Need Help, Is This Ok For My Daughter?

[robertandenith]

She'll be 4 in July

Ok here is a list of things she will eat but not as a meal, she snacks these things all day but I noticed she'd be satisfied if we snack all day like this.

She will eat pieces of these things throughtout the day.

Tomatoes
Spinach sauce (made with cashews, olive oil, basil, lemon, sea salt, pine nuts and cilantro)
a few (very few) pieces of avocado
tangerines
apple (a whole big apple!)
banana (she will eat like 3 of these a day)
flax seed crackers (she LOVES THIS!) I prepared them with tomato, onions, lemon, sea salt
mango

I sometimes make raw 'pizza' and she will take a bit or two.

I am giving her an egg in the morning, but not today though. She had a banana and pieces of apple. Yesterday she ate 2 little wraps of tomato with spinach sauce in sprouted tortillas, these are not raw but at least they are sprouted.

Am I giving her enough food?!?!?!?!?!? help please!!! :confused:

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Somedays my grandson will eat more and other days he eats less. He grazes throughout the day as we do not do sit down meals. He is about 95% raw. I figure he knows when he's hungry and when he's not. His naturopath doctor says he's extremely healthy!!!! He's never had to go to a doctor, but my daughter took him to the naturopath for his 2nd birthday just to make sure everything was fine since he eats basically all raw and so that she would have a doctor so if he goes to a school she'll have a doctor to sign his waiver to immunizations.

Here's a typical day for him:

Banana
Grapes
Smoothie (with greens)
Lara Bar
Raisins

Another day may look like:

Watermelon
Raisins
Apple
Grapes
Lara Bar/Think Organic Bar (lately has been eating 1-2 of these a day)

Some days when he's really hungry he'll eat a couple of bananas, or a ton of grapes, but overall he eats very little but is still a good size. At 2 1/2 he just tips 30 pounds.

We're working at trying to get him to eat more greens. The only greens he's getting is in his smoothies. One day he did sit and eat quite a bit of my green leaf lettuce from my salad and I was so excited, but he hasn't done it since, so it's back to putting spinach in his smoothies.

[mom4twins]

Hi--

I have 4 year old twins and they eat when they want. Somedays they will hardly eat anything others everything. Main thing is not to push eating as that sends a poor message (the old "clean plate club").

Although, you'd be surprised how much is eaten at dinner when raw pudding is for dessert!

4 year olds understand hunger--it is the adults (myself included) who believe that they need more. My twins have always told me when they were hungry.

Mere

[squidly]

I have an almost 3 year old and we call her the fruit bat as that is the bulk of her diet. They know when they are hungry and how much they need - the only time I see my daughter overeat is when she is given hot chips.

I would not worry too much. My daughter is 70% raw and the healthiest of all her friends - also the lightest (13kg so what is that -about 28 pounds or something). She is happy and so much easier to handle than most kids I know - all the raw of you ask me.

today she ate:
8am bunch grapes
10:30 more grapes
11:30 a banana
1:30 about 5 strawberries with raw dipping chocolate
4pm small apple and fudge ball
6:30pm fish and chips because we were out - not something I would feed her often. Normally dinner is stir fry veggies with soy or veggie soup or more fruit

Hope this helps

[Ariella]

my almost 4 year old (he will be 4 the beginning of may) like has been said here already has days where he eats a TON and other days where he just does not feel like eating. i try to just let him tell me when he is hungry. i dont want him to end up with the same eating issues that i am trying to get rid of from being forced to eat when not hungry. i think if they are hungry they will tell you!

here is what he ate yesterday:
2 cups green smoothie - bananas, strawberries, spinach, water
1 1/4 quarts fresh carob almond mylk
lots of water
1 1/2 cups orange juice
kashi trail mix bar
tangelo
1 cup of trail mix : mixed raw nuts and dried fruits
pear
bowl of banana "ice cream" with Allisas fudge sauce on it
apple
2 grapefruit
1 cup grapefruit juice

some days though all he will want is almond mylk, some days fresh juice, some days lots of fruit. really it just depends on his mood or what his body is needing.

HTH!

Ariella

[Denise Nicole]

It sounds like she is getting a variety. I have found just putting out bowls of all those beautiful, colorful fruits and veggies and having accessable nuts and seeds will spur an appitite.

Kid's go through growth spurts and will eat a ton one day, and hardly anything the next. So long as you see the cycle and they aren't refusing to eat much all the time, it isn't anything to worry about.

[rawandama]

No kid has ever starved to death on their own (unless they were sick). As long as you feed her when she's hungry (which, from what you said, you do) then I think you're fine. And what wonderful eating habits you are showing your child!! She'll grow up knowing when she's hungry, when she's not, and what her body really needs. Kudos for you!! :)

[robertandenith]

thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! for your input, I always think I am not feeding my duaghters properly, specially because she eats less than me and obviously she is eating raw! I don['t mind her eating a few organic eggs once in a while and some organic cheese.

Today we got invited to go out so we ended up going to california pizza kitchen and I shared with her the tomato/basil pizza with the honey-wheat dough. Not raw but the healthiest in the menu... as soon as we got out she told me she had some booboo in her tummy! hmmmm I wonder why... I told her why, that it was because of the heaviness of the pizza. We got home and she asked me for bananas and tangerines! :D

[BerryGirl]

I can definitely see the benefits of letting your child self-feed or graze during the day. After all, it's what I do on my days off. But what about when the child goes to day care or school, where they have (at least in school) a set lunchtime and maybe a snacktime? Do you start preparing the child ahead of time for a more regular meal schedule?

[cpinokc]

I know that most day care centers are NOT flexible with snacking, unless the whole class is having "snack time", but I remember when I was working in day cares and Mother's Day Out at church that it seemed like the snacks and meals were always so close together that I don't think they really (in most cases) even allow enough time for the child to get hungry. So I think that a child in day care would be just fine as long as they eat when the other kids are eating. If they don't eat because they are not hungry right at that moment, then they might have a problem an hour or so later! But they'll catch on quickly and learn that if they don't want to be hungry later, they have to eat now. I hate the way it works (which is exactly why I stay at home with my kids and homeschool them), but that's about the best you can do!

My kids also eat a lot on some days and less on others. They are growing like weeds though and generally do not get 'enough' calories by the SAD guidelines. My dd is a little small, but she always has been, and she's still growing at a steady rate, so I'm not concerned about that. She will be 4 in June and weighs about 27 pounds. My 18 month old ds weighs 25 pounds and my ds6 weighs 45 pounds, and they all eat basically the same things (whatever I have available). Also, they eat whatever they want whenever they are hungry. A typical day for them may look something like this:

green smoothie (usually 1.5-2 cups each)
a couple of oranges
3 or 4 bananas
almond butter sandwich on sprouted Ezekiel bread
garbanzo beans
3 or 4 apples
a few chunks of pineapple
a few strawberries

Sometimes more, sometimes less. My oldest is wanting a salad, so I guess I need to go wash and cut up some greens for him now! :D

[robertandenith]

I will be homeschooling my daughters because honestly I don't want to deal with that issue. My daughter was in a preschool and I just took her out, they get HORRIBLE snacks and too much candy when they have their events. I even told the teacher but she doesn't do what I have asked her so I was REALLY mad!!! :mad: Last time (after I told her that I wanted my daughter to skip the junk food - I used to send her a lunch box) the teacher asked me HOLDING A PIECE OF CAKE WITH NASTY ARTIFICIAL COLORS if she could give my daughter a piece of that cake, I mean I was like :eek: wtheck! I wasn't going to say NO in that moment after seeing my daughter drooling over the cake that the teacher was holding in front of her face! :mad: :mad:

I will homeschool from K to 6-7 grade. That was my decision after that incident plus I don't want to deal with other kids teasing her about her fruits and vegetables :mad:

sorry for my vent!

[robertandenith]

cpinokc thanks for your input, I know I shouldn't worry about how many calories my daughter gets in a daily basis. Because I enrolled her to kung fu classes I make sure she eats more protein and fat through an egg or cheese. I really don't mind, as long as they are organic. But I been trying to stay away from the other cooked stuff specially pastas YUCKY! Since she loves soup (cooked one) I make her soup with lots of veggies in it so she eats that twice a week. I don't know I guess I have been 'brain washed' by the SAD and am so paranoid about this it's unbelivable! :eek:

bUT Overall, she is eating a 75% raw diet and some eggs and cheese. Plus I am trying to save in $ on those vitamin b-12 pills, they are SO EXPENSIVE! :(