How Much Food Do You Feed Children Who Want More....

[nannyde]

I agree with this. If this is a neurotypical child, there's really no reason to restrain his hands. I think that would be in violation of something. The child's rights if nothing else.

Nah it's not a restraint. 50 years ago it would have been considered abusing a parent and child's right to put them in a car seat. Now we have five point harnesses and laws that require it.

There's times when it's in the kids best interest to block. Here are some examples of situations I've found the mitted shirts to come in handy.

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23121&highlight=shirt

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16686&highlight=shirt

[nannyde]

Whats the general time to feel full? Is it still 20 mins?

I have always stalled the kids a bit with their meals. I know my ds is saying "i want more when I'm done" before he even eats what he has. So I say finish what you have first.

Then He says I want more please, and I stall for a few minutes.

I know when I eat slow, I eat a lot less and don't feel too full afterwards, whereas the faster you eat, the more you stuff in, and then about half hour later I am almost sick I've eaten too much and feel like my tummy is going to explode. I imagine this is no different for a kid especially considering the size of their stomach. The more you shove in, the more you stretch it out, the more you need to fill it next time.

Taking time and pacing meals is something that kids that age group don't really get. Once they HAVE the experience of a slow steady meal day after day they get it.

[nannyde]

Love it!! For lunch I gave him a big boy sticky bowl with a grip spoon. He doesn't use spoons to often..just his hands to aid him so today he loved having a spoon and it took forever for him to eat but it def. slowed him down and by the time his food was gone he was very clean. Hands were not so messy and face and hair!! I also made sure that he had one food item at a time. He is ashually such a good eater. We are not on the food program but bc my family eats healthy all the kids here do as well. We love those steamers...you know the ones with broccoli and carrots with cheese and pasta? I also get the single servings of corn and veggies they sale at the grocery store. My kids love them...not to mention my family does too. Makes it simple to serve. As far as his sippy...he has the playtex long spouted cups that have 2 little holes at the top. It also has the stoppers inside to slow down drinking but he is still gusseling like he's downing it. Do you think I should take that part off? The kids are good about putting there cups back up on the table after they have finished taking there sips of it?...

Yeah the spoon trick is good too. I have a Bob the Builder thick chunky spoon from when ds was little that works with some of them. Specially if they love Bob.

I've used a dolly once too. I had one little girl that loved this little cloth doll I had and we would let her hold it (clung to it) during her shovel horking phase.

Same principle. You can do mittens or gloves... whatever... just something in/on one hand to redirect the traffic

[Christian Mother]

Yup, solved my problem totally...and you know what...he didn't poop right after eating...I notice that if he over eats he poops right after. Parents think I am nutz but I tell them that I can tell if they over eat...my fault of course bc I gave more then he could eat.

[nannyde]

Yup, solved my problem totally...and you know what...he didn't poop right after eating...I notice that if he over eats he poops right after. Parents think I am nutz but I tell them that I can tell if they over eat...my fault of course bc I gave more then he could eat.

Yes it really helps in that department. If you have a kid this age who is gassy and fussy and miserable after eating DEFINITELY look at the pace and bite size.

When you look at their poopies and see chunky undigested bits then that's another indication that they need to slow down and CHEW their food. Doing a slower intake of food just naturally results in them keeping what's in the mouth in the mouth longer. The longer it's in ... the longer they chew.

It would be like us eating a foot long sub sandwhich in three minutes.

Let's say you had someone feeding you. They give you a bite and then in a split second they present the next bite to your mouth. What would you do? Swallow quickly to take the next bite.

They don't have the ability to know THEY are doing all four jobs... picking... putting in mouth... chewing... then swallowing.

So if you tackle and take over even one part of the process it naturally slows the other three down. It only takes a short time to get them used to just managing one bite at a time at an even pace.

[nannyde]

Another thing that helps is making flat bits. Squishing their bits to be pancake flat slows them down too.

[QualiTcare]

Unless he is unusually heavy, I would let him eat what he wants. If he showed signs of a glandular problem, the parents would need to have it checked out, but if it's just normal development, let the kid eat!!

I, personally, would never bind any child's hand to prevent them from eating the amount their body needs that day. Please check with the parents if you have a concern over the amount he is eating before you take any harsh measures.

Edited to add: If SPEED of eating is the problem, I would just give him smaller amounts at a time. He can have more, but don't give him a whole lot at once. And if it were me, I would probably remind him throughout the meal "slow down please".

i agree - kids aren't like adults. they eat when they're hungry and stop eating when they're full for the most part. the idea of binding hands or "a hand" makes me nuts. i would HATE that so i wouldn't do it.

anyhow, it could very possibly be that he's only eating at daycare. if he goes home, takes a bath, and then goes to bed without eating (which is possible, especially if you tell mom how much he's eaten at your house) and then comes to daycare without eating breakfast at home first (which is also very common) that's 12 or more hours he would've gone without a meal. i could be wrong, but i don't see a kid so young eating that much without being hungry.

[momatheart]

We do not do seconds they are served what is the amt they should have for their age and I feel this teaches them portion control.

They get morning snack/lunch/pm snack. That is it.

[SilverSabre25]

I never withhold seconds (or thirds, or fourths....) of veggies, so long as I still have some prepared. Fruit I almost never do seconds; main dish/starchy sides depends on how much I have left.

I do have a rule that you have to eat some of everything before you get more of anything...sometimes I'll say yes to seconds IF you take one more bite of usually the main dish. If I didn't have such picky eaters (mine being the main exception, she's the furthest thing from picky) I wouldn't have these rules in place, probably.

I'm in the camp of figuring that if the child is still wanting to eat (within reason!), he is probably still hungry. I might have the kids wait a few minutes between servings, or make sure they're drinking enough water, or something like that.

[nannyde]

I, personally, would never bind any child's hand to prevent them from eating the amount their body needs that day. Please check with the parents if you have a concern over the amount he is eating before you take any harsh measures.

I would never bind a childs hands either. Mitten one of them for a short period of time and rotating the sides back and forth is the technique. Saying it is binding them is like saying we bind them when we put mittens on them to play in the snow.

You have managed to take a really simple technique that works really well and doesn't bother the child in any way and turned it into binding and cruelty. Do you think it is cruel to put mittens on a kids hand when they play out in the snow? My kids play out in the snow and have BOTH hands mitted for up to an hour. Is that cruel? Should we just not have them play in snow because it might damage them to have their hands bound with mittens?

Do you think it's cruel to put kids in car seats in five point restraints or strollers with five point restraints? We are... after all.... binding them into the seats?

You suggest just giving him small amounts but that shows you are not getting what she is saying. He will just have a slow down in between what is given to him not bite to bite. It makes the adult be involved in his every bite to bite where my technique allows the adult to do full servings of food at one time.

Would you suggest that children should not be in strollers because they are restrained? Wouldn't it be best for the parent to just HOLD AND CARRY the kid instead of pushing around a restrained kid? That's the same thing you are saying here. It's better for the adult to be involved in every bite to bite instead of having something that does not harm the child in ANY WAY like being strapped into a stroller, high chair, car seat, or having mittens on in the cold.

[QualiTcare]

i don't think comparing carseats or even mittens is the same as a one handed mitted long sleeved shirt which from previous posts i assume you mean a shirt where the bottom of the sleeve is sewn shut? i think that'd be about the same as trying to eat with one hand tied behind your back - very uncomfortable - effective or not.

for the record, i hate mittens. i hated using them even on my own kids when they were newborns to keep them from scratching themselves. they make pretty tiny gloves these days so any child old enough to really play out in the cold and/or snow would be able to wear gloves.

it's just a personal preference and whatever floats your boat.

[jen]

I haven't read all the posts, but I just want to throw something out here for you...

I have a son who is ADHD...he WILL eat until he throws up. I have no idea if it's a part of his personality or if it is related to his ADHD, which seems entirely plausible, but some don't seem to recognize when they are full.

[nannyde]

I haven't read all the posts, but I just want to throw something out here for you...

I have a son who is ADHD...he WILL eat until he throws up. I have no idea if it's a part of his personality or if it is related to his ADHD, which seems entirely plausible, but some don't seem to recognize when they are full.

Of course there are many situations where children will overeat and it is harmful to them to eat at a fast pace or eat more quantity then they would if they were given the tools to slow down.

[nannyde]

i don't think comparing carseats or even mittens is the same as a one handed mitted long sleeved shirt which from previous posts i assume you mean a shirt where the bottom of the sleeve is sewn shut? i think that'd be about the same as trying to eat with one hand tied behind your back - very uncomfortable - effective or not.

for the record, i hate mittens. i hated using them even on my own kids when they were newborns to keep them from scratching themselves. they make pretty tiny gloves these days so any child old enough to really play out in the cold and/or snow would be able to wear gloves.

it's just a personal preference and whatever floats your boat.

Nah...

They are super comfortable and have no ill effects whatsoever. It's just loose thin cloth over their fingers for a short amount of time. They are way more comfortable than mittens.

It is the same principle as putting them on newborns to prevent scratching. Perfect example. It's a cloth block for a short amount of time... minutes in this case... that can be switched easily from side to side (even during the meal by switching back to front TO front to back).

It's a DIFFERENT method than is currently done but it has ZERO affect on the child other than it helps reroute the food traffic, decreases the amount of food taken in at one time, increases the liklihood of longer chewing periods, and gives their own body a chance to recognize when they have had enough. Win win... no negative whatsoever.

Once they establish a slower pattern of eating and a longer pattern of chewing then it isn't needed. Just a transitional tool for that few weeks of double fisted horking the food down phase.

[dEHmom]

I'm not discarding what Nan has suggested, I personally haven't done it, probably will not, but that's my choice.

I use the highchair when I am doing dishes, to keep baby where I can see him, safe and content with a toy, or a snack (depending on what time it is).

I always get the chunky babies, who shovel food in their face and 90% of it ends up in their lap or on the floor because they shovel it so fast, and their hands are so chubbed that they cannot pinch the food.

By slowing them down, with whatever method you use, whether it be mitted, small portions and making them wait in between, or any other method, they begin to enjoy the food a lot more, slow down on their own, and slowly they lose some of that chub, and become alot more active.

I find the chubs prefer to sit in one spot for the majority of the time they "play" but the less they eat the more active they become. And the less chubby they become too.

I'm not in the weight loss program here, but I keep the kids active, and many babies when first starting (yes I totally understand developmental stages ie crawling, walking, running etc) are mainly a bump on the floor. Then they quickly, very very quickly begin crawling, walking, and then running , usually within a 1-2 month period. And it does not matter if I've received them at 7 months or 1 yr.

Edit: by Chub I am not refer to little chubby babies, I am referring to BIG chubby babies. They are adorable rolly pollies, but they often cannot do for themselves what they should be doing. And I don't have any proof or not, because we will probably never know, but I have a feeling these kids, if they don't lose that "chub" by at least 1 1/2 yrs, are in for a very hard life.
Meat on the bones is great, but if it's hanging over their belt, or they have muffin tops, it's a little too much, IMO