I have a question about exercise programs for toddlers.
My two year old daughter is very big for her age. At her two-year check up, she was in the 120th percentile for both her height and weight. My husband is 6’7 and I am 5’8, so I know that she will be tall, but her stomach has been getting so big lately and she is at the biggest size diapers, already wearing 4T. At her check up 4 months ago, her doctor said she was fine bc she was proportionate, but she doesn’t want her gaining any more weight. She had us switch to light milk and remove juice from her diet.
As a family we eat healthy. My husband does all the cooking, and it is mostly whole grain everything, brown rice, lots of veggies, chicken and we rarely get fast food. Our daughter’s favorite food is yogurt, cottage cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. However, she is always asking to eat. Constantly. The other day we were eating red beans and rice and I kept feeding her bc she was asking for it, until I realized I had fed her 2 and a half bowls – more than I had eaten. She will eat 3 bowls of oatmeal with yogurt in the morning if you will let her.
As her mother, I really want to make sure she is healthy so I don’t want to restrict her food when she asks for it. But I am not sure how much is too much.
I started offering her something else to do like play dough or painting when she asks to eat, and so far she has chosen the activity every time.
We’ve also started an exercise goal with her where we walk around the block every night. It takes FOREVER bc she wants to stop and look at everything, but it has been a lot of fun and she is pretty exhausted by the time we get home.
With childhood obesity rising, I just want to be careful without creating an even bigger eating/food problem by her thinking food is bad or something.
Anyone else gone through this with their child or have any ideas???
Thanks for all the encouragement, and I especially appreciate the advice about making her feel beautiful as a tall woman.
L.,
You sound like a great mom doing all the right things. One bit a advice is that protiens will sustain her longer. The more carbs she eats the sooner she will be hungry after a meal. Try eggs, trukey or even a protien drink suitable for kids in lieu of some of the carbs. Good luck to you.
My first thought is that your husband is 6'7"!! I bet he grew very fast too. So be sure not to confuse overweight with tall, no matter what the ped's handy-dandy chart says. I am very tall for a woman (5'11") and I grew extraordinarily quickly: I have been this height since about the age of 14, so you can imagine my childhood size ... much like your daughter's. My point is if she is growing that tall that fast, she needs the energy of the food you give her. And if she is active, don't worry!! My second thought is that there are bigger diapers out there ... up to size 6 in the Huggies brand (http://www.huggieshappybaby.com/products/index.aspx?diapers) so don't worry about that either. My third thought is that you seem to feed her great stuff, and you don't want her to be overly fixated on food, so don't worry so much. It sounds like you just have a big tall girl who is growing fast. My last thought has nothing to do with what you mentioned, but I think is important for you to know since you are of average height, and your daughter may well grow to above-average height ... be sure as she grows that you help her to feel pretty and feminine ... our society likes small, diminutive women, or tall, insanely thin ones, and so tall normal-sized women can get a really warped sense of beauty and femininity and their place within it. Help her to find clothes that FIT, especially as she becomes a teen ... not just BIGGER stuff, but clothes designed for TALL women especially. You may spend a bit more, but it will make such a difference in her psyche. Good luck, and all best to your family.
As far as exercise that you can do with her, I know the two-year-olds at my house really enjoy music and movement time. There are some great musical activity CDs out there for kids. I know that I got mine from U.S. Toy off of 4-35 and State Line Rd. One of my favorites is called Kids in Action---they love "going on a bear hunt" and "bop till you drop". They are just so cute and so much fun to do together!
I would recommend a couple videos to you. My son loves "Elmocize" and "Zoe's Dance Moves" from Sesame Street. They were a gift from my mother-in-law and he watches them all the time. It gets him moving and dancing around the living room. And now that he has them memorized, he'll start singing them and try to get me and my husband to do it with him even when the video is off. He's just now turning three. I think for a girl the dance video is especially fun though. Hope this helps. Good luck!
It sounds like you are doing great and doing the right things.
Keep it up. Just offer her her normal meals and healthy snacks in between. If she asks for food in between keep distracting her to a hands on activity, it sounds like she maybe eating just for something to do.
Maybe you can enroll her in a tumbling class.
Hello,
If you are feeding her healthy foods and letting her have enough outside time to play and be a kid then I wouldn't worry about it. My daughter was big as a baby (almost 30 pounds at 6 months), but she has not stopped growing up since about age 3. Her favorite snack is a salad or veggies and dip. I personally don't worry about my kids getting fat because I don't offer alot of junk foods. They get candy and chips occassionally, I am not a fanatic health food nut, but I offer fruits and veggies everyday. We also only eat out maybe once a week.
I have noticed that most children that develop into obesity in childhood have parents that don't cook very often, and the children sit in front of the tv or video games most of the time. If you are worried about exercise look into a tumble class at your local gymnastics facility. They are usually reasonably priced and focused on toddlers. The kids are encouraged to run around and climb and use all of their muscles. I have put my own children in these classes when they were younger and they are both doing Karate now.
Good luck, but I wouldn't worry too much. Your daughter will change so much in the next couple of years.
It sounds like you're doing okay about redirecting her during non meal times. However, she needs to have at least 3 snacks a day as well as 3 meals.
Right now she may be experiencing a growth spurt and will need the extra healthy nutrients to build strong bone and muscle. All of my boys turned into food monsters that could not get full between 2 and 4. We've seen major growth in all of them at that time too.
As for cutting back on fats in milk. It's important that you cut back on fats in other dairy products as well so check the fat content and limit her to 24 ounces of dairy a day.
Since she's so tall, you really can't limit her weight that much, and remember that muscle weighs much more than fat so as you walk you're going to be building those muscles and he weight is going to go up.
The only other thing I could suggest is watching her calories and talking her into lower calorie snack and meals. If this means you cut out the rice, pasta, corn and potatoes for a while that will be okay.
Remember to serve her on a child sized plate and she has to finish everything to recieve 2nds. You should not be giving her portions any larger than the palm of her hand. That's ya'lls portion size too and when you're done, walk away from the table. That will discourage her from wanting 2nds.
Get outside, get moving.
I completely agree with you. Obesity is far higher than it ever should be. I applaud you on your healthy eating habits.
In my opinion I believe a child should eat, seconds if they want even, but when it comes to thirds and fourths I think that's more than they should eat. You don't want her developing a habit of always eating. And you don't want her to think food is the answer to everything. Like you said she picks the activity everytime so maybe it's a matter that she's just bored. Does she ask to eat when you go on the evening walks? I think eating has become an activity to do rather than a means of nutrition. The eating habits kids develop carry into adulthood so the healthy foods will be great for her to have for life but you don't want food to be a 'crutch' for her. That's one of the main ways to obesity.
I do understand the heighth and weight too. My neice has a very tall father and for the longest time my sister was worried how her stomach stuck out, even at 8,9, and 10 years of age. But she's 11 now and has slimmed down and is very much taking on her father's height. Other children I've known who end up being tall tend to have bigger stomaches I've noticed too. So I think it's more of something with that and as long as she proportionally right I wouldn't stress if she was bigger round than height I would stress of possible overweight issues.
One suggestion though, one of my daughters loves cottage cheese too. But I always get the 2% kind just like the milk we drink. This way there isn't the excess fat in their diet. When I've talked to the doctor about their nutrition before she said that sometimes excess milk products can help but on a lot of weight and that I needed to keep an eye on how much I was giving. So I hope this helps and I'm sure everything will be ok. Have a good day.
I don't have much advice to offer you, but I do want to let you know that you aren't alone. My nephew just turned 10 in December. He is already about 5'4" (just barely shorter than me!) and 105 puonds. He's proportionate, but he's bigger size wise than all the other kids his age. His dad is about 6'3" or so and had the typical football player, built body type. My sister, his mom, is 5'7", and is naturally slender (though since her last child she has gained and lost a lot of weight like crazy). Some kids will simply hit their growth spurts earlier than others. It sounds like you are on the right track with the choice of foods and keeping her active. If you are really concerned, I would start by cutting back on (but by no means eliminating) carbs from her diet. I'm no health expert, but that seems to be a common tip when it comes to avoiding more weight gain. Good luck to you both!
Your doctor should be able to give you an idea of how much is a portion for children her age. If she's eating way more than you are, I think that is definitely too much. I know I personally have an issue with poriton sizes. What I have done for myself is to eat less at one sitting, but eat more frequently. I also knwo that there are foods that can trick your brain into thinking your full. I saw this on The View but the only food I remember is avocado. The only other suggestion I have is to have her drink a glass of water before her meal.
Though i've never had this problem with my children, it sounds like you are already being smart about it. You've asked the doctors advise, taken steps to distract her from eating as often, and also encouraging outside activities with excercise. It sounds like you are already doing a great job!!
I wish you all the best.
A.
Hi L.,
I think that if you are offering her healthy foods to eat everyday and all day such as fruit and veggies and things like this than you are going in the right direction. Also if you are concerned about her and exercise enroll her in a gymnastics class, t-ball, softball dance whatever she is interested in. It doesn't have to be just jumping jacks and sit ups.
I am also not a heath food nut but I still make sure my kids eat healthy good food. On the flip side to that I also let them have the occasional brownie, cupcake, ice cream, candy at the grocery store.
I think that if we do not teach our kids self control on foods like this than when they go out into the world they are over whelmed with the things they have never tasted or tried or been allowed to have. and thats where the obesity in children comes into play. here again I believe. If you have a child that has never seen a hostess cupcake when she goes to her friends house what do you think is gonna happen she is gonna eat till she can't move. But if you have the stuff in plain site and have them ask limit what they can and monitor it than it will be well rounded.
I am not saying by any means that everyone should go out and stock up on little debbies but even myself enjoys the occasional snickers bar or the hot fudge sunday from sonic.
I as an adult do not like veggies what so ever green beans smell so good and they make me gag, raw or cooked carrots the sameway. But when it comes to my kids they eat everything and all of them. My 15 yr old is happy with having a salad for dinner loaded with veggies. and ranch of course along with the other 2.
My point your doing good she's eating healthy your taking her on a walk maybe get her tricycle and go around the block in it. change it up a bit from time to time. Let her have the occasional cheesburger from McDonalds it's part of being a kid. You want her to be able to go to school, a friends house, wherever later on and make a decision on what she knows is best to eat. You definitely don't want to start "you can't eat that because it will make you fat" you will send her in the wrong direction. Here again this is all just my opinion.
W.
I don't really know much about this, but worth checking in to... I've heard that some people are born without the mechanism in their brain to tell them when they're full. I highly doubt that is your daughter's problem...since you're both tall...I agree that she's probably doing fine, but if she never acts full....it's something to think about...because her little tummy really can't be bottomless...good luck!
