Do you give breakfast at a set time or dependent on when your DC wake up?

[Traumdeuter]

Just curious what others do really. 2yo DS can be quite inconsistent with waking up times, anything between 5am to 6.45 is within the realms of normal, and in the past two months it’s a occasionally been earlier and later too.

I make breakfast for us at around 7am no matter what time we’re up before then - if very early then I’ll give a snack with a cup of milk when we get downstairs. I am the opposite to most people in that I wake up ravenous and need to eat something asap, so this has kind of followed on from DS watching me eat something as soon as we’re downstairs and then showing an interest when he was weaned. But I’m not keen on a pre-breakfast snack and would rather just make breakfast.

On the handful of occasions he’s slept later than 6.45 I found the morning quite stressful. On nursery days we’re out of the house at 8.15 so this timing works well. The rest of the week he’s with a parent and the days are more flexible with no requirement to be anywhere.

Do you serve breakfast at a set time each day or does it vary?

If your up and hungry then I would just do breakfast straight away.

I have breakfast when I wake up. DC adapt to my wake up time so earlier in the week, later on weekends.

Should have added we are normally not very hungry in the morning. My breakfast is just tea and a piece of fruit. DC could happily skip breakfast.

I don’t eat breakfast, but if I did then I’d just have it as soon as we were all up. For DS(3) that’s usually somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 and he’ll generally have something like pancakes and fruit or yogurt with granola/fruit. Are you making particularly complicated breakfasts that make it difficult to do when you first get up?

If DC are up and hungry, then I make breakfast. Hungry unhappy children are not fun.

Out of the house at 6;15 with a toddler - kudos! They'd be having breakfast at childcare if they were mine, but I'm never hungry in the morning & the idea of food 🤮

If you're hungry & are eating then whenever it fits in before leaving the house.

Days at home. Whenever you're ready to do it/eat. OR whenever he looks ready. Unless really necessary, I'd avoid a snack beforehand though. Break Fast is just that, breaking the fast.

What do you have/make for him for breakfast?

What/when do you eat in the evening? Just being nosy as being starving in the morning is an alien concept to me.

Just make breakfast when he’s hungry.

We eat at 7.15 on school days but our 8yo eats whilst playing on weekends as he’s not really bothered.

Week days there is obviously more structure as we're on a time limit for school runs but weekends, they get what they want from the fruit bowl, maybe ask me to make something for them whenever they fancy it.

Personally I'd be treating a 5am wake up as a night waking. Sod that!

I make everyone breakfast when they fancy it (it's usually toast/cereal so not exactly effort)

I am hungry as soon as I wake up usually so have my breakfast then, DS1 (5) needs 10 mins to wake up then asks for breakfast, DS2 (2) wakes up early and has milk but then doesn't want breakfast till around 8-8.30am because that's the time they serve it at nursery.

@GiltEdges

I don’t eat breakfast, but if I did then I’d just have it as soon as we were all up. For DS(3) that’s usually somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 and he’ll generally have something like pancakes and fruit or yogurt with granola/fruit. Are you making particularly complicated breakfasts that make it difficult to do when you first get up?

Nothing particularly complicated - porridge, weetabix, sometimes pancakes, scrambled eggs. Fruit and yoghurt. There’s no reason not to make it as soon as we wake other than I’ve got into this routine/rut of ‘breakfast at 7’.

The early snacks are something like a satsuma, small banana, brioche roll.

@MintJulia

If DC are up and hungry, then I make breakfast. Hungry unhappy children are not fun.

He’s not unhappy @MintJulia - he’s really chilled out and only starts to make his way to the table around the established breakfast time! Rarely asks for anything but will eat what is presented to him (most of the time.)

Obviously on school/nursery days you need to have some routine and that's whatever works for you but the rest of the time I've always kept it flexible, I never woke my little ones nor insisted they went to bed at teatime (mine ate evening meal at 6.30pm ish and went to bed about 8pm so got up a lot later than many toddlers

We just give (almost) 2 year old DS whenever we’re awake. He’s the same anywhere between 5:30-6:30 which I’m hoping will be 6:30-7:30 next weekend muahah for wake ups so breakfast is whenever.

@MindfulMarch breakfast is porridge/weetabix/pancakes/scrambled eggs. Fruit and yoghurt. Rarely toast as he has that for an evening meal quite a lot.

I either eat with DS at 5.30 and then have a snack at around 9pm, or eat with DH at 7.30ish. Usually grilled meat and veg, stir fry, pasta, pizzas, fish pie. I’ve always been ready for breakfast as soon as I wake up, doesn’t matter what I have the night before unless it’s really heavy, like fish and chips or something.

We don't have a set time. DC have different school start times in different days so it really depends on when they wake up. Usually on a weekend we're either going somewhere and need to get out so eat breakfast together before we go or they're looking at a screen and I drag them away when I'm hungry. Probably they wouldn't notice if I let them have screens until lunchtime!

There really is no reason to have a set time for breakfast! I'd personally eat together when you wake up. Be aware that if you're eating at 530, he'll be grouchy earlier so I'd plan for either a mid-morning snack or an early lunch.

Does it matter?
It clearly does to you, OP, but as the child gets older you'll find other stuff gets in the way and the more you stick to either type of situation (everything revolving around child routine/child adapting to family needs) the more problems you'll have.

Do whatever works for you while it works for you. In a year or so you'll be yelling at the bottom of the stairs and the child wi be shoving a piece of toast in as you all run out of the door. And it won't kill anyone.

I’m not really understanding the issue?

You need to eat as soon as you wake up but you don’t have breakfast til 7?

Your DS seems happy either way.

7am is a very normal time for breakfast, and milk & a brioche is part of breakfast not a snack…

I try and keep to a "later" breakfast time 7am ish here, I want to encourage them to sleep until then. If I consistently give breakfast at 5.30/6am they will get used to it and adapt their body clocks to that time. mine don't get a snack before breakfast just water. They are fine and now (6 and4) rarely up before 6.30am.

Thanks all. Just to be clear there’s no “issue” - I’m just curious as to what other people do, after ending up in a rut of having breakfast as a set arbitrary time and wondering why! I’m aware that as life goes on our routines and requirements to be out of the house will change, and that’s what got me thinking about it.

3 young children, I make breakfast as soon as they’re all up. Different time every day. Having a set time for any meal would drive me mad I think.

@NoSquirrels my choice is to have a cuppa and a slice of toast within 10 minutes of waking up. When DS came along I adapted as he needed feeding; I would then pop him on his playmat whilst I fixed myself something to eat. As he got older and mobile he noticed me trying to quietly shove the food in, and it morphed into breakfast for both of us as he started eating bigger portions rather than a couple of spoonfuls of porridge.

90 per cent of the time he wakes at about 6.30 so it all works well. Occasionally he is up much earlier - I do what I can to encourage him to sleep, but every now and then nothing works - and I am not sure whether to feed breakfast on waking, which might encourage him to wake earlier if he is hungry - or give milk and a snack followed by ‘proper’ breakfast later.

See @CatRatSplat that is my concern - a 7am breakfast works well for us all at the moment, but it’s a long morning if an early wake. Especially in the winter, less of an issue this time of year as we’d just head outside on a weekend or a non-nursery day.

We don't have breakfast at a set time, it's whenever the DC wake up and are hungry. Could be 6.30am, could be 8am. That said, I usually don't eat breakfast or if I do I'm not ready for it until 9/10am so if it's a weekend for example, DC will usually have cereal around 7.30am (on average) then if I make toast at 9.30am I make some extra and they have some of that as a snack.

During the week DD2 has breakfast at nursery and so DD1 has hers while DH or I are doing the nursery run, around 8am. DH or I would then have something later if we really wanted it.

I am not sure whether to feed breakfast on waking, which might encourage him to wake earlier if he is hungry - or give milk and a snack followed by ‘proper’ breakfast later.

Just rename it? We have ‘second breakfast’ relatively frequently, like hobbits. Stop thinking of milk and a brioche as a ‘snack’ - you’re just splitting the food into two, that’s all. I’d stick to 7am, it sounds absolutely fine.

We don't have a set time, but the rule, except on Sunday when we don't have to be up and out, is you must be dressed, packed and ready for the day (excluding shoes and coats, obviously) before you get yourself breakfast. My DCs are easily sidetracked but are also ruled by their stomachs, so this works well to ensure we get out the door on time. On Saturdays when DD1 has to be out much earlier for swimming, we do like a PP and split breakfast. She'll have a piece of toast before we go and 'second breakfast' upon our return which is more substantial.