Not to let my DD eat cereal?

[Peridotty]

My 16 month old goes to nursery 5 days a week. We pay for her breakfast, lunch and snack (included in the fee). However, I don’t like the thought of her eating cereal so we provide the breakfast and the snack. I don’t think it’s very healthy, even though it’s a wholewheat type cereal. I give her porridge made of steel cut oats instead with some applesauce. Would you be ok with feeding your kids cereal?

@MintyGreenDream

1st child.Steel cut oats. 2nd child.Rice krispies. 3rd child.Coco pops. 4th child.Biffa Bin surprise.

😂

Be careful OP - you need to educate kids with food not simply refuse some of it.
Kids need treats every now and again.
My son loves cornflakes, honey nut cornflakes, shredded wheat etc. but his favourite currently is muesli (he loves nuts!) - try not to be overly fussy with food or it will rub off the wrong way.

Why is mumsnet always so snobby about PFB’s? Is it just a way for women who have had more than one child to feel smug and sanctimonious for no other reason than the fact they’ve birthed one more child? Or just a rude way to dismiss anyone else’s point of view on the sole basis they’ve only had one child so can’t possibly be as smart or knowledgeable or perfect as you?

Its not a MN thing. If you have never been asked by an HCP or other parent if its your first when worried about something then you are rare.

Its simply a reflection of experience. I wasn't as smart or knowledgeable about children with my first child as with my fourth. I worried about things which really didn't matter in a way I never did about the subsequents. That is life.

Have you never heard doctors quote "when Mum's worried I check over the child, when Grandma's worried I worry too"?

What is a ‘British cereal’? Hate to break it to you about where Kelloggs comes from @Peridotty….

I let my own kids have weetabix, rice crispies and shreddies. They don't have them every day and have eggs, toast and porridge, fruit and yoghurt too.

I don't think it's wrong for you to send your own food in if you prefer though.

I had to ask my eldest's nursery not to give him cocopops for nursery but they were happy to do him porridge on request instead.

As long as it’s homemade apple sauce 😂

Seriously cereal is fine.

@HyacynthBucket

Someone said cornflakes are healthy - No! They are extracted refined white cereal, with virtually no nutritional content but likely to push up glycaemic index - ie. bad for blood sugar control. I would not let a child eat them. Better to give them oats, porridge or some other form of whole grain cereal or whole grain bread.

Are you referring to me? In my previous post I explained that my ds has grown up eating masses of them. I also explained how healthy is. His weight, teeth etc are all perfect.

Interestingly my friends who have been way more controlling about food have teens with weight issues who literally have no self control around what they view as 'treat' food.

@MintyGreenDream

1st child.Steel cut oats. 2nd child.Rice krispies. 3rd child.Coco pops. 4th child.Biffa Bin surprise.

This is far too accurate 😂

The human race literally had NO cereals and no bread for millennia. They are not our natural foods and are entirely man-made

Um we have been eating cereal crops for many centuries.

1st child.Steel cut oats.
2nd child.Rice krispies.
3rd child.Coco pops.
4th child.Biffa Bin surprise.

yep, this is true.

I reckon I failed my a levels as I used to have cereal with a tablespoon of sugar on it for breakfast. In winter, I had ready brek, but would put a tablespoon of sugar in it and another one on the top. I don’t remember how I did it, but I used to cook it so the sugar went a bit crunchy on the top, it was delicious (I now want ready brek with crunchy sugar on the top, but I don’t remember how I used to do it).

As an aside, when you say porridge with apple sauce on the top, do you mean the apple sauce I’d have with Roast pork? Is that a thing to put it with porridge? I’ve never heard of it before.

@Peridotty

Yes I’m British but living in the US. I’m very suspicious of the foods here especially processed foods including cereal. I was brought up on U.K. cereal which is fine. I don’t want to touch US cereals though.

This dripfeed made me change my vote. It was relevant to your OP.

Mmm 2 weetabix with at least a centimetre of sugar on top of both.

Yup, I was allowed to make my own breakfast!

We don't have cereal here as DD never particularly liked any of them so just toast and butter, or even a quick bacon sarnie - wholemeal bread - she is 13 though.

Cereal is not filling at all, unless porridge. I do miss having 2 bowls of Crunchy Nut cornflakes though as the advert pretty much told me to .

'Applesauce' = stewed apples

I grew up eating tons of sugar, inc cocopops (which I would add spoonfuls of sugar to!) Also had very healthy, homecooked meals and ran around outside for my entire childhood as soon as I could walk. Absolutely no issues and no fillings until I was 25 and only then, just 1.

I'm sure it's fine for a child to eat cereal and sugar as part of a balanced diet.

@Maryann1975

1st child.Steel cut oats. 2nd child.Rice krispies. 3rd child.Coco pops. 4th child.Biffa Bin surprise.

yep, this is true.

I reckon I failed my a levels as I used to have cereal with a tablespoon of sugar on it for breakfast. In winter, I had ready brek, but would put a tablespoon of sugar in it and another one on the top. I don’t remember how I did it, but I used to cook it so the sugar went a bit crunchy on the top, it was delicious (I now want ready brek with crunchy sugar on the top, but I don’t remember how I used to do it).

As an aside, when you say porridge with apple sauce on the top, do you mean the apple sauce I’d have with Roast pork? Is that a thing to put it with porridge? I’ve never heard of it before.

Love this!

Although I did pass my A-levels, my stomach would rumble very loudly through a 3 hour exam starting at 9 after a bowl of Shreddies... Locked up 'til lunch my arse.

A small bowl of shreddies and milk is about 100 cal and a small bowl of weetabix around 50 so neither are really bad.

The human race literally had NO cereals and no bread for millennia. They are not our natural foods and are entirely man-made

Most the farmed plants and animals we eat are very different from their wild counterparts. Grains are not unusual in this respect. Consider wild-type avocados, bananas, chickens...

Unless of course, you're living a hunter-gather lifestyle and living entirely on wild-foraged food.

Apple sauce is pure sugar and probably loaded with additional glucose syrup or corn syrup, do perhaps before turning your nose up at cereal you gain a better understanding of the nutritional of the junk you think is healthy.

Steal cut oats.

Tell me this is your first child without telling me this is your first child

I left the UK fairly recently and now live somewhere where most of our food is imported from the US. It's so fucking gross and sweet, it's awful. Even bread has tons of sugar in it, everything is so sweet, it's sickening. There's loads of brands that are healthy in the UK but have loads of added sugar here. You wouldn't know it unless you checked/have recent experience of the UK so you can compare. We have to cook everything from scratch here. I don't blame you. Posters who haven't lived in the US (or nearby) don't know the struggle (fortunately for them!!).

You don't want to give your child any processed foods at all? Wow! I'm presuming you have just the one child and lots of free time.

@driftcompatible she lives in the US, it's very different. I know, I live nearby, having moved recently. I can't buy simple porridge oats, they're just not on the shelf! It's either some weird dusty thing with lots of sugar and flavour added OR steel cut oats with the photo of a farmer and costs 5x as much. For porridge. It's ridiculous but the fact that she doesn't live in the UK is relevant.

Christ I have three DDs, all of them had/have cereal for breakfast. Not one of them is over weight or has bad teeth.

I had Frosties for my tea.

@Idony

Apple sauce is pure sugar and probably loaded with additional glucose syrup or corn syrup, do perhaps before turning your nose up at cereal you gain a better understanding of the nutritional of the junk you think is healthy.

What? I am positive the OP is not buying shop made apple sauce. She’ll be making her own for sure. I’ve made it when my DC have upset stomachs. And you don’t need to add sugar.

The fact the OP lives in the US is game changing, I was going to say YABU but you are D NBU