How do you keep your ds's full?

[MrsBear]

I must be the mean mom. My kids are a healthy weight, fairly active and they only get a small snack between lunch and dinner and something small after dinner before bed. On a rare occasion if they are "starving," I will offer a small handful of almonds or peanuts if a meal isn't any where near. Other than that, they are fed appropriate amounts of food at meals that their caloric intake is enough. Little kids eventually turn into little men without the high metabolism and learning portion control is the key to not gaining weight later in life. I can't believe any child is so active that they need 3 whole sandwiches between meals. That sounds like boredom eating.

 

Growth spurts can do it too.

 

DS7 just shot up from 49" to 52" in less than four months. In the weeks leading up to that growth spurt through it, he was eating like a truck driver and in one day, somehow managed to eat six - SIX - hard boiled eggs in addition to everything else he ate! I was shocked!

 

At his height and weight (54 pounds) he has a BMI of 14.1 (9th percentile). On the growth charts, he's now 51st for weight and 88th for height.

 

His eating had nothing to do with boredom and everything to do with needing the calories to grow and maintain his level of activity.

 

His eating level isn't the only thing that changes when he is going into and through a growth spurt - he also sleeps like crazy too, much longer each night than usual. Normally he'll sleep about 10 hours, if he's in a growth spurt, that easily goes to 12 hours a night, then normalizes again, as does his calorie requirements.

[Mama_Rana]

If my DSs are anything like their father, no, they won't have to worry about watching their portion control as adults either. DH is almost 6'4" and barely 150. He weighs less than me on my 5'4" frame. :glare: Ask me how happy I am about that?

Elder DS is stick thin like his Daddy. Younger DS is /slightly/ less gumby-like. He's not as off-the-charts tall as his big bro, but still tall for his age. And not as skeleton bony, but I still have a hard time finding pants that are LONG enough without being huge on the waist. [He just weighed himself on my scale, and it said 32 pounds, but I don't know how tall he is].

Both boys go through ebbs and flows of eating and turning their noses up. Elder DS is apparently about to shoot up another inch or so cuz he can't get full enough. I'm shocked he hasn't asked me for food in a few hours. Younger DS is taking a bit of a break right now. He eats some breakie, nibbles at lunch, maybe has a snack cuz his bro does, and then eats some of his dinner.

They know when they are hungry; they don't have time to be bored.

[runmiarun]

When we went to the pediatrician for my ds1's 6 year well-check, the ped mentioned him being "husky" for his size. He weighs 52 lbs and is 56" tall. The ped, thankfully, said he wasn't worried since he could easily count his ribs and looked "too skinny". After asking about his diet, he suggested adding more proteins to his diet. We're working on that since ds1 thinks Italian sausage is the only meat that exists. Ds2 is a grazer. He'll eat a big meal for his 3 main meals and lots of little meals throughout the day. If we buy fruit, we're lucky to have it last past the first day. He's in constant motion and needs lots of snacks. If he doesn't get regular snacks or gets too hungry between meals, he'll start vomiting.

 

It would be nice if grocery prices would go down just a little bit.

[MrsBear]

When we went to the pediatrician for my ds1's 6 year well-check, the ped mentioned him being "husky" for his size. He weighs 52 lbs and is 56" tall. The ped, thankfully, said he wasn't worried since he could easily count his ribs and looked "too skinny". After asking about his diet, he suggested adding more proteins to his diet. We're working on that since ds1 thinks Italian sausage is the only meat that exists. Ds2 is a grazer. He'll eat a big meal for his 3 main meals and lots of little meals throughout the day. If we buy fruit, we're lucky to have it last past the first day. He's in constant motion and needs lots of snacks. If he doesn't get regular snacks or gets too hungry between meals, he'll start vomiting.

 

It would be nice if grocery prices would go down just a little bit.

 

Husky?

 

At 4'8" tall and 52 pounds, he's less than the 5th percentile for BMI for goodness sake!

 

He's in the 97th+ percentile for his height for age and 81st percentile for age in weight......he's TALL and his pediatrician (pardon me) is an idiot if he's saying he's husky based on his weight chart by age and not looking at your kid's BMI.

 

---rant off---

[momtoamiracle]

I agree - that child does not sound husky!

 

my son is 49 in tall and 51 lbs and he is very thin. If he were taller at that weight he'd REALLY be thin!

 

I can't believe a dr said he was husky... 56 tall for a 6 yr old is very very tall!

[Jenny in Florida]

And not as skeleton bony, but I still have a hard time finding pants that are LONG enough without being huge on the waist.

 

Don't get me started on buying pants.

 

My son has been wearing size 29x32 jeans. They are still a little big in the waist, but they work with a belt. We're lucky if we can find one or two pairs of them in any store at one time.

 

A couple of days ago, we noticed that they are too short, because he's gone and grown again.

[Pod's mum]

Chiming in late, (because I'm already in tomorrow).

We always had trouble keeping 'emtpy kilojoules' up to my eldest child.

Some things that worked were adding full-cream milk powder to her drinks and adding cream and butter to whatever we could, especially mashed potatoes.

I used to make savoury scones (is that what you call 'biscuits'?) with added milk-powder, butter, bacon, grated cheese, and spinach. (I even used to buy lard and add that to these and other cooking.) She loved them and could grab a couple from the freezer and zap them when ever she liked, especially breakfast.

She eventually had a gastrostomy button for high kilojoule night feeds to keep up the energy requirements which made life much easier and less food orientated. But obviously I would NOT recomend that for your hungry lads.

 

I have a younger lass, without the same issues who has gone from being a 'scrawny, fruit-browser' to a hungry child who finishes big meals. Lately she alternates between deliciously round and then growing inches in months and getting scrawy again.

Due to her sister's energy needs, we've always had a saying in our house of trying to be "Fat and beautiful, like mummy".

Which they've never seen as funny, but is.

I'm neither.

 

Tracey, 'fat and beautiful'

[HLDoll]

This thread scares me. I just delivered my 4th boy this week and the oldest boy, age 8, is just starting to really rev up his eating...

We already eat a lot of eggs, beans, veggies, but I've never used protein powder. I'm paying attention to these tips!

[runmiarun]

Husky?

 

At 4'8" tall and 52 pounds, he's less than the 5th percentile for BMI for goodness sake!

 

He's in the 97th+ percentile for his height for age and 81st percentile for age in weight......he's TALL and his pediatrician (pardon me) is an idiot if he's saying he's husky based on his weight chart by age and not looking at your kid's BMI.

 

---rant off---

 

 

I actually get told by every doctor or nurse that sees him that he is "husky". :glare: When we were on WIC, the nurses at our quarterly appointments would remind me to give him more fruits and vegetables and stop giving him so much milk (he refuses to drink milk) and juice (he hates juice). In their estimation, he was gaining too much weight and starting to trend towards obesity. I literally laughed at one of them, sweet though she was. He's wearing size 8 clothes. I have learned to smile and pass the bean dip when it comes to his size. If only I could learn to do that about other things....

[justLisa]

:lol: He is 5. Just wait. This literally just started with my boys. It really hit home when I opened the fridge and saw NOTHING left in there :001_huh:

 

 

 

 

 

You can't hear their stomachs growling when its boredom eating. Ds now 7 1/2 was on a super high calorie diet for almost 2 years because he was dangerously underweight. (he was 5-6 and supposed to eat 3000+ calories a day. For a young kid that is a TON of food but it had to be certain percentages of different food groups- if that makes sense) I have to constantly moniter his weight just to be sure he doesn't loose again. As is right now without him sucking anything in you can count every single bone in his back and spine. Its kinda gross. He actually lost 2 lbs the last 3 weeks. If he gets down to a certain weight I have to get him back on higher calorie again (meaning more than what he eats now :001_huh:). I don't think with some kids it about being active (though yes, my boys are VERY active, but so are dd's) I think they just have crazy fast metabolisms.

 

This thread is actually giving me a little piece of mind. I commend mom's who don't lock the cupboards and fridge. My mom grew up that way, and she was always parranoid about being hungry and used to hide food. SHe was a STICK growing up.

 

I actually have the opposite. I have a boy, who would definitely be "overweight" by pediatrician standard, but we don't see one. Our family care provider is fantastic. DS has very broad shoulders just like dad, and my dad (we are Polish), and he is only ever so slightly chubby in the tummy. He is 4'4" 7.5 yrs old, so very high on the chart for height. He is VERY active, works a TON outside, is helpful in mowing the yard and any laborous activity that he thinks will help mom :D. He's not really a snacker, but eats big balanced meals and drinks only water, or homeade soda water.

 

What am I supposed to do when HE tells me he's starving? FEed him boneless skinless chicken and dry toast? No way. I stopped worrying about it. We eat super healthy, whole foods, and I DO give him the well deserved bowl of ice cream on friday nights and what not. He always thins out big time around summer, which is what happens to me. I am usually super super skinny, but I gain up to a size 2 every winter.

 

Feed the children when they are hungry!!

 

BTW, one thing I do is keep a bowl of dried fruit and nuts on the table. Sometimes I notice kids just feel like constantly chewing food LOL. Or a big bowl of popcorn. That takes a while to eat.

[LisaKinVA]

This thread scares me. I just delivered my 4th boy this week and the oldest boy, age 8, is just starting to really rev up his eating...

We already eat a lot of eggs, beans, veggies, but I've never used protein powder. I'm paying attention to these tips!

 

The best tip is replacing low-fat versions of milk, oils, fats, etc. with full-fat versions (not the fake hydrogenated trans-fats though). Increasing protein is great, but kids will get hungry without the fats to satiate.

 

Also, making some cheese-based veggie dips are good (I made one this week using goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper...kids will eat that with broccoli, cucumber slices or celery). You can also make your own "nut-butter" dips adding powdered milk and honey. My kids also like a thick yogurt cheese (again made with whole milk) mixed with some honey, vanilla and cinnamon to dip fruit into.

[Mrs Mungo]

Bumping. :)

[HLDoll]

The best tip is replacing low-fat versions of milk, oils, fats, etc. with full-fat versions (not the fake hydrogenated trans-fats though). Increasing protein is great, but kids will get hungry without the fats to satiate.

 

Also, making some cheese-based veggie dips are good (I made one this week using goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper...kids will eat that with broccoli, cucumber slices or celery). You can also make your own "nut-butter" dips adding powdered milk and honey. My kids also like a thick yogurt cheese (again made with whole milk) mixed with some honey, vanilla and cinnamon to dip fruit into.

 

We do full fat dairy, and I add coconut oil to dishes like oatmeal. I'll have to think about where else i can slip it in. They love hummus and veggies, and I make a fruit dip with homemade yogurt, pumpkin and spices. It's just hard to keep them full sometimes!

[starwarsmomma]

My 12 year old son is in a growth spurt right now. For about 6 months, he's been eating TWO full breakfasts, TWO full lunches, and TWO full (heaping) dinners. Plus snacks.

 

And he eats healthy. breakfast is oatmeal, eggs, bagels, bacon, fruit... etc...

 

He also grew 5 inches this month alone, and I think he's still growing.

 

 

Not to distract from the topic-- but have you ever seen a puppy that has a tiny puppy body and HUGE paws? That's my 12 year old. Suddenly he has these thick calves and feet and super skinny body. Hubby SWEARS it's his body getting ready for another growth spurt-- like the puppies that have the feet grow first and the body catch up... weird. Anyone else ever have this in their kids? It looks weird. LOL

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

 

Not to distract from the topic-- but have you ever seen a puppy that has a tiny puppy body and HUGE paws? That's my 12 year old. Suddenly he has these thick calves and feet and super skinny body. Hubby SWEARS it's his body getting ready for another growth spurt-- like the puppies that have the feet grow first and the body catch up... weird. Anyone else ever have this in their kids? It looks weird. LOL

 

 

 

:lol: This made me LOL!!!