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.

We've also totally swapped to a whole wheat good quality bread that we all enjoy. This made a difference as they felt they had 'chosen' it. I only gave them options to choose from that I was happy with though! Now we buy it every week. If they both agreed that they wanted scrambled egg instead of boiled we would swap to that too, but the basics are set!

They like their little customisations, though - one puts Marmite on the toast and has the egg in halves on top, the other dips soldiers in etc.

My dd14 has had porridge with maple syrup and banana or toast with peanut butter and banana plus a yogurt (fruity sugary) every single breakfast for years and years. Occasionally pancakes. She's sllm and athletic with lovely teeth. A bit of sugar is fine.

I would personally stop getting the chocolate spread and hide the jam and pretend that the grocery store doesn't stock them any more until you have got them in a good routine with something you are happy with!

You’re hugely overthinking this! Sounds like you’re quite anxious around it.

Mine are similar ages and have always just had a quick bowl of something like Shreddies or Cheerios, with a glass of orange juice and a multivitamin. Occasionally they might have toast & jam instead. Or I might do some porridge (flavoured with a bit of cinnamon). It’s not essential that every single meal of the day has every single food group. Breakfast might be a grabbed slice of carbs but at lunch and dinner they have a range of other stuff so it all evens out.

On a weekend I occasionally get some pain au chocs to stick in oven or do us all a bacon sarnie.

At 6&8 my two were making their own breakfasts. Choice of whatever cereal was available (I don't buy chocolate cereal because no one likes it), yoghurts, fruit or toast (trained them how to use a toaster safely). Now at 10&8 I barely get involved in breakfast decisions, we have all the toast toppings available plus cereal, yoghurts, cheese, fruit etc. 9 times out of 10 my youngest will eat the leftovers from the previous night's dinner, which she much prefers. I've found they have self regulated their sugar intake at breakfast, maybe once or twice a week they'll have Nutella on toast but will happily go for something else. I choose not to get involved with that choice and will only prepare breakfast if they are unwell or if they want something fully cooked.

Good lord.
Let the kids have toast!! Get brown bread and toast that didn't to avoid processed white
For the porridge, put a spoon of jam in it, or honey or chopped banana with seeds on it. Put it out on the table and let them figure it out.
Eggy bread is a good easy one too
Make healthy pancakes

I don't really understand your issues OP.

What about porridge with dollop oh honey to sweeten
And buy Greek yoghurt and add honey or buy large tub supermarkets own add fruit to flavour

Why not a spoonful of honey in the porridge at the very least?

Do people really get this excited over their children having toast and jam for breakfast

@echt

Plain porridge? I have that in winter, it's the Paula Radcliffe brekkie, but for kids? Possibly not.

Cut the fruit juice with water.

Don't worry about dairy: no mammal needs milk after they are weaned.

Most mammals don't have an NHS that keeps them alive until they're 80+, so they don't need to worry quite as much about osteoporosis or their teeth falling out.

How many of us grew up in a house with no jam? Sounds bloody grim all this anxiety about every granule of sugar. Everything in moderation surely? I buy some low sugar products which I think balances out the others. Porridge with fruit, Greek yoghurt, seeds or nuts and a splash of honey or maple syrup. Granary toast with a low sugar peanut butter or jam if wanted. Cereal would be shredded wheat or weetabix. At the weekend some kind of eggs or often “ healthy” pancakes made with bananas, porridge oats and eggs blitzed together. I get a Sweet Freedom chocolate sauce and Chocolate spread which is their version of Nutella - it doesn’t have the processed sugar of Nutella. They don’t come out during the week unless it’s a special day. I don’t make smoothies much but a lot of fruit gets eaten. Drinks are water.

@ItCouldBeBunnies

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.

Same here. Dc 1 gets Frosties and dc 2 prefers Cocopops. If they've run out they have shreddies or cornflakes or whatever else is in there. They get up and make it themselves. They're not addicted to sugar - in fact, they self-regulate when they're given chocolate and sweets etc.

I must be terrible as my children will have either cereal/toast/pancakes/croissants with fresh fruit and Nutella/jam with fresh juice or milk every day didn't even see any of it as a treat breakfast. I just let them pick what they want and they eat it. As long as it's a breakfast type food with some fruit included somewhere they are good to go!

Plain porridge for kids. Its a bit Dickensian. Just let them have cereal or toast and marmalade.

@BaronessBomburst

Plain porridge is lovely with cinnamon and a handful of raisins. Or chopped apple.

I wouldn't count that as plain. Raisins are a great substitute for sugar (and full of sugar ofc) I have them on cereal so the milk doesn't get sweet.

@greenslide
That's what I thought too! How did we ever grow up without our mums controlling every mouthful we ate!

Posts like this always makes me laugh? Who is buying all these chocolate cereals then? Is it all the adults that were not allowed as children? I confess to buying chocolate cereals as well as the more healthier , although mine tend to eat more of an evening snack than breakfast ( teenagers) .
Surely its all about moderation and balancing it out.

We just give option of wheatabix or bran flakes Mon-fri then the choice of coco pops/toast with jam/Nutella or eggs at weekends. No discussion.

Plain porridge and plain yoghurt is rank. I would refuse to eat breakfast if that's what was on offer. Honestly stick a bit of honey or sugar in, it won't do them any harm and will probably make them more willing to eat it.

Don't buy food that you don't want the kids to eat, if it's not in the house they can't pester for it!

Personally I don't think cereal is a great breakfast either. Have you tried them on eggs or sausages or beans on toast? Cheese on toast was also popular with my DC at that age.

A bit of sugar at breakfast is not going to set then up with a ‘lifetime of sugar addiction’.
Surely toast or what ever cereal is available is fine it a bagel l.

I grew up with 2 sugars in my tea, jam on toast some days, bacon and eggs or egg on toast on others and weetabix laced with sugar and full fat milk. My mums motto was ‘everything in moderation’. I’ve been thin all my life until now - middle age - and I am still under 10 stone so just need to exercise a bit more.

They are kids! Who the hell likes plain porridge.... pretty much no kid in the world! You sound very controlling and have food issues.

Mine are same age, they have weetabix sometimes DS has rice krispies. That's all I've got. If they're still hungry they get a small piece of whole meal bread with marmite or peanut butter. If they desperately want jam I'd let them have it. Cant be doing with getting worked up about it.