Too many Cheerios

[melon]

I just CAN'T do mornings, so I end up giving 17 mo DS dry Cheerios every morning in the living room while he plays or watches TV so that I can lay on the couch for a bit. Then after an hour or 2, I make him a proper breakfast of eggs or yogurt or oatmeal or something that requires us to sit at the table.
Can anyone suggest alternatives to O's that require little to no work on my part? I can't imagine that Cheerios on a daily basis is a good idea.
I'm pregnant so my mornings are only getting harder, and I've cut out most of my coffee.
Thanks.

[Casha'sMommy]

Any combination of the following:

fresh fruit (apple slices, banana, grapes, berries, pear slices, peach slices)
kefir
granola
cheese
screambled eggs on a piece of toast folded into a half sandwich
breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese)

[Casha'sMommy]

double post, sorry

[One_Girl]

I had cheerios, fruit, and milk almost every morning until I was a teenager and started eating Cream of Wheat. I don't see anything wrong with it. My brother went between a variety of breakfast cereals with the fruit and milk added on also. Cereal is a grain serving, it has lots of good for you stuff in like fiber and vitamins, and it tastes good. I don't think you should worry about it if your child isn't slowing up on liking the cheerios, especially since you make a second really yummy breakfast. Have you tried having a cup of something hot like caffeine free tea or water? Sometimes just sipping something hot can wake you up.

[ChristyMarie]

My son doesn't like to eat a full meal right when he gets up but needs a snack. I'm the same way. So he'll have a graham cracker or something easy then he has breakfast in about an hour. It works for us and I see nothing wrong with it.

[St. Margaret]

Those early mornings can be really hard when you're pregnant. I could hardly stand to enter the kitchen for a while there. You might just find something that's 100% whole grain with no sugar but stick with the cereal/crackers in the AM. Cascadian Farms' Purely Os now have sugar in them, too bad-- they were better before! But you might look at Joe's Os from TJs. We get Mi-Del grahams and rice crackers, too. I could dump some yogurt in a bowl for DD, but she's older and could deal with yogurt on her own while I dealt with exhaustion/morning sickness/aches etc. But I think this falls under "survival mode" which is totally fine while pregnant with a little one!

[Grace and Granola]

We also did a cup of milk and cup of cheerios first thing in the morning. Sometimes when I wanted to switch it up I bought chex

You could also make a smoothie the night before and put it in a straw cup. In the morning, shake it up and it's a pretty dense breakfast.

[mama2mygirl]

Originally Posted by St. Margaret

Those early mornings can be really hard when you're pregnant. I could hardly stand to enter the kitchen for a while there. You might just find something that's 100% whole grain with no sugar but stick with the cereal/crackers in the AM. Cascadian Farms' Purely Os now have sugar in them, too bad-- they were better before! But you might look at Joe's Os from TJs. We get Mi-Del grahams and rice crackers, too. I could dump some yogurt in a bowl for DD, but she's older and could deal with yogurt on her own while I dealt with exhaustion/morning sickness/aches etc. But I think this falls under "survival mode" which is totally fine while pregnant with a little one!

The purely o's now have sugar? Bummer. I used to use them as a kind of back up.
OP--I agree with this poster. This is a survival food. It gets you and your baby through the morning. Pregnant mornings were soooo hard for me.

[St. Margaret]

I know! I was so upset when we realized they had added sugar. I don't know of any other O's with no sugar. I liked being able to give these to DD when all the babies at the park were eating O's and she wanted O's, too! This coming babe is going to be out of luck. For the endless snacking as a baby-- But if I had an older toddler and was pregnant, it'd be okay.

[peainthepod]

I give DS Nature's Path Organic Whole O's every morning. They're gluten-free (we aren't, but he likes them) and sweetened with cane juice and pomegranate juice instead of refined sugar. They're not totally sugar-free, but not very sweet either.

After he's snacked on some cereal I give him a sliced banana and yogurt. Some mornings he also wants eggs, which I scramble with some shredded cheese for extra fat and protein. Other mornings he wants a second piece of fruit, like an apple or a pear. I think cereal can be a fine breakfast food as long as it's balanced with fat, protein, and some form of fruits and/or veggies.

And hey, I'm pregnant too. At almost 35 weeks I'm pretty proud of myself on the mornings I manage to scramble some eggs. The fatigue is unreal and the smell of food first thing in the morning makes me gag.

Hang in there, mama. It sounds to me like you're doing fine.

[dakotablue]

what about having some hard boiled eggs on hand? or making a fruit cup the night before? (if you put some lemon on the fruit it won't brown)

I have to admit most mornings my DS either gets eggs or chicken sausage (organic cut lengthwise fast to cook)

I am not a morning person...

[konayossie]

DS has been having grapes for the last week or so. It's a struggle to get anything down him, but he loves the fruit, and I just have to grab a handful out of the fridge.

[ShadowMoon]

DS snacks on cereal throughout the day. I buy Wholefoods 365 brand "Morning O's" which doesn't add much, if any, sugar. He also snacks on Heritage Flakes by Nature's Path which also has no added sugar.

[Mama2Kayla]

Originally Posted by melon

I just CAN'T do mornings, so I end up giving 17 mo DS dry Cheerios every morning in the living room while he plays or watches TV so that I can lay on the couch for a bit. Then after an hour or 2, I make him a proper breakfast of eggs or yogurt or oatmeal or something that requires us to sit at the table.
Can anyone suggest alternatives to O's that require little to no work on my part? I can't imagine that Cheerios on a daily basis is a good idea.
I'm pregnant so my mornings are only getting harder, and I've cut out most of my coffee.
Thanks.

When my kids were that young, I did the same thing. They always woke up super early and I would give them some dry low sugar cereal or make a piece of toast with some butter. We had 2nd breakfast around 8-9am

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. As long as the cereal isn't keeping him too full for the more nutrient dense food...I say roll with it.
Being a tired pregnant mommy with a toddler is tough!

[nextcommercial]

I would just switch it up with different cereals. I currently obsess over Puffins. No, I didn't read the label, and don't tell me. I like those puffy little things.

I don't see anything wrong with cheerios every day for the rest of his life, but eventually, he will lose interest in them.

I was SOOO not a morning person, that by the time my dd was two, she had her own snack drawer in the kitchen, and before I went to bed, I'd preset the tv to a kid's channel so she would just go out and watch tv til I had veged in my bed for a while longer. I don't just spring out of bed in the mornings EVER.

[Mama2Bug]

OP, I think that you're looking for not-too-messy things that you can just pull out of the fridge or pantry and hand over before collapsing into morning-brain fog. I know exactly what you mean! I am terrible in the morning. My DD is 5 and I still try to prepare her breakfast the night before so that she can just grab it out of the fridge. Besides cereal, here are some things I gave her when she was little. You'll have to tailor some of it, depending on how well your DS chews and how prone to choking he is.

*small chunks of cheese
*bananas (just crack the peel and hand over)
*whole grain crackers
*homemade muffins
*freeze-dried fruits and veggies (DD was a HUGE fan of Just Peas!)
*raisins, dried apple bits and dried cranberries mixed with various cereals
*Smoothies pre-made the night before (I think someone else mentioned this too.)

[melon]

Originally Posted by Mama2Bug

OP, I think that you're looking for not-too-messy things that you can just pull out of the fridge or pantry and hand over before collapsing into morning-brain fog.

BINGO!! at 17 months, he still soooo messy!
Thank you all so much for (1) making me feel ok about giving him Os every day, and (2) your awesome suggestions for when he gets sick of this.
I am going to go to Whole Foods and look for a cereal alternative...He LOVES fruit and will eat it all day if i let him, so i usually make him wait until after 2nd breakfast or lunch for fruit.

[nwatt]

I make big batches of pancakes and freeze them. DD will even much on them frozen. I just hand them to her (thawed or frozen) and she walks around eating them. I make a simple recipe that involves just four recipes, coconut milk, banana, whole wheat flour, and baking powder.

[JD5351]

I can't get up and motivated that early either. I only really cook a "real" breakfast on the weekend, and it's usually more of a "brunch" around 11am-noon..lol

My son loves graham crackers, so in the morning I'll give him a graham cracker. It's usually not messy unless he decides to bang it on something, or throw it on the floor and step on it He loves his crackers though, so that doesn't happen often..lol

[ancoda]

I agree with everyone else that he will be ok with the cereal in the morning. Pregnancy is hard, don't make it harder on yourself by not feeling that you are doing good enough. Go with what works.