Always Hungry?

Kids this age don't have an emotional connection to food like we do! They eat when they are hungry. Simple as that. I wouldn't worry much at all. I've got 3 kids and all of them eat lots some weeks and not much other weeks. It all evens out. I would just provide healthy snacks and let her stop when she is full. She is totally normal!!

She may be going through a growth spurt? I felt like some weeks my daughter was just eating like a horse and then the next week she wouldnt eat very much. I would just give her a healthy snack if she is hungry again. When my nephew was one I couldnt believe how much he would eat. Sometimes he would eat more than me. He turned out perfectly fine and is not over weight. One year olds are pretty busy they can build up an appetite.

I think your daughter is just going through a growth spurt. In my opinion, it is harder as a mother when your child seems to eat nothing. Those days will come soon enough for you! And you'll wish for these days.

At one year old, many babies go through a growth spurt. My son never stopped eating! It seemed that he ate about five or six full meals a day. He is now 23 months, still in the 10 to 25th percentile for weight and the 90th for height. If she is hungry, feed her. If she knows that you will feed her when she lets you know she is hungry, there is less chance of her overeating... she will know that you respond to her needs and she will not feel the need to horde food.
Good luck!

I think that you are likely dealing with a little bit of 2 things here. I agree that you may want to look clearly at what you are feeding here. A waffle will usually be made of poor quality flour, not have much in the way of fiber which makes a person feel full. I'm sure you feed her other things though and that was just an example. But we could all use a little more variety and better quality food in our diets.

Aside from that, she's so young. She has discovered this new thing she really likes. It's fun, it feels good, she likes the chewing and the tastes.

There is a lot of evidence that grazing is ok and even a good way to eat. But to really graze healthy a person would need to eat like an ounce of cheese and a couple of high fiber crackers and that's it. Then a while later, a couple slices of fruit, but really only bites not a whole piece, something else like maybe some celery with peanut butter. But I know most won't give that to a child her age so I'm just giving an example of the variety you could try and give.

There are a lot of great variety in yogurt these days, even soy types etc. My 8 year old discovered soups and salads around 8 months and she became a big eater of almost anything. She liked lima beans, spinach, even raw lettuces which I totally dislike.

I've always bought the highest quality wheat breads with many grains and because we have so many kids in the house it's easy for me to slice up a sandwich for several kids. It might be harder to limit the portions with one little one. But I'm sure you are doing ok :)

Suzi

That amount of food sounds like plenty for a child her age. Since you just started her on table food maybe its much yummier to her than her other food so she wants more? Only let her have what youre giving her. If in a week or two shes still doing it, maybe she is hungry still. If you make it clear that she is to eat at dinner time and not after, she will eventually understand it and if for some reason shes asking for food when she isnt hungry, she will stop. If she doesnt stop, give her some fruit or something. I give my daughter dinner and then a bit later (30 min) she gets "dessert" which is usually a yogurt cup, some grapes, or a banana. I hope this helps!!

If you are giving her healthy food choices, and she is not "overweight" then she might just be fueling up for a growth spurt, which is what my daugther always did...ate like a horse for a few weeks, grew a half inch, then wouldn't eat for a couple of days.

Now...that being said...do you have some reason to worry about her blood sugar? the only problem I see if allowing her to eat tons of sugar...or all carbs and not enough protein.

But don't look at calories a day...or sometimes even a week...look at her overall health.

Feed her when she's hungry. As long as you're offering a variety of high quality foods, she will choose the quantity and foods that she needs. That's all you need to do.

how much protein does she get? kids can burn carbs pretty quick and not sure what the rest of her diet is but if she eats well and seems hungry then probably needs more protein in her diet. maybe peanut butter crackers would help fill her up at snack time. They do eat about every 3 hours.

my kids schedule went something like this
Breakfast when they woke up usually around 7 or 8
Lunch at noon
snack after they woke up from nap around 2:30
dinner at 5
snack at 8

I had one of those handy food choppers and would chop up chicken, pork chops, steak, and put on their plates to eat. They ate about everything we ate from the table.

maybe it's not the amount, but the quality of the food. maybe she needs some more protein or something more substantial - that would stay in her stomach a little longer. i've used those 'toddler meals' for my 1 year old, and still feed him the gerber dinners (which have some protein) with noodles that he can pick up (this is messy). sometimes i still spoon feed the dinners too.

Sounds like my daughter at times! We go through days of "little piggy" and days of her hardly eating much. I go by her signals. Our previous (great) pediatrician told us to take it "week by week" instead of day by day with nutrition balance and what she'll eat.
It could very well be a growth spurt, but something you might try is adding a some protein to each meal. Maybe add some yogurt, or cheese, meat, eggs, hummus, etc. That will help keep her sugars more stable and cut down on the quick return of hunger. The fruit and waffle, though good, are all carbs and break down and absorb very quickly. I can't wait to be able to give my girly peanut butter...a great, convenient, yummy protein!
Good luck. I'll be reading the other posts too!

she may be going through a growth spurt, who knows. just offer healthy choices as snacks and don't sweat it. usually my two year old would eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, at one year. it seemed to me like he was ALWAYS eating. but she's one, if she says she's hungry, she probably is. (keep in mind she may also just need some activity. my son is two and i've noticed if he's not doing something or if i'm busy and he's on his own, that's when he starts asking for snacks- it starts early i guess!)

That is great that she knows some signs! It really helps with communication and less frusteration on both ends:o) My boys go in sperts! They can go for several days of being bottomless pits and then they will go for several not eating as much. Little ones are going through growth intervals, let them eat when they need to. Everyone kept telling me to put mine on a diet when they were younger b/c they were "bigger" than all the other kids and were big eaters. I fed them as needed and they are now tall and at their target weight! Don't worry about the books and the "norm" just try to learn what your daughter needs for her, it will change, as soon as you figure one thing out, they are usually onto another stage.... Just try to keep up when you can:o)

Have fun!
S.

Just want to reiterate to feed her when she's hungry and just be sure to offer healthy options. Our 15 mo old eats constantly, and a lot of food, but she's only in the 50% for weight, so I know she's not being overfed. Although I have discovered this week that she has learned how to stall bedtime - already!?!?! - and one of her tactics is to say she's hungry. So if you think that might be a reason, what I've started doing is giving her a bedtime snack, and when she stops eating it, I know she's full. That way after we finish our bedtime routine about 15 min later, when she makes the sign for eat, I know she's not really hungry.

When she does that just offer her different vegetables. They can always use more of those! They won't overeat. Kids that age are great regulators on how much they need. If she was only doing it to get sweets, then it would be a problem.

I have a daughter who is 18 months old and she went through this when she was around 1 (and for a few months). The doctor suggested I make sure I'm doing "meal times" with her. So I made sure she was sitting in her chair for breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snack and dinner. Turns out she was just one of those kids who enjoys eating. After doing this several other moms and the doctor said some kids just eat more than others. if she's eating what you're giving her, let her eat it. Sounds like you're offering somewhat healthy choices. She may be going through a growth spurt. My little girl did grow out of that phase (as all the others I'm aware of). No worries...I'm sure your's will too.