Ok, I have heard from a number of mom's who are saying the same thing as I do about Tetyana and eating. Something just occured to me....what if it is just the freedom of eating when they want instead of being told when and what they are going to eat. When we first came home Tetyana was crazy for button pushing and couldn't control her urge to push buttons anywhere we went. Maybe it is the same with food. Maybe she just wants to eat because she can.
I would hate to ignore a real problem but I don't want to drive myself crazy with worry when it could be nothing...story of a mother's life, isn't it!!!
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I would suggest taking a slow and steady approach with this...ruling out one thing at a time. Try not to look at the big picture, just the little piece in front of you.
If the endocrinologist rules out a physical reason for the appetite, I would like to suggest a different approach. Let her have as much food as she wants, when she wants it (heathy of course)...at any time of the day. She has to get it herself...and she has to clean up after herself, but its there if she wants it.
Each time we brought home one of our kids, they each went through this phase, where they couldn't get enough to eat. No matter how much they ate during dinner, a half an hour later they claimed they were hungry.
With Alek, the doctor finally told us to just let him eat. So we did. It turns out he had never known what it was like to feel full...so he had to learn. We let him eat and eat and eat until he got sick. It took a few times, and while it sounds cruel, he soon learned to self-regulate.
Nick and Anya went through the same thing. They had to learn what it felt like to feel full.
Maddie was a bit different.
She seemed to like having all of the food at her disposal. She liked having the fruit bowl on the table, and would often sneak bananas during the day. We would find the peels all over the house. ;) We didn't discourage her from eating them - especially since it was a health snack. We just asked that she put the peel in the trash.
Gradually over time the sneaking subsided (except for when brownies are on the counter! :)
But the feeling of full was still something she had to 'learn'...and I didn't realize it until just a few months ago (after she'd been home for a year).
She would always eat whatever we put on her plate...all of it, no questions asked. Eventually she got the point where she started to ask for more of her favorite foods...so we'd give it to her.
Finally, one night she must have eaten too much because she started complaining that her stomach hurt. She even went to bed, on her own, for the night.
The next night was the same thing.
She had just eaten too much. I ended up rocking her, comforting her until the feeling subsided. Then we talked about why her tummy hurt. We haven't had a lick of problems since.
Its a weird experience to go through...having to teach your child what it feels like to be full. Having to convince them that the food will always be there...always be available, but with time its doable.
If it doesn't work I would follow up with Annie's suggestion of contacting a psychologist who specializes in international adoption. It certainly won't hurt. ;)
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