Breakfast for a 4/5 year old

[Mummyilovejokes1]

Morning,
Im interested to see what other children of this age group have for breakfast as we are looking to change our sons.
Most days he has:

Cereal or porridge
Yogurt
Belvita breakfast bar or similar
Piece of fruit

It seems a fair bit of food and too much sugar so my dp wants to reduce it but i believe he needs this amount of food (he always says he is hungry) but i am very happy to reduce the sugary stuff but im stuck for ideas other than fruit (which he also gets a school as morn snack)

He is tall and slim, i have no concerns over his weight at the moment.

What does breakfast for your 4/5 year old look like please?

One or two bowls of cereal, sometimes some fruit or toast. DS is 6.

12 months ago probably would have stuck with the cereal.

My similar age GS has a small bowl of cereal or an egg and one piece of toast. He doesn’t require anymore food. He has fruit as a snack at school at lunchtime and then a school lunch. After school he has a banana and his evening meal is anything his mother or I make but a small portion and he doesn’t want anymore

My four year old DS gets a Weetabix and a yoghurt.

I’ve just given my 5 year old

Baked beans on wholemesl toast with a slice of deli chicken
Followed by fruit salad of apple mango and pineapple.
Small glass of milk

Mine has weetabix or porridge with a handful of berries on top. She can have a banana/ toast if she wants after but rarely does.

Your ds does seem to have quite a lot but like you I wouldn’t be wanting him starting the day hungry. I find weetabix fills mine up more than sugary cereals and also isn’t too bad on th sugar front compared to some others. What about eggs on toast? Poached or scrambled would be filling and doesn’t take too long. I also find bananas more filling than the likes of berries

Just swap the cereal bar for some whole meal toast with butter and make sure the yoghurt doesn't contain sugar and you're fine.

The world of mumsnet will say eggs! But I don't know many people who have time to make eggs every morning. But they would be a good swap when you have time.

Or you could swap the belvita bar for home made muffins (savoury or sweetened with fruit). You can freeze these and get them out in the evening to defrost one at a time.

In terms of the cereal I'd try to use less sugary options like weetabix or shredded wheat if you can. They should keep him full for longer.

I don't think it's unusual to be "starving" at this age, in general they've waited longer since their evening meal than we have too.

Other days..

Porridge with cut up prunes and sprinkled cinnamon followed by Full fat Greek yoghurt mixed with berries

I like mine heading off with full bellies. Then I know no matter what happens in terms I’d food throughout the day at school - they’ve had a good start!

Thank you for your responses.
I would love to be able to give them eggs but they dont like them and i wouldnt have time on a weekday unfortunately.
Glass of milk and some wholemeal toast is a good shout, he doesn't like butter though so usually has jam which is sugary, he refuses to try anything else but he might eat it plain.
Cereal wise he is open to most so im happy to get weetabix, shredded wheat etc
They usually eat dinner between 4-5 so i can see how hungry he would be by breakfast..I want him to be full before he goes off as i know he runs about alot so he needs the energy.

I would go for porridge then toast with peanut butter or marmite (if he eats it)

My 6yr old has a big bowl of porridge or a bagel with peanut butter

He wont eat peanut butter and only eats marmite on rare occasions. He likes honey and jam 😞

Scrambled egg on toast
Porridge
Greek yoghurt with fruit and honey followed by slice of toast
Croissants
Omelette

Adult sized bowl of porridge with peanut butter or frozen fruit. If still hungry then yoghurt. If still hungry then banana. My children are often ravenous in the morning. I don't give cereal on weekdays as it's often sugary and the yoghurt is al2ays plain natural Greek yoghurt so no sugar there. Porridge is homemade from oats, water and milk so no sugar there.

Your breakfasts don't seem so bad, though flavoured yogurts can sometimes contain quite a bit of sugar

On school days my 5yo DS has weetabix or cheerios, toast with butter and some fruit.

Mine have greek yogurt with berried and a small blob of honey. Full fat yogurt, fills them up more.

At the weekend they like eggs.

Swap for low sugar cereal and natural yoghurt with fruit.

@almostthere15 what are you doing with your eggs? Poached, fried or scrambled take about the same time as toast or porridge. I guess if you really wanted them hard boiled that might take longer but then you could just do a few days at a time one evening while sorting dinner.

at that age DD ate 3 bowls of cereal (porridge, weetabix, rice crispies, cornflakes, shreddies) and 3 cups of milk.

@GemmeFatale mine like hard boiled sliced, I'd never actually thought of doing them in advance and feel a bit dippy now! That said they also like scrambled and I can't stand them microwaved and they don't seem to like it either, really low and slow in a pan for them which isn't doable most mornings but the pre boil is do able for sure!

Irrelevant for the OP as her son doesn’t like eggs but can’t you buy all manner of egg cooking gadgets these days for expedient eggs in the morning?

Ds1 is 5 tall and slim build. He eats ......
Weetabix and fruit or
Greek yogurt and fruit.

At weekends
Fruit, toast with peanut butter and yogurt.

DD is 4.5 and has weetabix, plain yogurt with fruit and if she’s still hungry a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter
She won’t eat eggs believe me I’ve tried but can’t go until lunch on less, she’s very active though and despite eating loads very slim

Mine are almost 4 and 5, and it's usually cereal and toast on weekdays. They have 'boring' cereal like Shreddies with a sprinkling of Cheerios.

If I'm organised I sometimes do pancakes (you can do them in advance though), eggy bread, scrambled egg etc.

@almostthere15 scrambled seems quicker if you split between a couple of pans but then what you save in prep you lose in washing up.

I usually only scramble for one unless we have guests as DH hates eggs so I’ve never considered that a big pan takes much longer. Agreed the microwave version just isn’t as good

Looking at the above it seems the amount isnt the issue its the sugary items.
Happy to cut out the yog and cereal bar and add in a slice of toast (probably plain) and a glass of milk instead. I might try the plain yogurt with a small blob of honey with fruit too. He hasn't tried plain yogurt before but i will try him with just plain first and then add the honey if i need too!
Just need to find something to spread on the toast!
Thank you everyone