Aibu to give my dc 3 weetabix?

[Mumof3xox]

Following on from the thread about a 3 year old weighing a little too much where several people have commented it's "crazy" to let a 3 year old eat 2.5 weetabix, and how they themselves as an adult would only eat one

I am now wondering Aibu to let my 5&6 year olds eat 3 each? Sometimes they follow it with a piece of toast or fruit

They are both healthy weights and tbh, in the past they have eaten 4/5 each. I have actually cut them down to three as it was costing a bomb!

Actually. Aibu that my 15 month old eats 2 weetabix sometimes?

My dds have always had 2 weetabix they sometimes have a piece of fruit after too. they're both tall and lanky

My 7 year old will happily have 2 or 3 bowls of cheerios for breakfast. I'm sure lots of people might be horrified at that but he's pure muscle and has no fat on him at all.

People may be skinny on carbohydrate rich diets, doesn't mean they will stay that way

Exactly Youoryou, and it can quickly lead to overeating habbits which aren't good in the long term.

Yes Sirzy what happens to these people long term? It is unlikely they will be pure muscle, and tall and lanky at 30.

The body can cope with highly processed carbs for many years then you find the weight all starts to pile on

If they are not overweight and are active what's the problem?

Portion sizes are personal things.

I found that out the hard when youoryou. As a child could eat as much as I wanted always stick thin etc etc etc - then the decline was gradual until at 29 I weighed 16.5 stone and realised something had to change!

I wouldn't be surprised if Weetabix has got smaller. I can remember eating four with a huge amount of milk as a teenager with Golden Syrup on top

My 19 month old will eat half a bowl of porridge with mashed banana and a tiny bit of honey in it very easily weekday mornings. I would call it an adult portion but then he doesn't snack in the day and is on the 75th centile so I don't worry.

Seems fine. Mine would be starving on one im sure. Breakfast is always their biggest meal here. They are 3 and 4 and today had:

• large bowl of porridge with blueberries and seeds
• a boiled egg
• fresh smoothie with banana, yogurt, almonds and avocado

If I gave the equivalent of one weetabix they would think rationing had started! They eat 3 decent meals a day, but don't snack. If just one weetabix they would be starving hour later

I can actually remember my mum cooking me pizza and beans for breakfast before primary school where I would be downing a school dinner in a few hours' time! I always had playtime snacks too... I was normal weight but very active. I think all kids are different. :)

Sirzy did you lose the weight? I think that is where my friends have struggled, have eaten what they want for years and then the weight suddenly piles on and it is a real shock to the system and a very difficult adjustment

I was the opposite! Fat as a child but lost the weight in early adulthood and have kept it off

If they are not overweight and are active what's the problem?

Portion sizes are personal things

The problem is too many highly processed carbs like Weetabix can lead to weight gain in the long run. People think it doesn't matter because their DC are slim, no fat, pure muscle, etc etc but they are unlikely to be like that in the future

Yes thankfully, I have dropped 5.5 stone in the last 15 months. Still a couple more stone to go but getting there slowly but surely.

Wow that is an amazing weight loss Sirzy very well done you must have dropped so many dress sizes

DH and I both have food and weight issues.

I had this same conversation with my HV when DD was 9 months old. She'd easily eat 2 Weetabix and a banana for breakfast and I was terrified of passing our issues on, but concerned that limiting would make a big deal out if it too. We were advised, as with the breast feeding, to feed as much as she wanted.

Yes, she has weight issues. Doesn't seem to know when she's had enough. Whatever you do it'll be wrong.

Whatever you do it'll be wrong

That is very defeatist. I was fat for many years but now fit in size 8 clothes. You can turn things round. I realised I was eating far too much, too many processed carbs, too many Weetabix. I changed my diet to simple foods, lots of fruit and veg and small portions - not that difficult

I'd completely forgotten the huge spoons of sugar that went on weetabix and cornflakes when I was a kid until just now.

I also only just realised that I think of two weetabix as 'the only appropriate weetabix serving', although I see no problem with following two weetabix with two more weetabix, and so on into eternity should they be desired. It's weetabix. That's sort of their purpose, no? Filling hungry young bellies relatively cheaply/nutritiously/quickly?

That's sort of their purpose, no? Filling hungry young bellies relatively cheaply/nutritiously/quickly?

You won't fill hungry young bellies with highly processed crap

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/01/weetabix-slammed-for-misleading-energy-claims_n_1727121.html

www.theguardian.com/business/2010/nov/23/food-book-extract-felicity-lawrence

The truth about breakfast cereals

MY 11 year old eats up to 8 at breakfast - though probably usually 5 or 6. Then eats a small lunch, an apple or carrot sticks after school and small dinner. She's slim and very active and surely that's what's recommended: eat smaller as the day goes on. She fades completely if she misses her weetabix or a bowl of porridge for brekkie eg she'd be tired and quiet and listless if she had only a bowl of rice krispies for brekkie and then her usual quarter or half a sandwich for lunch.

My DD seems to have got bored of weetabix. I'm not sure what else to offer. What is another cereal that is as healthy? I am going to try porridge but she wasn't keen when I last tried (but that was a while ago).

Sorry but I don't want to be cooking anything more time-consuming than porridge at that time of day.

My DS is only 10 months old and he eats 2 weetabix and some fruit for breakfast! God help you if you tried to just give him one weetabix. He will also eat a big lunch and dinner too and sometimes have a banana for a snack.

I always thought babies didn't eat much but mine eats like a horse. No one can believe the enthusiasm he has for food. I think it's because he just nevers stops crawling around from the moment he wakes to the moment he goes back to sleep he's exhausting He was born on 75th centile for height and weight and is still perfectly on the same line so he obviously needs the fuel for the amount of energy he is burning.

He enjoys his food so much that I think we will have to monitor his food intake and weight in months and years to come to make sure he doesn't end up over eating. For now at least he loves all food, inc all fruit and veg, so it's easy to make sure his diet is healthy but I have no doubts that his tastes can and probably will change and he'll become fussy at some point.

You - I have always been a size 6-8. And eat everything in various portions depending on how Hungary I am. I don't think there's any wrong with carbs, just like how there's nothing wrong with fats.

I should add that he doesn't always have weetabix, but when he does it is 2 to a portion. I make us both bircher muesli which is oats, Greek yoghurt, grated apple and apple juice. We have it with fruit, flaked almonds and seeds. It's a really great breakfast for hungry little tummies (and big ones too!) It's a great alternative to weetabix

The bircher muesli suggestion was for makemineasix If you make a lot of it, it keeps in the fridge for a good few days. It's a great summer alternative to porridge and the apple juice adds a bit of sweetness