School agers and big appetites

[MonkeyPrincess]

I have a 9.5 yr old dcb that is a big boy. He is as tall as me (5 ft LOL) and has a stocky build. He isn't overweight per se, just big all over. his feet are as big as mine (sz 8) and wears size 12-14 clothes. And my gosh, can he ever eat! and he inhales his food. If he is the first to be served,, he will be done by the time the last child has their food. He can eat 4 slices of toast at breakfast plus eggs and bacon. He will eat 2 bowls of cereal at breakfast, 2 sandwiches plus fruit/veggies at lunch or 2 bowls of soup, etc. at snack he can eat a bowl of fruit and 2 yogurts- he keeps telling me he is still hungry! We went to Pioneer Village last week and he ate his whole days worth of food in one sitting, after i told him to eat some now and save more for later. He claimed he was starving!. he ate his sandwich, granola bar, yogurt, apple and fruit pouch.

He is always hungry, he already wants to eat 10 min after arriving. I have suggested he eat at home before he comes so that he isn't starving but he didn't eat anything yesterday and today claims he had a yogurt tube. He eats more than me!. I don't know, I feel like that's a lot of food. Is this normal? My kids are average eaters and average height and weight for their ages, and i get that this kid is built bigger, but i don't know if i should mention anything to mom? I don't want to be rude or make the child self conscious or offend mom. Is it my place to say something? I feel like he is eating me out of house and home.

[babydom]

I'd say normal. My sons 9 not heavy built but ALWAYS hungry. To the mom I'd say. Just wondering if Joe eats a lot at home? Here I find he's always hungry and saying he wants to eat so I feed him. Is this normal for him or should I restrict the eating to our planned eating times? U can also ask mom to maybe bring some of his favourite snacks/foods from home, so you have more options for him. Also try to feed him stuff that's filling. If no nut allergies do PB, and mixed nuts. Portein like chicken. Growing school kids eat more then toddlers :) lol

[mickyc]

That is a lot of food! It is normal however. If I was you I would charge more for an older child just because of the food consumption. I also would not be feeding him other than your set times.

For summer I have an 8 year old girl (older sibling while my teachers child is away). I do feed her a larger portion than the little kids but if she is still hungry when we are finished she gets raw veggies. I stock up on cheap veggies cut them up at the beginning of the week and then I am prepared if she is still hungry. It could be the child is just eating just because. Here all kids can eat as many veggies as they want with no restrictions!! Healthy and doesn't cost me a fortune (especially when I have a large garden). What about a side salad as well to your lunch?

Give it a try. If he doesn't want that then he really isn't hungry.