Do your LO's eat breakfast?

kleigh926

For months it has been a struggle to get DD to eat breakfast. She doesn't seem very hungry in the mornings, and I try to serve a variety of foods, but I often end up throwing food away because she doesn't want it. We do toast, bagels, waffles, nutrigrain bars, fruit, yogurt, cereal... she will halfheartedly eat some of it, but I can tell she's not really hungry most of the time. This morning she ate maybe 1 bite of her bagel and then handed it back to me. I gave her some dried fruit which she ate, and then I told her she needed to eat her bagel before I gave her more of that. She refused, so then she was done. I don't want to keep making food for her and wasting it. And my philosophy is, if she's truly hungry she will eat what I give her (as long as it's not something she hates). I honestly don't even know what breakfast foods she likes or doesn't like, because she never seems to want to eat any of it in the morning. The only thing she will eat pretty consistently in the mornings is fruit. That alone doesn't seem like a very filling breakfast to me though. 

Do your LO's do this with any meals? What do you do, or what would you do? 

ericalee27

Yes, but it's the opposite meal for us.  DS2 is pretty hard to get to eat dinner, but he has a huge breakfast and I know he eats well at lunchtime too.  I don't sweat it.  If he's hungry, he'll eat.

kelly321

Yep, my girls have gone through no-breakfast phases. The only thing I consistently have success with is sausage cut up into scrambled eggs. I make it maybe once a week on average. Right now DD2 is eating cereal, but there are definitely weeks at a time when she eats no more than a bite or two at breakfast. I figure as long as I offer food, she'll eat when she's hungry.

Does your DD eat banana? That is at least a filling fruit, and I call it a successful breakfast if I get DD2 to eat half a banana.

ohlordy

My DD is funky about her breakfast, as well. She'll take a couple bites and lose interest quickly. I'll offer her stuff like waffles, eggs, cheese, strawberries, and banana and she'll take a bite and be done. Often times we are running out the door in the morning and I'll leave the plate and once we return home, she's all about that garbage, but I'll toss it for something fresh and then she doesn't care again. Strange little appetite she has.

kleigh926

She does eat bananas. We do a banana several times a week for breakfast and she usually eats the whole thing. Makes me feel better that other kids do the same thing!

colinsfebmommy

Mine has always been a good eater until this month. Some days he won't stop eating meals, but then other days I am lucky if I get  1 solid meal in him. Oh did I mention he is now pickier with his options now too. Ugh..

djm31012

I am not a good judge because my DS is a BIG eater, and I know alot of kids arent like that. During the week hes at daycare and its mostly waffles, english muffin, french toast sticks and fruit. On the weekends or when we are home i always make him have eggs and ill mix in cheese/veggies. What time are you trying to feed her? DS eats around 730am, but last week wasnt interested, so we waited and he ate at 830 totally fine. Is she having milk or a bottle when she gets up? Maybe she genuinely isnt hungry. Fruit is always good, if thats all you can get her to eat, then stick with that. There is nothing wrong with that. Fruit and yogurt is even better. Just keep trying.

elliespiral

We make a big batch of oatmeal on the weekends and reheat and offer during the week for breakfast. Some days she eats 2 bowls, some days she starts a breakfast band, banging with her spoon and trying to put oatmeal down the heating vent. 

We also offer fruit, toast and PB, fruit/spinach smoothies, milk, and eggs. Yesterday she ate 2 scrambled eggs and today she ate barely anything, so who knows. She won't sit in the high chair for breakfast so she is kind of like a free-range chicken at breakfast, grazing on her plate if she feels like it. On days when she barely eats, I take solace in the fact that she has a morning 'snack' (fruit/crackers) at daycare about 1.5 hrs later. 

StephPeth

DD likes breakfast, but she does not want to eat right after getting up and ready for the day. She likes to play for a while and then she will say "eat?"

Dinner is a little harder for us because she goes to her grandma's during the day while I am working. My mom lets her graze all afternoon, despite my asking her not to. So when we get home to have our evening meal she only eats a little and then plays with the rest.

Frustrating.

Rynleigh

We always offer protein at every meal before anything else. Breakfast time that is usually eggs, cheese, or ham, for us. After they finish the protein they get a veg (yes... even breakfast time is veg). If they are still hungry after that then they can pick from things like a whole fruit, yogurt, or bread. We try to keep that pretty consistent. We don't force food if they aren't hungry, and we don't offer food unless it's normal meal/snack time (we do about three meals and three snacks every day at approximately the same time every day). My boys wake up seeming famished, but Jamie eats a lot less than Simon does. We don't restrict Simon or force feed Jamie to meet each other's intake, we let them determine whether and how much they want to eat. I have food aversions and have very vivid, traumatic memories of being forced to eat and kept at the table for hours, so even though I have pretty tight standards on the type of food I want my kids to eat (primarily protein and veg with carbohydrates as supplements rather than main foods), I am very easy going with which specific foods they want to use to satisfy those standards and how much they want to eat. 

(also some people just aren't breakfast people. I have to be up and awake and moving for about two hours before I try to eat anything or I feel incredibly nauseous - even now I almost never eat before noon, sometimes not until dinner... I still eat as many calories as I need, I just don't have that need-to-eat-all-day feel) 

Puck1182

DD is a beast at breakfast. Normally she will eat a big bowl of oatmeal, a serving of plain yogurt mixed with puréed fruits and or veggies, plus a banana or a bunch of blueberries or something. Or if we go to the diner she will have 1/3 -1/2 of a florentine omelet (spinach and feta cheese) and an entire pancake, plus a piece of toast.

But lunch or dinner are unpredictable. Sometimes she will eat a lot, other times she will barely touch it. As long as she has otherwise eaten well throughout the day I don't stress over it. I know dealing with that at breakfast is a bit more difficult since you don't have any other meals yet for the day to compare it to, but if she is consistently eating good lunches and dinners, I wouldn't worry. No sense starting battle over food if two out of three meal each day are fine.

lc&jw

We were having struggles with breakfast too, and then I cut back on the amount of milk I was giving them when they first get up. Now they get 5oz milk upon waking and breakfast is 30-60 minutes later. They are eating much better.

Like @Rynleigh, we feed in "courses" rather than putting everything on the plate at once. We start with eggs, oatmeal, whole-grain toast, etc. and then move on to fruit. If I offered fruit first that's probably all they would eat. I take that approach with every meal, in the hopes that they'll fill up on protein and other nutritious foods while they're hungriest. On days when they're not eating much, I try not to stress about it too much because it all generally evens out over the course of the day/week. 

kleigh926

Thanks everyone for your input! She doesn't get a bottle in the morning, and I have tried waiting a little bit to feed her breakfast after she wakes up, but it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. I don't want to wait too long to offer breakfast, because she's usually only up between 8-8:30, so if I wait awhile it would get pretty close to lunch.

She does typically eat well at lunch and supper so I shouldn't stress about it. I don't ever make her eat if she's not hungry (I don't even know how I would do that at this age), and I don't ever intend to. I just get worried that she should eat more after sleeping all night, but she's probably just not a big breakfast eater.

Rynleigh

You're doing fine and it's great that you can recognize her patterns and be willing to voice concerns It is probably just fine as long as you are offering the food and she is still getting a pretty normal caloric intake throughout the other times of the day. If she starts avoiding food and eating very little at every meal, I think that would be a reason to call the doctor. But just not wanting to eat in the mornings wouldn't worry me personally. 

sjames2

DD eats some breakfast. I don't make her her own, she just eats some of mine. She is also a free wanderer during meals. When she's done she shakes her head "no".

wineandcake

DS wants snacks in the morning. We start off the morning with a snack container of Cheerios/whatever cereal we have mixed with some berries or dried fruit. About 2 hours after he wakes up we have a proper breakfast which is usually either toast with peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, pancake, or bagel with a piece of fruit.

We do three meals and three snacks a day. It works well for us to do snack, breakfast, snack, nap, lunch, snack, dinner. I find he just needs a while to play in the morning before sitting to eat so snack is perfect.

TarheelMama202

Do you think she would do a smoothie? I know you said that she likes bananas a lot, so maybe making a smoothie with some bananas, berries, and a little bit of yogurt. That way you will feel better about getting something a little bit more substantial in her, and she might take to it because, well, smoothies are fun.

holly321

My pediatrician said as long as they eat one good meal a day, to try not to stress about it. He said they won't starve.

But to answer, dd never ears breakfast. I always offer but she generally refuses. Ds usually eats a little.

tamarar5

E is like this at lunch. Lunch is my cold food meal most of the time, but he just doesn't seem to like lunch.

wifeofadam

DD2 is not a big breakfast eater.  She refuses to touch eggs.  She won't eat oatmeal.  Basically if it's not bacon or fruit, she's not having it.

I've just continued to offer her whatever the rest of the family is having for breakfast.  If she's hungry she'll eat.  I'm not going to go out of my way to make her a different meal than everyone else.  I figure one day she'll have to try the eggs (I hope).

I think her problem is that she nurses right when she wakes up, so she's just not in the mood for food.

ally2011

My dd is usually not.  However, if I give her fruit, she will eat lots, so sometimes breakfast is a bunch of fruit and we make up other stuff later.  Or it might be a few bites of something like cheese toast with egg (hidden under the cheese sort of) or high protein cereal, and then a lot of fruit.  Like, the kid can eat a weird amount of strawberries and grapes, lol.  

ally2011

I would say if your dd will eat fruit, let her have that, it is better than a bagel anyway

ally2011

Also, you could try letting her be up for an hour or so before offering if you aren't already doing that.  Some adults don't like to eat right away and some wake up starving, it may be the same for toddlers.  

ally2011

kleigh926 said:

Thanks everyone for your input! She doesn't get a bottle in the morning, and I have tried waiting a little bit to feed her breakfast after she wakes up, but it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. I don't want to wait too long to offer breakfast, because she's usually only up between 8-8:30, so if I wait awhile it would get pretty close to lunch. She does typically eat well at lunch and supper so I shouldn't stress about it. I don't ever make her eat if she's not hungry (I don't even know how I would do that at this age), and I don't ever intend to. I just get worried that she should eat more after sleeping all night, but she's probably just not a big breakfast eater.

Just saw this.  We run a later schedule too.  Sometimes my dd is eating breakfast at 9:30 or 10 because she won't eat right away and doesn't get up until 9.  Then lunch is usually around 1 or so, depending on how much she ate at breakfast.  We eat dinner later to accomodate dh's work schedule - usually around 7pm.  And their are snacks when she is hungry at other times - the most popular as of late is an apple cut up and dipped in peanut butter.  

wells2010

we do fruit/berries and some form of carb. Usually with a plain blueberry waffle. Mostly serve up strawberries/blueberries in the AM. My daughter eats A LOT. Sometimes I will throw in a piece of chicken sausage.