Food Obsession - this is a novel

[missilini]

I've struggled with asking this question because I don't want to seem overly crazy, but I'm genuinely concerned.
A little back story. I've been slightly overweight my whole life. I was active and into sports as a kid, but still overweight. Now as an adult I'm really overweight. My parents have been on my case my whole life about it. I think I have some issues relating to food and weight loss because of it. So I'm super sensitive about calling DD cute weight related nicknames (chunky monkey, etc), saying anything that would allude to her being overweight (not that I currently think she is). I also tried to feed her a healthy diet, almost all meals are home made, we don't eat out too often, lots of fruits, sneaky veggies, no juice, etc. I also try to limit carbs (sometimes more successfully than others). My concern comes in that she seems to be obsessed with food.In the morning soon as we get her out of her crib she screams until she is fed breakfast. When's she's done she is always trying to get into the pantry, banging on the door, screaming and crying. I try redirection her, but soon as she bored of an activity she's back at the pantry. If I make the mistake of leaving the pantry door open she'll go in and scream until I either give her something or we try temporarily move onto another activity. When we go to park group most of the moms bring snacks for their kiddos who usually eat a few crackers and then go back to play. DD now knows there are snacks at the park and she immediately goes over and tries to get into people's bags. Even if I just fed her before we go to the park. We had to leave the park today because we were in an inside park that didn't allow food and she flipped out and was trying to find food in my bag. When she couldn't find anything she wouldn't quit screaming. I tried to get her to play on the toys, but no luck. So I finally gave up and we just left. I offer 2 snacks a day. She has good filling meals. I'm starting to get worried that something might be wrong. I spoke to our pediatrician at her 15 month appt. he said he wasn't concerned because she is 90% on height, weight, and head circumference. He said he would be concerned if there was a big difference in percentages. I'm noticing the older and more independent she gets the more obsessed with food she is getting. She has 3 poopy diapers pretty much everyday. Is anyone else's LOs like this? Is it something for concern? I don't want her to have a bad relationship with food, I don't ever want to shame her and have her concerned about her weight like I was my whole childhood. I just worry that we're starting some unhealthy habits. Most of my friends are concerned their kids aren't eating enough, so they don't relate. Sorry for the novel.

[honeybee434]

Do you feel like she eats full, large meals? DD likes to snack during the day. She will go to the kitchen quite a bit and ask for "cookies", which is just her word for a snack. If she eats a big meal she may not eat very much of the snack, but she still wants to have that snack in a cup in her hand. I've tried to start putting fruit in there more often for her. Blueberries and orange slices have been some of my recent choices. I feel like at this age I can't really reason with her on whether or not she is really hungry, but I can decide what I give her when she thinks she is. If she refuses what I give her bc she wants something less healthy (assuming it's something she normally eats), then I know she just wants to fill up on something that tastes good more than she is really hungry and I deal with the temper tantrum.

The park thing hopefully someone will have some advice for you on. Maybe it's just an association thing? She thinks she gets a snack even if she doesn't necessarily need it from being hungry?

[lucanjo14]

My DS asks to "eat" quite a bit; throughout the day and pretty much first thing in the morning. He goes to the pantry to ask for a snack as well. If I say no to a snack he will throw a tantrum- I think it's just age related. I agree with honeybee434 regarding making healthy choices for snacks. Also if my DS sees someone else eating he always wants to have some- so when you take your DD to the park and she sees other kids eat it doesn't seem out of the ordinary for her to want to eat too.
It doesn't sound like your pedi is concerned but maybe track how much and what she is eating if you're worried and bring it up again at her next appt.

[elainebenes]

I notice DS begs for food all day when he's bored/tired so I try to redirect, keep him busy playing outside or like others said fill the snack bowl with fruit or filling protein snacks like cheese, peanuts or yogurt instead of the cookies, pretzels, carbs he LOVES. The park snacks are tough bc others always have them. Maybe try bringing something like grapes so you have what seems like plenty of snack with you & so others bags aren't raided but then limit them to after certain activities? Like 3 times down the slide then a few grapes? I notice at our tot lot when moms hang on the benches kids flock & beg like seagulls for snacks so I try to stay off the bench and play with DS or just walk around with him bc he loves attention even more than carbs-ha!

I feel for you bc it's such balance. I have worried about DS's perception of weight and diet and wanting to have a healthy relationship with food. I know my husband and I both say things that aren't good like "I feel so fat" and both grandmas are always talking about dieting and weight and I worry about the impression that makes. I'm trying to be much more cautious about what I say in front of him and encourage the grandma conversations to be about healthy eating and exercise and less about weight.

[soon2bmrsn]

I'm not at all trying to minimize what you're saying and definitely think you should talk to your pedi to ease your mind, but I think this is just a kid thing. My boys would snack all day if I let them. They associate the grocery store with getting a free cookie or sample and they're 6.5 and 4.5.

Try not to worry! It sounds like you're doing everything right.

[hurricanerek]

DD is also obsessed with snacking. Any time I open the refrigerator, she weasels her way in and helps herself to the cheese drawer. When we are out, she will flock to my diaper bag and drag it around until I give her something. We also have similar things happening with breastmilk, which is why I've temporarily given up on weaning. I have found that if I keep up with lots of activities for her, she will ask for food less. However, this is exhausting as a parent.

I guess I'm just here for solidarity. I haven't let her eating habits bother me too much.

[littlemissmarla]

What's like a typical meal for her, is she getting enough protein?

[asunasword]

I guess I am the odd ball out here. We have three meals and two snacks generally but if he asks for more I will give it. How much, when and what he eats varies immensely from day to day. It is generally healthy as in fruit, nuts, yogurt. I do really push water, milk and such though. We rarely do juice but DS loves tea. Hot or cold and since I don't add sugar it is just flavored water.

[missilini]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad she's not the only one snacking a lot.
A typical breakfast would be an English muffin, yogurt, berries, and milk. Or scrambled eggs, banana, and milk. I've also made her muffins and pancakes with hidden veggies.
For lunch and dinner she usually gets a veggie packet, fruit, and some sort of freezer meal (I made her a ton of different veggie/protein/carb things). She also gets cottage cheese or cheese sticks for snacks, rice cakes, veggie packs, oranges, banana.
She's been so picky with meat lately. So her main source of protein is dairy items. I'll try bumping up the carbs. Since I wrote this I tried making a snack bowl with rice cakes, oranges, cheese stick, and graham crackers. I thought if it was sitting out she would just graze, but she ate the whole plate. It was only about an hour after lunch. I may try it again with smaller portions and put it out in the morning and afternoon.

[liziz]

missilini, I see a lot of the same behavior with my LO. She's not small, H and I have both struggled with weight for most of our lives (despite being pretty active), and it's a big goal to make sure we raise kids with healthier food relationships than we have. Her BFF's mom always brings snacks, and my kid will dig through their diaper bag to find them. It's embarrassing, but true.
I agree with the advice above that if I think she's asking to eat out of boredom or habit, I try to offer her fruit or veggies, rather than carb snacks. The amount she eats varies hugely from day to day, too.

[littlemissmarla]

I would try to get her to eat some more complex carbs that digest slowly and might help her feel fuller longer, especially if she's not been into protein much lately.

Whole grains, sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans... The list goes on.