what do your kids eat for breakfast? - Page 2

[Rose-Roget]

Wow - there are some great ideas for other breakfast items here! Thanks everyone! I know there is no "fixing" the situation - just finding different ways to work with it. He regularly says that he's hungry first thing in the morning, so I'm not sure it's an issue of not being hungry - especially since he does this for every meal. We do budget the time in in the mornings whenever possible, but adding that extra time on to the other 3 yo morning struggles - doesn't want to get up/brush teeth/get dressed, etc. - sometimes that "budgeted" time is spent elsewhere (geez, and I only have one dc - what would I do if I had more??). Dh will just need to learn to lovingly set the limits and timer and maybe let him bring the rest in the car. They actually have a 25 minute ride to school, so if he can not be distracted by what he's looking at, then maybe he'd eat. I'm glad to hear that just fruit for breakfast is healthy - we may just end up doing that some days!

[catnip]

My dd eats (almost equal parts) oat O's, frozen blueberries and vanilla soymilk most mornings, with a cup of (low sugar)vanilla soymilk and chocolate soymilk mixed 50/50 to drink. It takes her about 30 minutes to finish eating.

On days when we are in a rush, I give her dry cereal in a ziploc bag with some raisins and cashews (same quantity, just no milk) and a sippy cup of milk, and let her eat in the car. I find a plastic bag the best way to avoid spilling everywhere.

[AnnieA]

Our youngest is a sloooooowwwww eater and sometimes it drives me insane! He's the first to the table and always the last to leave. On school mornings or when we need to get out the door, I just make sure he gets woken up in time to get to the table and start eating. We do cut him off after he has been there for 20-30 minutes. He has usually gotten something in him by that point so I just don't worry about it. He gets a morning snack at school and I usually make sure he has a well-balanced plate in front of him so it will hold him over. Here are our rotating main breakfast choices:

whole wheat mini bagel w/cream cheese & a small sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar

pancake w/small amount of maple syrup

waffle w/small amount of maple syrup

scrambled eggs

veggie sausages

egg sandwich

cinnamon toast

These are usually accompanied by a string cheese, small bowl of yogurt and a small glass of OJ. If we don't do OJ, then a serving of fruit.

[mommy68]

What they will eat:

Eggo waffles (no syrup usually)
oatmeal
boiled eggs
mini pancakes (no syrup)
pancakes w/syrup on weekends
most fruits
biscuits
PB&J
dry cereal in a baggie on the go sometimes
yogurt
bananas

My oldest child will eat everything we eat but it's very hard getting the younger ones to eat a balanced breakfast. They usually end up eating a snack soon and lunch in a couple of hours.

[Llyra]

What about foods that are not usually considered breakfast? I have a heck of a time getting my 3 year old to eat anything but grapes or blueberries in the morning, but the preschool teacher says she's a cranky mess by 9:30 when she doesn't eat. Some days she will drink milk, which is good because it's full-fat and the fat sticks with her awhile. But she won't touch eggs, cereal, toast, or anything "breakfasty." And when she doesn't get the milk, she has so much trouble getting through until her morning snack.

So lately I've been offering her other stuff. Today she had pasta with meat sauce leftover from dinner last night. She gobbled it up. Some days she eats cheese. Other days, she's willing to go for some veggies and dip, or maybe some cold chicken. I try to make a little extra dinner at night, so that I have some leftovers in the fridge that I can offer her without having to go to too much effort in the morning.

What are his favorite foods at other times? Maybe offer some of those?

[veganf]

My boys inhale breakfast at light speed. Usually it's:
- toast &/or whole grain flax waffle
- cereal/granola/oatmeal w/ rice or almond milk
- fruit
- oj or water

For slow eaters I'd just leave breakfast out for X amount of time, then cover it and set aside anything that will last for a snack later.

For me, I eat very unconventional things for breakfast--leftover dinner, cake, whatever I find time for!

[Beth F]

Originally Posted by Rose-Roget

Fruit is about the only thing that he will eat immediately, but don't kids need something else to balance out a breakfast?

Any suggestions to ease our morning routine? What do your kids eat for breakfast? How long do they spend eating?

4.5yo ds ate much, much slower than your little guy. We would literally spend 2.5 hours eating breakfast. At the time, we would eat something like a WW english muffins, yogurt, and fruit. We've had so many food sensitivity issues that we've had to revamp what we eat. We're grain-free, dairy-free, soy-free, complex carbohydrate-free, and nut-free. We've recently started eating eggs again without him reacting. So, he eats leftover meat or eggs for breakfast. Occasionally, he'll eat fruit or vegetables. Because ds has to "commute to work" and "doesn't live here" (he doesn't work and he does live here - he pretends about everything in his life. He will often ask "Where is your bathroom?" with a straight face, and thank me for the directions.), he's a much quicker eater now. He really wants to go outside and "drive" one of our cars or push the fertilizer spreader around. So, he's motivated to eat more quickly.

Occasionally, we'll still have long meals but we're not spending 1+ hours/meal every day. It was something that he had to outgrow. For him, distractions made meals take longer.

He's also the kind of child who really, really needs protein in the morning. He also likes to try new things. That makes him eat more quickly. Plus, he likes when food is pureed. It's messy but he doesn't have to spend as much time chewing and chewing. We use the hand blender a lot.

I learned that if I started to clean up from the meal before he was ready (because I was ready) he'd let me know that he wasn't done because he really was hungry. When I started to respect his eating habits and realize that this was a just phase, we were both happier. Children grow up very quickly.

[Rose-Roget]

Originally Posted by Beth F

4.5yo ds ate much, much slower than your little guy. We would literally spend 2.5 hours eating breakfast.

For him, distractions made meals take longer.

He's also the kind of child who really, really needs protein in the morning. He also likes to try new things. That makes him eat more quickly. Plus, he likes when food is pureed. It's messy but he doesn't have to spend as much time chewing and chewing. We use the hand blender a lot.

When I started to respect his eating habits and realize that this was a just phase, we were both happier. Children grow up very quickly.

Oh, yeah, he would take 2 hours, if I let him. My 40 minutes example was our rushed morning time, and is now about the amount of time I give him regularly even on non-rushed mornings. I hear you about the distractions (internal and external) taking up time. He truly enjoys pondering life as he knows it and sharing that with me. I really do think that is great, and I love to hear all about it in the car or other times (which he does too). I know I need to just let myself slow down and enjoy the phase because he is growing up very quickly.


I do think that he needs some protein to stick with him, and I'm grateful that he doesn't have food allergies to contend with, as well. I tried a smoothie this morning because he always wants some of mine. I usually give him only a few sips because I make high protein smoothies for myself. But this morning, I cut the amount of protein a bit to make it more reasonable for a little body and served him one too. He barely touched it. Grrr...

Other foods that he likes...depends on the day. I suppose I could serve him an Amy's pocket in the mornings. Those are my "he needs a good, easy lunch/dinner when the babysitter is here" meals, and he always eats them more quickly than most things. But then what would I do when the babysitter comes...and at <$2 per, the cost adds up pretty quickly.

It's nice to have this list of suggestions. I think I'll try just offering him a choice of a couple things from the list each morning. If I let him decide AND I tell him the time-limit, maybe that would offer him some control over the situation.

[lovemyfamily6]

My boys are slow too. They generally want cereal or waffles. I'm planning to try making some breakfast "cookies" to see how they do with those.

One thing they like that is good for protein is a chocolate peanut butter "shake". I use a cup of chocolate soymilk, a spoonful of peanut butter and some ice. Sometimes I'll add some banana.

[babytimeagain]

What about a breakfast drink? They have those yogurt drinks or protein shake...does he drink faster than he eats maybe?

[AAK]

One more quick idea.

one of my dds love having a piece of whole wheat toast with pb and sliced banana. It really keeps her full for quite a while and isn't huge.

My kids linger over breakfast sometimes but they wake up pretty early. Once we get to where it is an hour before our deadline, they only get 15 more min to eat. So, if they woke up late, those 15 min might be all they get.

amy