Sunday, July 31, 2011
Question
Hello dear friends. I have a question for all of you who have kiddos with DS. Does your child always seem hungry and never seem full? Jack is very active and I know he gets enough to eat, but he seems to want to eat all the time. He gets upset when eating time is over. His basic diet consists of: homemade whole grain blueberry pancakes - no syrup, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, sandwiches, goldfish, chicken, turkey, pasta, peas, carrots, and lots of other normal things. I try to make sure his portions are correct for his size and weight and I know he gets enough food. But I wonder if he lacks the ability to know when he is full. I have been researching this online and haven't found much to help me understand. When we are at the grocery store he goes nuts, wanting to eat everything in the buggy. He will sign every food he knows and fusses when i don't give in. Same thing at home - I've had to gate off the kitchen cause he will go in there and beat on the fridge and pantry. This could be typical 2 year old behavior but I am just not sure. Any thoughts? I have read that people with DS have a lower metabolic rate and therefore need less calories to avoid obesity. It's so frustrating and since 90% of the signs and words he knows have to do with food I also wonder if he wants it all the time because that's what he knows to communicate. We, of course, work on tons of signs and words, but I feel like if I had an explanation I would feel better and not like such a poopy mom. Any thoughts, ideas, similar experiences? Feel free to throw anything out there. Thanks!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have heard that this "never full" is a common issue. Abbie has the same problem, and she reacts similarly when I will not continue to feed her. I have not yet really decided what I am going to do about it long-term. I try to sign all done and take the plate away right now when I know she has had what she needs. Usually if I remove her from the high-chair, kitchen, etc, she will quit fussing and get back to other activities. Anyway, no advice, but yes, we deal with the same issue with every meal.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about this issue with LOTS of kids with Ds. It has something to do with them not being able to physically sense when they're actually full. :-( I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done to help it, however. Hopefully you get a lot of responses to this!
ReplyDeleteEmmie will beg for food like a puppy. She can finish eating and if someone else has something it's like she hasn't eaten in days. We do monitor what she eats because I know at times there is no way she can really still be hungry, but she very rarely refuses food, except if it's something she doesn't like. Then it's thrown right back at you.
ReplyDeleteStill we have to take into consideration she never stops moving, so she is burning calories all the time.
we are dealing with it here too. Some days she doesn't eat much at all so I feel like it averages out. not much advice from me, but I know what you're talking about.
Mattie thinks that she should eat every time she sees other people eating. Most of the time, we all eat our meals at the same time. During the summer, our kids have been eating breakfast at different times. She would eat breakfast three times if I let her! I find that she wants to eat more in the morning than in the evening.
ReplyDeleteI just know that Russells Worker has also mentioned something like this...That some kids with Ds cannot feel when they are full. But I have not been able to find any info on it other than what she said....BUT...My daughter who is 6 is like that too...So it could just be a toddler phase he is going through right now.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember having this issue with Beth. Not until recently anyway. She eats non stop if we let her. Unfortunately I now work outside the home and am not home to monitor her. She has breakfast, lunch and dinner and says she 'needs' a snack between each meal and after dinner! To be honest, I hadn't heard that kids with Ds can't tell when they're full. Interesting. Beth was skinny as a rail growing up, but not anymore.
ReplyDeleteI remember this with william.I have heard kids with ds dont know when they are full, that may be true. I think more for william it was he wanted food everytime he saw someone else with it:)
ReplyDelete