat 5 small meals through out the day then 3 large ones. So your son is actually doing better grazing then eating 3 regular meals. My boys eat three small meals with a morning, afternoon and sometimes evening snacks. My kids are required to eat everything at the table so as to avoid a major mess. But my boys can sit at a table for a longer time which is important for the few times we go out to eat at a resturant with friends and family. Good Luck

The best advice we got from our pediatrician (kids 3 yrs and 15 mos) was to let them eat according to their instincts. Our son, the 3 yr old, is much more of a grazer. He has always been a snacker. So, he gets bananas, cheese, etc. He's finally started eating more of a meal in recent months.
Our daughter will eat anything in sight and has the weight to prove it despite being a very active kid. They just have different instincts.
As long as they are gaining the right amount of weight and are on track developmentally, there really shouldn't be a problem.

As for the "big boy" bed. Same pediatrician said keep them in the crib as long as they're willing. For our son, that was almost 2 1/2 years. He wasn't trying to climb out, didn't hate being in there, and slept well. The advice was from a safety stand point.

The eating habits.... totally normal! All my kids went through that phase at that age. In fact, my youngest turns 2 next month and started doing that a few weeks ago. It'll pass soon enough. You sound like you're doing the right thing... just offer healthy food for meals and snacks. A child won't starve himself if he's offered a wide variety of healthy foods. It's your responsibility to prepare the food, his responsibility to actually put it in his mouth and eat it.

There are several factors in play here... 1) toddlers this age HATE to sit still. Just 5 minutes can seem like a lifetime. So they eat enough to stop the hunger rumblings and then they are off and exploring. 2) their small stomachs get filled quickly - they need between-meal snacks for this reason. Even if they ate well at every meal, they'd still need snacks to keep 'em going. Just keep the snacks healthy - like mini-meals. 3) their rate of growth plumments at this time. In the first year they tripled their weight, in the second year they still probably packed on 10 pounds or more. Now he's down to putting on just a few pounds a year - he simply doesn't need as many calories.

Kids are great at self-regulating how much food they need so follow his lead but offer healthy food.

As for the crib... don't fix what isn't broken! Experts say to keep kids in cribs until 3rd birthday. Many of my friends, and ourselves, made the move around 2.5 years old. Our youngest is in the crib and we have no plans to move her anytime soon. Now, if your son hated the crib and had sleep issues then making the switch might make it better. However, since he's fine there, leave him alone. As soon as you move him, you'll more than likely have issues at bedtime and naptime. They usually sort themselves out in a few weeks, or months, but why put yourself and him through that? Just leave him alone for now. My older kids gave up naps completely within months of moving out of the crib and they definately got shorter immediately (2 hours to 1 hour or even just 30 minutes). They'd wake up from their nap and crawl out of bed instead of just going back to sleep.

I think the grazing is fine. Maybe instead of providing snacks, he could eat the leftovers from his lunch or dinner.

We moved my daughter to a toddler bed right before her 2nd birthday. She wasn't climbing out of the crib, but we knew we were going to need it for the upcoming baby. I wanted to give her plenty of time to transition (Her birthday is in Feb and I'm due Aug 1). We never had any problems with her climbing out of bed at night. We made a HUGE deal out of it for about a week before we changed her bed over. I would say "Only 4 more days till you sleep in your BIG GIRL BED!" When we converted the crib to the toddler bed, I didn't tell her and when she saw it, she was SO excited! I think she fell out of bed once, but that was it. The only time we had problems was at nap time. She wanted to get up and play, but I just kept putting her back in bed. We recently bought her a twin bed and she's never had any problems with that either. If you're ready to transition him, I say go ahead. You can always give it a try and if it doesn't work, then go back to the crib and try again later. I'm betting he'll be just fine though.

My grandson was a grazer too and my daughter was worried about it. The pediatrican said not to worry about it, just let him graze all day and he will grow out of it. Well he is now 6 and has grown out of it and he's just fine. So keep doing what you are doing offering nutritional foods throughout the day.
On the second issue, I would not make the move until he is climbing out of his crib, it sounds like he's happy and secure it in for now. If you make the move too early it could be bad. So let him sleep in the crib until he can clearly get out of it himself then you will know it's time for toddler bed.

Your son is healthy and Happy, I wouldn't change a thing about his "Grazing". He is eating when "HE" is hungry and that is good. There are alot of children that over eat at meals , burn off the calories fast playing and then have to wait for the next meal to eat anything.A hungry child is a unhappy child.It sounds like you are doing a great job with him.I would make sure he stays at the table until every one else is done eating though and not going off to play.Eventually he will start eating more at the table and less grazing.
If your son is happy in the crib keep him in it until he does try to climb out.A big boy bed will come soon enough and I wouldn't waste your money on a toddler bed, they are over priced and the only real advantage to them is they sit lower to the floor.Many Mom's worry about a child falling out of bed, they sell guard rails and they are great.
You sound like a perfect Mom.Good luck on raising your perfect little man.

We would ALL Be much better off if we were grazers. I am. Your metabolism & energy levels are better. The body & its organs aren't taxed so much or have to work so hard when eating until full, etc. He's obviously figured out when he needs to STOP. Don't try and push it. You're better off eating 5-6 small meals rather than 3 larger ones. When I was competing, I was eating 7-9 times a day and my metabolism was off the charts. I'd have to get up between 1 & 3 a.m. to eat because I had stomach cramps and needed to eat something. I was in my mid 40's! Think about it......if you eat 150-200 calories 7 times a day, you're talking about 1400 calories max. It's easier to do, easier to plan for and work into your day and you don't over stress the body or get sluggish because you ate too much.

I know it can be frustrating, but it sounds to me like your son is listening and responding to his body's need for fuel. My doctor is a big proponent of eating several small meals throughout the day, rather than three big ones with snacks. As long as his diet is healthy and he's getting the nutrition he needs, I wouldn't worry about it. Reinforce the "Dinner time is family time" though, so he will understand that it's an important time for the family to be together and share the stories of their days.

I would keep him in the crib for as long as you can! Wait til he can either climb out of it or until he's 3-3 1/2 as stated by someone else. I would then skip a toddler bed and get him a twin bed. Don't waste your money on one of those side rails either! I roll up a sheet and stick it between the bottom sheet and mattress on the edge of the bed (other side is against the wall). He has yet to fall off the bed.

My son is and was the same. He is currently 4 yrs old and definately is a grazer. The only meal that I make him sit for is family dinner. We all eat as a family and we make him sit with us for a little bit. The older he is getting the more we have put our foot down with dinner. If he doesnt finish it he can finish it later but we do not allow him to eat something else later. He can only finish his meal. At 4 he needs to know that it is that or nothing. As far as the crib he was also in it till he was almost 3. He was not climbing out the only reason why we moved him was because we were expecting our 2nd. When we did move him there was no fight to keep him in bed. I think it was because he was old enough to understand. We made it a big deal we even let him go with us and "pick out his mattress". Hope that helps but I think there are lots of kids that graze and as long as you keep it healthy they will be fine!

Hi C.

I get where you are coming from with the eating issue. It is wonderful that you don't have the struggle like us at one point. Though I don't have any "great words" of advise I wanted to share something that has worked with several people I know. Typically kids don't like to "stop" and eat because they are too busy having fun with what they are doing, which is why they love snacks. They are quick and typically can go with them. If you are looking to do something a little "non-traditional" to keep things on the fun side (to no invoke power struggles) I am a Director for BabyCrazy and we offer this great game for just this reason. Here is the link. Not sure if you live in the Toledo area but if you do I can help you out with cheaper shipping if you want to add it to a party I am getting ready to close out in a few days. Here is the link to my website www.iambabycrazy.com/adecker and search for Play with Your Food - it is awesome and might be just what you are looking for.

As far as your bed question, we moved my son when he was 2 because baby was on her way and needed the crib. We had NO issues and it was a great transition. We had a few instances where he didn't want to stay in bed, but after reinforcing it a few times he figured it out.

Best of luck....
A.

grazing is actually really healthy, it will keep his metabolism steady and help decrease the risk of obesity.
we as adults think 3 meals a day at the table is what children should be eating... listen to your son, he eats when he is hungry, just keep giving him healthy foods and allow him to graze.
We could all learn something from children and their eating habits (those they form without the help or push of adults)

Our pedi. says that some kids are grazers and some are big meal eaters. Don't worry about it as long as it's all healthy. It's really better to eat 5-6 small meals a day than 3 big ones anyhow!

I'd wait until he tries to climb out or asks for a big bed.

Grazer: It sounds like you're doing a great job by giving him healthy food, which is most important. Every kid is different.

Bed: Our son was older than 2 1/2 when we switched him. LIke your son, he didn't have any issues with his crib, he slept well, and never climbed out. I recommend keeping them in it as long as possible if the above is true, but there comes a point when you're potty training or something that they need to have some freedom. Our daughter is 2.5 right now and she's still content in her crib. We are working on potty training, but I'm not ready to have her roaming around yet, and she's happy with her crib ;0)

PT work: You stated in your 'about me' section that you work PT but are looking for more work. If you're interested in working from home, I'd be happy to talk more with you and see if what I have available would be what you're looking for, as well as if you'd be a good fit on my end. Feel free to personal message me if so.