Matthew can eat. And eat. And eat. People keep telling me that babies know when they’re full and will stop eating, but we’re not sure that that’s the case with this particular child. He seems to play with his food when he’s winding down, but he’ll still eat if you put something new in front of him.
This has caused me much concern because I don’t want to do anything to cause my child to have a weight problem. I weigh Matthew a couple of times a month to make sure I’m not plumping him up unnecessarily, and the scale tells me I’m not. Heck, his clothes tell me the same thing. If it weren’t for his cloth diapers, his 12-18 month shorts wouldn’t stay up. His 100% PALEO diet is treating him very well (so why, then, can’t I get back on the wagon?).
Matthew is starting to be picky about what he eats, but will eat plenty (and plenty more) of the foods he loves. He usually loves carrots, he could live on all fruits, he devours cottage cheese (of the whole milk variety = so good!) and plain baby yogurt, and he inhales avocados and tomatoes. He will pretty much eat any meat you put in front of him – in fact – we have not found a meat/fish/poultry item he won’t eat with great gusto. He does not like green beans or zucchini and will turn his nose up at them if you even think of putting them on his plate. Besides those two veggies, he seems to eat everything.
I wonder if we feed him too much food.
You tell me.
Before (half a chicken breast, 1/4 avocado, 1 medium carrot, 2 brocoli/cauliflower flowerets):
During (“Yummy!”):
After (1/2 carrot, 1 brocoli/cauliflower floweret) – and all of this was picked up off the floor:
I am so proud of how he eats, but I am exhausted after every meal. Keeping up with him – keeping food on his plate – can make a person crazy. He eats fast like his mother and doesn’t like to see an empty plate. HA!
(side-note – I am going to be out of town this weekend, attempting to purchase a vehicle. I will be reading your posts but not commenting because commenting via phone is insanely difficult.)
All the Sun For You 
September 7, 2012 at 7:23 am
I feel like Chloe is the same way, and honestly she’d probably eat every bit of what was on his plate, if not more. She has started the whole dropping-on-the-floor thing which is super frustrating, but if she really likes something, hardly any gets dropped. Most times we make her about the same amount of food for each meal, but if it’s been a while since she’s eaten, she didn’t eat much the previous meal, or just still seems hungry, we’ll give her more. Do you feed him the cottage cheese and yogurt on a spoon or does he do that? I don’t know when to start having Chloe try to use her own utensils. Good luck with the car!!
September 7, 2012 at 9:18 am
So, obviously I am insanely jealous because the “after” represents the actual amount of food my kid ingests in a day. Seriously. I don’t know how he is alive.
What kind of plate is that? Does it actually stick down? The ones I have tried HGB figures out how to dislodge in about 8 seconds.
September 8, 2012 at 4:45 pm
SRB, I’m with you on the child eating like a bird. I hate going to the doctor and getting her weighed. Courtney, good for Mathew! Don’t forget the insane amounts these little beings are growing!
September 7, 2012 at 1:37 pm
I think the amount of food seems completely fine! You’re feeding him such healthy stuff – I wouldn’t worry about it! The doc will tell you if he gains too much weight. If that doesn’t happen, don’t worry about it. Don’t you love the Bjorn bib? Alex has one, and at the end of each meal she searches through the stuff that fell in the trough, looking for more food…
September 7, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Stella easily eats that much in one sitting, and she is 9 months old. I don’t think it is concerning at all!
September 7, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I’m glad you posted this because our girls easily eat that much (each) at every meal and I was wondering if it was normal! They’ll go through 1/4-1/2 an avocado, a whole chicken thigh, 2oz of green beans and 2+oz of fruit in one sitting, easily. Does Matthew drink a lot of milk? We have a couple of milk haters here (I’m shoveling loads of yogurt into them daily to make up for the calcium) and our dr. said that they may eat more than some other kids their age because they’re getting most of their fat and calories from whole food sources (rather than drinking it in milk form).
September 7, 2012 at 6:42 pm
That is an awesome healthy meal and he did great!! You should feel really good 🙂
September 10, 2012 at 4:07 am
Yay! That’s so great that Matthew is such a fabulous eater! Sofia is also an eater and could put all that away _(and more). At daycare in the baby room she routinely ate all of her veg&protein purre (1.25c) , a plain yogurt cup, a few ounces of whatever the “big kids” meal is (maybe 3oz of fish or a good sized piece of lasagna), plus a piece of bread and a banana. She even steals the food from the other kids. And she’s still solidly in 9-12 month clothes (at nearly 15 months!). Everyone always says, “you’re so lucky, you don’t know how stressful it is to have a kid that won’t eat.” I just smile because, no, obviously I don’t. But I do appreciate how easy meal time is.
September 10, 2012 at 7:33 am
This is good to read. I have gotten lots of, “he’s a chunky boy” comments from our elderly neighbors and it’s because of his cloth diapers (they do make his butt look large – ha!) but then that makes me wonder if I’m just blind and am plumping my child up unnecessarily. He tracks perfectly with his clothin sizing and weight charts, so I just need to relax!
And you’re right – it’s way easier having a good eater than a child who won’t eat.
September 10, 2012 at 7:58 am
We’re just so sensitive! I sometimes get comments about Sofia’s belly (which I love and think is perfect) and it makes me cringe as if she’s… fat. And I know she’s not. But the insecurity is there.
September 10, 2012 at 10:55 am
Yeah, I agree with everyone. I wouldn’t worry about it at all. It’s amazing that he eats so well… both quantity and quality! It’s great. And kids don’t “emotionally” eat that young. They just eat. And when they get full, then they stop eating. I’m still working on E eating enough at the table. It seems that no matter how much she eats, she still has to have the same amount/time of bottle. ??? I don’t get it. But she screams like she’s starving, even right after a big meal that she is clearly “done” with. Trying to switch to sippy cups to see if that will help, but so far, she just doesn’t know how to feel full on food… or maybe eating food is too boring and takes too long for her to tolerate? But it all evens out in the end. I just need to stop over analyzing everything she does, and just let her live! LOL.
September 10, 2012 at 11:16 pm
We all need to stop over-analyzing… it sounds like we all do it. We shoudl all aree to stop that right now!
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