My daughter is 22 months old, over 100% in height and weight and she is constantly preoccupied about food. She has breakfast, snack, lunch, pm snack and dinner and if we let her she would eat all day. Has anyone had this kind of problem or heard of anyone having this issue. She cries if she sees someone eating and it is a behavior that someitmes disrupts our activities. She swallows food as opposed to chewing it and she will pick up food from under the table when she is done eating.
It is a constant preoccupation that makes her be upset throughout the day, if you heard her cry you would think I never feed her.
We had to cut her food intake since the GI specialist said she was on her way to being overweight if I didn't watch what she ate (plus she had constant diarrhea which stopped when we monitored her portions-doctor had said diarrhea was from overeating). Any thoughts of advice on this?
I had my daughter evaluated for prader-willy syndrome. The moment that we came in the office, the geneticist said that my daughter seemed completely normal to him (he has a lot of experience with working with prader-willi syndrome kids) he did the initial evaluation but did not go ahead with further testing with my consent. Things have gotten much better, it turns out that this was a way in which my daughter manipulated us, the only area in which she was in total control. Seeing our reaction just made her do it even more. Now that we have set limits at stick to them, food is not the center of her world. Don't get me wrong she is a good eater, but now there are times in which she doesn't even finish all her food. Some days we have to cut her off, others we don't. Depends on her mood too, just like any other person. Anyway, we are much better now and thank you for all your responses. It helped a lot.
Have you talked to your pediatrician? I know there are disorders but not sure the names. Just from watching shows on TLC. Also, have her blood sugar checked. Maybe she's a diabetic. Not trying to scare you but I would talk to her pediatrician to see what he/she thinks.
Good luck!
N.,
If she is active the same way she eats, she will proportion herself out.
Have you every looked into maybe a parasite in the digestive tract...I don't want to scare you, but tape worms do the same behaviour. They make the person eat and eat. Don't know any more about it, but if the food is giving her diarhhea, you might want to look into it.
Hope this helps
J. F.
Hi Natalie-
I know that there is a condition where the body doesn't have the ability to realize it's full. People who have the condition want to eat constantly and actually feel like they are starving all the time. They did a special on it on Dateline or something and featured a girl about 10 or 11 who's Mom had to lock the cupboards because the girl craved food so badly. I can't remember the medical name but I would be surprised if that is your little ones case simply because you would think the doctor would have mentioned. Hopefully it's just another one of those crazy stages toddlers go through!
Your daughter sounds just like my daughter, she cries goes to the kitchen pulls things off the counter food, goes into the fridge it's awful. And if I dont give her a little somethng she will throw herself on the floor. She is almost 2 and she weigh's 50lbs. I have taken her to many different Dr. and actually just changed Dr.'s I still have NO answer's and I dont know what to do. Its like she is always HUNGRY. People are so cruel they look at me funny because of here size I forgot to mention she is tall also about the height of a 3 year old. Its not fun my back cant take it. It's hard to find clothes to fit her shoes to fit her and we now use pull ups. Can anyone help me one this?? Thank you Cris
This is always hard - you are getting the same advice from other that I would give on eliminating processed foods from her diet. She doesn't need juice or whole milk anymore so I'd focus on water or very dilute juice with 16 oz of skim milk a day. It sounds like her height is even with her weight and so that is great no matter what your GI says. One thing that might help is to allow your child to help in very small ways with food prep - let her help put yogurt in a small bowl and help count the apple slices that she can dip in the yogurt. Yogurt can help with loose stool as well. I would be concerned that she doesn't get some strange idea about food being bad or that she is bad because she is hungry so I would make food prep fun and talk alot about eating slowly - only eating at the table - anything to slow the process down. Good luck!!
I saw a show on tv where this child had this disorder and I can't remember the name but the child always felt hungry, like starving no matter what he eat. The parents had to put a lock on the fridge and there wasn't a cure but it was indeed a disorder. A very rare disorder. I'm not trying to freak out you out. I guess in the mean time just try and have lots of distractions during the day. Are you or the dad super tall or anything? If your child is well beyond the 100% maybe she really is that hungry. I would keep trying different doctor's and have tests done to eliminate any diseases, or disorders out there. When did this start to happen? Was she like this prior to eating table food? My daughter went through a phase at age one before she was really walking and would eat everything and was getting overweight, she started walking and evened herself out and no longer is as hungry.
N.,
I have a 4 yr old who and is still obsessed with food. From the day he was born, wanted to constantly eat. I would suggest calling me sometime so we could share our experiences. It does get better, but it's been a painful path, if you know what I mean.
My number is ###-###-####
T. :)
p.s. congrats on your new son!
Has she been checked for prader-willi syndrome? It's been on TV a few times, but it's a condition where the hunger signal doesn't work. I'm not a doc or anything, but it came to mind.
Hi Natalie,
I'm a stay at home mother of 10 (25 down to 4). Plus I'm a distributor of health products that in the last 3.5 years I've found to solve many everyday-family-related problems.
I'm also not all that far from you...we live in Eau Claire, WI.
Has your doctor mentioned anything about an enzyme-delivered multivitamin daily? Possibly your daughter physically is not getting truly fed from the food she eats? Would her snacks, etc. have sugar in them? A protein and vegetable based diet for a couple of weeks would stop those cravings.
You're so wise to be seeing this happen and seeking wisdom regarding it so early in your daughter's life....so many parents just let habits run throughout the child's teenaged years.
Hope this helps.
Let her eat!!!...but only nutritious foods. I worked with a woman who has her PhD in Public Health and her focus is on preventing obesity in children. She shared great information with me regarding eating. Children up to age 4 can regulate their own diets if given good choices. If you have a variety of healthy choices available, maybe that will help...??? I would try having a toddler buffet available of acceptable foods. If everything is pre-cut, etc... it will ease your involvement during her snacks! I'm sure you have your hands full loving your new baby. Congratulations!!
Toddler buffet ideas:
Cut up chicken or other meats
sliced hard boiled eggs
chopped fruits
frozen peas
chopped vegies/salad
raisins or other dried fruit
cheese shreds/shapes/chunks
mini pb and j
whole grain bread with butter (cookie cutter shapes are fun)
Natalie,
Make sure all junk foods are put away. If she's hungry all the time, keep out raw veggies like carrots, celery or fruits so she can much on them during the day. Keep any foods such as candy, desserts, chips etc out of sight. Work on changing her diet to healthy foods, her digestive system will change too. No juice containing sugars, and please don't give your child pop/soda. Keep her active as a toddler should be and she should be just fine. Maybe she's hitting a big growing spurt right now. If you think her tummys full and she cries for food, get her focussed on other things that she likes.
She'll be fine.
Good Luck.......
Has your doctor checked your daughter for PICA? It is worth checking into.
I have watched a boy in the past who did not ahve a sense of satisfaction, he ate and ate and ate, He just kept asking for more pizza I finally cut him off. Later to find out from the parents about his problem. I would talk to your doc
