Three year old won’t eat breakfast

[Nobreakfast]

DD age 3 has never been the best eater but breakfast has become a real issue.

She actually ate brilliantly yesterday (for her) but completely refused breakfast, so her first food of the day was at midday.

I am torn between leaving her to it and wondering what else I can try. Any thoughts? She starts preschool in September and so I am a bit worried about her going in without any food,

Is she showing signs of lethargy or poor concentration as a result?
Most kids get a mid morning snack at daycare so no breakfast usually isn’t a big deal. Also daycare staff are great at getting kids to just get on with it.

Offer whatever you know she likes, not just 'breakfast' food, and ignore it if she doesn't eat anything. She will either start eating more when she starts preschool or not.

Would she drink a glass of milk or a smoothie instead?

Does she drink in the morning? I would maybe give her some apple juice or whatever she likes and try and not worry to much, you could maybe offer her little bits of what she likes on a plate, she will get a snack at nursery.

My youngest has never eaten breakfast. She’s just turned 6. She used to refuse any milk in the mornings from 6 months old.

It’s okay. She’s never had poor concentration or been tired at school in the morning. She’s full of energy and healthy. Never complained of any pain or illness. She just doesn’t like to eat before lunch.

They do have a snack but it’s only a bit of fruit, and then it’s a packed lunch (which is also a bit of an issue with DD - like I say, her eating isn’t the best!) so I am a bit worried she’ll be going for most of the morning with no food and then just a minute lunch.

@Forgottenmyphone she’d guzzle milk but I’ve worked really hard to limit it to be honest as one of our problems was she was drinking milk rather than eating and filling up that way. I’ve now limited her to just milk in the evenings.

She only drinks water (or milk!) - won’t have smoothies unfortunately (I had high hopes for the blender.)

Thanks all. It doesn’t overly bother me when she’s at home but it’s more when we’re out and about or if she’s at preschool when it’s difficult to do a packed lunch she’ll eat!

I didn’t eat breakfast when i was a kid either. I still can’t, to be honest.

I had two breakfast refusers. Now healthy women in their 20s who don’t really like breakfast.

My three year old niece is the same. She will sometimes have a bit of fruit but generally doesn’t eat until mid-morning when she has a snack at nursery.

We are not big on breakfast here, and early mornings are always difficult once they have to go to nursery or school. They often just had milk (with nesquick - pink milk ala Charlie and Lola), and a biscuit or muffin. I know MN will have a collective fit at this, but it's pretty normal in Europe, and both my girls are slim and healthy, and have fantastic diets now....

I don't eat breakfast, I hated it as a child but back then you were forced to eat it 🤢

@Nobreakfast her pre school will be used to kids not eating much, if you only give her water to drink, then make sure she has a drink when she gets up. She will be fine, she might want something on her way to pre school to snack on then she will have snack even if it is fruit she will be ok.

Does she get the biggest meal in the evening? If so, her small stomach is working to digest it through the night and hasn’t quite finished by traditional breakfast time. In my family, there is a clear division (partly cultural) between big supper eaters, not eating breakfast at all, and small supper/no supper eaters having a feast of a breakfast. I skip supper to regenerate through the night and have a good several hours before next meal and wake up ravenous. My mum though designed it that way. I’m Eastern European and we used to follow: king’s breakfast, prince’s lunch, pauper’s supper order. Your daughter is only 3 and a fussy eater, it’s good you’re limiting milk to include diversity of food. I’d also consider meal timings and what her tummy might be doing based on the fuel it received and when.

Milk shake is a good idea. One of mine hardly ate so I gave her milkshake.

What are you offering her for breakfast? I was never a good breakfast eater as a child but discovered when I was a bit older that I would eat savory breakfasts like meats and cheeses.

Thanks all. This thread did the trick as she’s now eaten a banana! I know she’d happily munch biscuits and crisps but at the moment her diet is healthy but quite limited - she doesn’t have a big range of food she’ll eat and a lot of them are very hit and miss so will eat one day but not the next.

I would not worry too much and get what you're saying about guzzling milk but I would probably offer a small cup of milk in the morning if she's not eating anything! I would also offer other foods that she likes to eat, even if not traditional 'breakfast' food - slices of ham or chicken, cherry tomatoes or cucumber sticks & houmous? My youngest often used to have a tuna mayo sandwich for breakfast although the smell used to make me gag a bit at 7am!

If you are worried about her pack lunch, make it as simple as possible so it doesn't overwhelm her, ime of working with pre schoolers they eat with their friends.

Both of mine are the same, they don’t want to eat before 10am and even when they were younger it was a battle that in the end I let them win. Once they were off their morning milk they weren’t interested until mid-late morning.

They are 15 and 9 now, but when they were younger they might have had some dry cereal eaten like a snack while getting ready, or a yoghurt or something but they just didn’t want it. No signs of it affecting them in school and they always eat their mid morning fruit. They are actually brilliant eaters and tend to have either cereal/porridge/pancakes/toast before bed, which to me is more like a breakfast. The strange thing is that while pregnant I couldn’t face food in the morning, I always wondered if there was something in that.

They don’t have any weight issues, they are actually on the slim side, and eat a varied diet. I’ve never offered them unhealthy snacks as a way of getting something into the before school, I didn’t want to encourage that.

If your DD is eating well in terms of volume during the day and not underweight I wouldn’t worry too much. It may just be a phase.

Can you involve your daughter in choosing something to eat in the morning? It doesn’t matter what it is. I was like this 82 years ago and although it was war time but I did drink milk, never drunk tea, coffee or cocoa it’s still water or milk.

When she’s in those sorts of moods you just get repeated ‘no, no, nos’. She doesn’t really have a lot of foods she’ll safely eat tbh.

The only fruit she’ll eat are strawberries, melon and banana but not reliably - it’s not like I can always give her strawberries to munch on, it’s only if she wants strawberries. Won’t entertain apple or grapes or pear.

The only veg she’ll eat is broccoli and she’ll have onion and tomato in a sauce. Won’t eat cucumber or peas - she used to eat both these but now refuses.

She eats chicken and mince beef so I can make a roast dinner and chilli and spaghetti bolognaise. She’ll eat noodles so I can do a stir fry. Mealtimes are a challenge! 😅

i don't eat if i'm not hungry. These breakfast makers have a lot to answer for, their slogan about breakfast being the most important meal of the day has really stuck!

I would give her more milk if that's what she will drink if she's a selective eater. Calories and main nutrients are more important than trying to get her to have a wider variety and set meals.

Do you think there may be aspects of ARFID in her pattern of eating?

She doesn’t have milk until evening. She just fills up on it otherwise. She’s actually been eating much better since I limited the milk - just not in the morning! I don’t think it’s ARFID or anything, just standard fusspot toddler.

If she's otherwise healthy I wouldn't be too concerned. The usual advice for pre -school children is smaller meals / snacks more frequently. Trouble is, they've never read that advice and care even less!

3 was a bad food year for DD! Small pancakes with banana in and honey on worked. I made a batch for the freezer each week to defrost before daycare…literally the only thing she would eat…crazy