How often does your child eat cereal for breakfast?

[Satori]

I'm not talking Froot Loops and Capt'n Crunch. I'm talking slightly healthier options like Raisin Bran, Granola, Cheerio's. Just you know, something from a box that you put in a bowl and add milk. Something really quick and easy that you can do in a minute or your child is able to do themselves. (I really don't care what type of cereal, just cereal and milk in general, something that does not involve you spending more then a couple of minutes in the kitchen)

[LionessMom]

we get WIC checks so we have lots of cereal. my kids eat it almost every day. they get something else on sat and sun like eggs and stuff. but they prefer cereal. kix, cherrios, rice krispies, etc. they like sliced banana in it.

[zinemama]

My kids would eat cereal every day if I let them, but I don't. They have it every other day, and on the "off" days they eat oatmeal (the real kind, not instant).

I would rather make them oatmeal every day, but it's not a hill I'm willing to die on, so this compromise works for everyone.

[neptunemama]

Very infrequently. My youngest doesn't like cereal and my oldest is so so with it. My oldest will have it maybe 1x/mth at most, I'm not sure it's that often. When she does, it's cheerios or grape nuts.

[notjustmamie]

It costs too much, gets spilled too easily, doesn't have enough protein, and doesn't fill her up long enough (the last two are probably related). So, no, we don't have cereal very often. Once in a while I'll buy a box, but we mostly eat it for snacks. I figure a bowl of corn flakes is worse than an apple or carrot, but better than a bag of potato chips.

[Adamsmama]

My kids awake at different times and the oldest almost always gets eggs for breakfast, my 5 yr old gets steel cut oats, regular oatmeal, homemade waffles or muffins or raisin bran. Recently he's had raisin bran 2x a week....

[crunchy_mama]

never.

[rachelsmama]

DD would eat cereal every day if she could, but it seems to lead to low blood sugar, and lots of screaming later on, so I feed her oatmeal porridge instead and we all get along much better.

[journeymom]

Wow, I'm surprised, though I shouldn't be considering this is MDC, that so many people voted 'never or very rarely'.

I wonder how old people's kids are?

My school-age kids have cereal almost every weekday. On weekends we have oatmeal, eggs or pancakes. Rarely do I have time to cook anything on weekdays.

We like Cheerios, corn Chex, Wheaties, Honey Bunches of Oaks, Oatmeal Squares, Frosted Mini Wheats, and we're all into strawberry Special K these days.

Once in a great while I'll get something like Froot Loops (yes indeed!) because with 1% milk it makes a great snack and the kids feel like they're getting away with something.

[moondiapers]

Cold cereal is our go to breakfast on sundays because we're scrambling to get to church on time.

The rest of the week I cook breakfast.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by journeymom

Wow, I'm surprised, though I shouldn't be considering this is MDC, that so many people voted 'never or very rarely'.

I wonder how old people's kids are?

I voted "never or very rarely", but it's not because I don't want him to eat cereal. He has autism and has lots of food issues. So he eats like 10 foods total, and cereal isn't one of them (except the rare froot loop or trix, as those are the only 2 he's ever liked).

On school mornings he gets the same thing every day (predictable is great for him- if I give him something different for breakfast he'll meltdown and the whole day is lost because he won't be able to get himself back on track). He always gets 2 mini chocolate frosted donuts (lol.... mom of the year! But it's calories and he needs that so....). He also gets either 6 mini pancakes (Kelloggs from the freezer section) or 2 cinnamon toast waffles (also Kelloggs from the freezer section).

I will freely admit that it's not the best breakfast. In fact, it kinda sucks. But it's food, and it gets into his belly and it gets him to school without me getting the crap beaten out of me so we deal

ETA- on weekends I either make homemade french toast or homemade pancakes. He'll also eat either applesauce, a banana or yogurt with those on weekends.

[stormborn]

Never for breakfast...they usually get leftovers then. Dd8 will eat it for a snack before bed and I usually keep a bag in the car for the baby.

None of us like to eat right after waking up so fast and easy isn't as much of an issue here. If they wanted to eat before I had coffee it might be different!

[Hedgehog Mtn]

In answer to a pp we have 5 kids ages 9, 7, 6, 2, and a baby. We do scrambled eggs with spinach or broccoli and peppers, maybe other veggies if I have them...always with onions and a sprinkle of cheese. Toast with low sugar (canned at home so no sugar replacer) jam or PB and usually a slice of bacon each.

I often do 15 eggs and they still complain they are hungry LOL. If I feed them cereal I would go broke and they would be hungry within 30 minutes.

I know cereal raised my blood sugar when I was pg so I don't feel comfortable feeding it to my kids on an empty stomach. I wonder what it does to families with BS problems if they eat it every day (no flames here just a concern of mine for my own family) I'm concerned it *might* raise their diabetes risk later in life.

We don't do any other bread/carb based breakfasts either with the exception of steel cut oats on occasion.

[rere]

Originally Posted by journeymom

Wow, I'm surprised, though I shouldn't be considering this is MDC, that so many people voted 'never or very rarely'.

I wonder how old people's kids are?

I voted never.My daughter is 5.It's not that I don't give her something quick it's just never cereal.She likes apple and peanut butter or cottage cheese or yogurt peanut butter banana smoothie or turkey sandwich or a piece of fruit or hard boiled eggs.

[34me]

My guys are 16, 13, and 11. They never have cereal for breakfast on school days. My boys will often have it for an after school snack when it works out perfect that they are hungry 2 hours later. When they were little and we were on WIC we got oatmeal with our checks.

[Drummer's Wife]

I voted never or rarely, but I feel like that's a bit deceiving because they probably do eat it for breakfast a couple times a month... just not as often as once a week, and that was the other option. I just don't buy it, and if I do grab a box (mainly, they like shredded wheat) it's gone in a day or two, tops. They will have a bowl for snack, and if there is any left they might eat it for breakfast the next day. Usually, though, it's like a starter breakfast, while they wait for the eggs, bacon, and potatoes to finish.

Even before I read about the extrusion process, we didn't do cereal all too often b/c of the high cost and short lasting in my house (6 people), and the mess. I've vacuumed up too many cheerios either dumped out by accident, or spread through the house - over the years! No thank you. I don't buy crackers or chips very often for the same reason.

My kids are about to turn 3, 5, 7, and 9. The older two have to get on the bus around 8:30, so while it's not super early - breakfasts do have to be quick. I will soak steel cut oats overnight and hit the on button on the rice cooker when we get up, microwave the quick oatmeal (not instant, but still not the most ideal) and top it with fruit/nuts, scramble eggs quickly (it really doesn't take long), make a bagel with peanut butter, some type of homemade muffin or bread, etc. Also, for quick breakfasts I will make stuff like pancakes and waffles or breakfast burritos (I even make the tortillas from scratch) on the weekends and freeze them for weekdays. I'm always looking for more ideas, though, as there are times when we are rushed for whatever reason and my kids will grab breakfast at school (which ranges from cold cereal to eggs).

[Marylizah]

I voted very rarely. DS doesn't really like it and it doesn't fill him up enough.

Most mornings he asks for oatmeal (not instant), barring that it's a peanut butter sandwich, or sometimes a ham and cheese sandwich.

All that said, he's not big on breakfast. He doesn't get hungry until an hour or two after he wakes up. Frustrating on days that he has school! He's 3.5, for the record.

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by journeymom

Wow, I'm surprised, though I shouldn't be considering this is MDC, that so many people voted 'never or very rarely'.

I wonder how old people's kids are?

My son is 8 I voted rarely/ very rarely. Not because I am anti-cereal but because 1) my son doesn't really like them and 2) the ones he likes (panda puffs, leapin lemurs, etc) have little to no staying power.

This is a kid who needs healthy fats and proteins or he crashes. We eat lots on non-tradtional foods for breakfasts- avacado rolls, meatballs, burgers, lasagna, pizza. These are mostly leftover and are homemade so there is little refined/wnite flour and lots of whole grains. The combo of whole grains, a good dose of healthy fats and a protein keeps him full and centered.

Now at 8 he cam make all these things himself so I don't spend a lot of time in kitchen either.

[annettemarie]

It's my go-to Sunday morning meal-- cereal, fruit, and toast-- because I have to get 4 kids read and out the door on my own by 9:30 AM.

[FreeRangeMama]

Right now they are eating it fairly often. Not regular cold cereal though, my eldest has a corn allergy so anything cereal-like that we eat is from the organic section, made of only a few (readable!) ingredients, and less processed than the average cereal. He is allergic most varieties. Currently they are eating cereal made of kamut, spelt, and quinoa-and little else.

They would generally have a small bowl of that, some homemade (24hour) yogurt with frozen berries, and a piece of fruit. I wouldn't feed them something like Cheerios or Shreddies, but their are healthier options out there.