I've lost all perspective on breakfast. Please advise!

[KindergartenKop]

I'm in an ongoing battle with my kids over breakfast. I want them to have plain porridge, they want toast with jam, chocolate spread and pancakes on. We usually compromise somewhere in the middle. They also take ages to make any choices for breakfast, thus making me late for meetings etc etc.

So new plan is that I tell them the breakfasts available in the week and they choose which day it happens in advance. So in a week they have to have...

2 x cereal (not fun ones) or porridge with small amount of raisins or half a banana and peanut butter.

2 x plain yogurt with frozen fruit.

1 x treat breakfast (pancakes or croissant and jam etc)

1 x fruit smoothie and a chunk of cheese/babybel.

1 x egg on toast

Also fresh fruit if they want it.

Is this crazy? Is this too much sugar? I've lost all perspective! They are 6 and 8. I'm a bit concerned they need to keep dairy consumption up, they don't drink milk at all.

Weekdays we have cold cereal breakfasts only. No toast cause that rules out sandwiches at lunchtime. I buy Weetabix, granola and a kids choice cereal each week.
They choose one of the three and have some fruit as a topping.
I don't buy chocolate cereal unless we're on holiday.
Saturday we all have porridge with choice topping and Sunday is treat breakfast, usually either pancakes, bagels, crumpets or croissant.
It works for us, I have to monitor sugar intake cause it really affects my kids behaviour. They've gotten used to healthier cereals and tend to choose less sweet options now and are learning about the importance of a balanced diet.
They're 11 and 4.

Just balance the meals over the day/week. I am of the opinion if they are fed all will be ok. we have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Good luck

madness

We have a range of cereals like bran flakes, weetabix, fruit and fibre (ie not kids cereals). Or porridge with spoon of jam/syrup.
Toast with low fat spread and jams/marmite
yogurts
fruit

children choose what they want! both are skinny, age 5 and 9 . Don't make normal food like toast off limits, bound to cause problems.

Weekends we sometimes have croissants or similar.

I'm a Dietitian and ds 11 has croissants pretty much everyday. He warms and jams them if he can be bothered. If I'm making porridge he will often have some with a dash of maple syrup or pancakes at weekends. He eats yoghurt daily and plenty of fruit. Diet is all about balance not obsessing over the content of one meal

When mine were that age they made their own breakfast. I don't mean that I abandoned them, just that we'd all mill around in the kitchen together, cereal/milk/bowls where on the table, and they helped themselves. Toast was available too. Sometimes they'd have a cheese or a tuna roll, but only if I was in the mood to offer/make it. Likewise eggy breakfasts. Options were limited to the slightly healthier cereals. Nobody would have eaten plain porridge. I do think you can make life a bit too complicated.

Ditch the smoothies,, they're not great for keeping blood sugar stable (unless you're making them with a high veg:fruit ratio).

If they want toast then offer toast. Toppings don't have to be sweet, try Marmite, sliced cheese or ham.

Overnight oats made with full fat Greek yoghurt and fresh or frozen fruit are likely to go down better than porridge. You could also 'disguise' oats in baked goods such as breakfast muffins instead of insisting on porridge.

And then there are eggs. Dippy eggs, French toast, scrambled eggs, even individual frittatas

It looks like I'm in the minority. We have a cereal cupboard. Probably 10 boxes. Weetabix, porridge, muesli, shreddies, cheerios and also coco pops, crunchy nut cornflakes and frosties. Plus a mix of bread for toasting, crumpets, pancakes and/or bagels in the bread bin. They're 4 and 8. They get up and I ask them what they want for breakfast . It takes me all of 2 minutes. It's the one meal of the day they can just wake up and choose what they want.

@KindergartenKop

'I personally think that jam and chocolate spreads are for weekends or special occasions'

I agree!

Fucking hell what a miserable way to live. When do your kids ever get a bar of chocolate? Once every 10 years?

I don’t see the harm in letting them have a teaspoon of jam or Nutella in porridge. They still get the benefit of the milk and they can have some fruit in it too. There are some Nutella like spreads now that are lower in sugar, just ground up hazelnuts with cocoa and oil. Plain porridge is really not nice to eat.

That's not enough food to get them through the morning, not on the days without cereal or toast.

Plain yoghurt with frozen berries? Where are the carbs that give them energy for a whole day at school (when there's school)?

I do think your plan is good - trying to reduce sugar in the mornings. And I'm sorry to say this but I'm an adult who knows how good plain porridge is nutritionally, and I still don't like it.

Give them toast (plain) if they want, AND yoghurt with berries.
Don't make them eat plain porridge if they really don't like it. Add some honey, or different nuts if they're not allergic, for added nutritional value. They need a source of energy and nuts are amazing for that. Pistachios. peanuts, almonds, cashews.
We eat pressed tomato and olive oil on toast for breakfast in Spain. It's delicious and so healthy.
My mum also used to give us hummus or different pulses' pâtés on toast (veggie family). You could also have turkey or ham. In Spain it's normal to have a big savoury breakfast, it gives you energy for the day.
Scrambled eggs or beans on toast, or anything savoury, will add nutrition and they'll probably like it more.

DS 14 catches the bus at 7.30, just a glass of water for breakfast. It isn't an essential meal for children and teenagers, like it isn't for adults. If you aren't hungry why eat.

It does sound like hard work. Keep it simple, give them control of their own food choices and quantities within a selection you're happy with.

We always have shreddies, Cheerios, weetabix and porridge available, or toast and crumpets. I have no idea who eats what now or if they have the same thing every day. We also have Greek yoghurt and fruit but suspect I'm the only one eating that. I will help make porridge if requested and offer it if I feel like eating it myself. There's nothing wrong with some jam on toast.

On weekends we sometimes have pancakes, croissants or bacon and eggs just because we have more time. You could have weekend cereal for that if you have to. The main thing is to balance things out over a day/week and do not make food a battleground.

I don't think yoghurt and fruit is substancial enough for a breakfast for kids. Neither is half a banana and peanut butter. Plain porridge is gross. Why are you being this directive over food?

It's also clearly creating a massive pointless battleground. You need to ease off.

@Jemenfouscompletement

DS 14 catches the bus at 7.30, just a glass of water for breakfast. It isn't an essential meal for children and teenagers, like it isn't for adults. If you aren't hungry why eat.

There is so much research showing the importance of giving the brain fuel in the morning. I also skip breakfast sometimes but children and growing teenagers need breakfast. It's their source of energy for the day and it's meant to be the most important meal of the day. I can't imagine getting through 5 hours of maths, science and literature lessons without breakfast.

you really are making so much of this. The standard breakfast in our house is a choice of 2 or 3 boxes of cereal (currently weetabix and shreddies) or wholemeal toast and jam.

Occasionally there's a bagel and salmon or beans on toast sometimes or eggs and toast if I have a bit longer. At weekends I generally do pancakes or a proper brunch.

I think fruit smoothies are too full of sugar. Babybel is a bit horrible.

@KindergartenKop

I'm not portion controlling. They can have a whole banana, I just mentioned half because sometimes a whole one in porridge is too much for the little one.

I'm just aware that proper nutrition is important and I don't want to set them up for a lifetime of sugar addiction! But equally I can't face a battle every morning. I just want to keep everyone happy AND healthy 🙂

Sugar addiction isn't a thing.

So much angst over breakfast!

Surely breakfast is the one meal where individuals get a choice, from a limited amount of options. Are you really going to let your children dictate what you and presumably your husband/ partner eat for breakfast and when?

Personally, I could cope with the other options but couldn’t eat plain porridge or a smoothie and cheese.

They should get a limited amount of options: cereal, toast, yoghurt and fruit and a limited amount of time to make that choice. You should also get your own choice. Pancakes etc are too complicated for a working day and are therefore for weekends.

You’d hate to have DS as a son, he has beans on toast with greater cheese on top every single weekday. And he has cornflakes before he goes to bed every night 😂. He’s 11 now and so far hasn’t become a sugar addict!

Weekdays are toast (usually with marmite, but sometimes honey or jam) for me and DS2. DS1 mixes toast up with porridge, rice krispies or wetabix. DS2 and I dont touch milk, unless cooked into something.
Weekend are for treats - pancakes, waffles, croissants.
Milk isnt essential.

Here it's plain cereals or toast. That's it. Two choices. I make pancakes once a month roughly. Fruit always available as a given.

I have four DC though and don't fanny around. Breakfast usually done by 7am. Make life easy for yourself OP!

If I were you I would say it's cereal or toast on week days and it's pancakes etc at weekend. Can you encourage boiled egg and toast so that you have a few less jam days?

These threads also really piss me off because white sugar is treated like kryptonite, whereas the little darlings are probably consuming around 12 teaspoons-worth of sugar in smoothies and fruit. It's still bloody sugar you know!! 😂

We have a hotel style continental breakfast on offer weekdays. Usually some extra bits at the weekend, either cooked savoury breakfast (eggs, bacon, mushrooms or tomatoes, sometimes a full English but usually just some elements of). Or we have a sweetie breakfast. The kids love that for a treat. Sweetie breakfast we put mini marshmallows and chocolate sauce on our cereal, pancakes with syrup, donuts, cream cakes, etc.

Do you and your partner also eat such varied breakfasts throughout the week? This sounds like a holiday breakfast line up, from a hotel kitchen. It sounds like it takes a lot of time and agreement. Maybe all of these descriptors are really suitable to your lifestyle though.
My partner and I don't have children and we work from in reasonable comfort and get to do what we want. Every day he eats porridge with fruit and tea. Every day I have eggs with toast and coffee. The variety you describe would not appeal to me on daily basis.

Plain porridge? No way.

I feel like I need to chose my battles at the mo. My kids in the whole eat a pretty healthy diet but for breakfasts i make
Toast
Croissants
Pan au chocolate (once a week)
Brioche
Fruit
Yogurt
Juice
Pancakes
Bacon/eggs

Yes they are having sugar but I'm ok with that at the moment. They are active, eat well at lunch and dinner.