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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Breakfast time/mornings are hell

32 replies

Burnoutbetty · 08/03/2025 11:03

I have two dc, a 3 year old and a one year old, my 3 year old is diabetic and refuses to eat in the mornings unless I spoon feed him, is this normal? Also unless he is hand fed 90% of things he just won't eat, he will eat an ice lolly, sweets, crisps and fruit by himself but at actual meal times he won't feed himself, my 1 year old self feeds and has done from weaning basically, it's so hard and I dread mornings and meal times as like most people have a million and one things to do in the morning and sitting there hand feeding him for an hour (he's a very slow eater and will sit with food in his mouth for 5 mins at a time) is driving me mental. I find myself losing my temper and having to go stand outside raging before going back inside to resume. My husband helps so much at meal times when he's home but he works long hours and only gets Sunday off. It's really getting me down and I can't get out of the house early as he takes so long to feed and finish a meal. It sounds dramatic but by the time breakfast is over I just want to go back to bed and cry and I'm utterly exhausted.

OP posts:
Burnoutbetty · 08/03/2025 12:47

I've spoke to his diabetic nurses, they're not concerned in the slightest about his eating habits, as long as he gets food in him and his sugar is under control they couldn't give two flying fucks about what method I use of the stress and anxiety it causes me. He's still on injections, we were meant to put him on the pod but he was in so much distress over the new change over to Dexcom we couldn't in good conscious put him through pump changes every 3 days.

OP posts:
Peanut91 · 08/03/2025 13:14

Sounds incredibly stressful and similarly to a previous poster my eldest has a health condition which means he struggles to maintain his weight, let alone gain weight so I appreciate how worrying it is to make sure they are actually eating.

Do you eat your meals with him so he can follow your example with how he should be feeding himself? I don't think you can underestimate how important it is for kids to eat alongside you. Also does he go to nursery or preschool and if so how does he get on eating there?

RoseMarigoldViolet · 08/03/2025 13:20

Do you think it’s a reaction to the sibling? He gets your full attention during the feeding so enjoys this?

TawnyHabenero · 08/03/2025 13:22

Have you tried letting him make his own breakfast?

They are often more keen to eat it when they made it.

Kitchen tower or chair at the toaster and a pair of tongs, play kitchen filled with granola/fruit for them to chop etc., /a low shelf in the fridge with refillable yogurt pouch for them to grab. Jug of water and a glass.

It’s painfully messy and slow at first but in the long run really effective for everyone and brilliant for independence. Lots of good Montessori guides online.

ILikeCheeseandBiscuits · 08/03/2025 13:24

Is it just breakfast time that you have these issues?
my T1D hates breakfast most mornings and just cannot be bothered with the whole rigmarole that diabetes causes when eating. So we decided that it was fine, she could just eat later or I would make her things that didn’t need insulin, like bacon and scrambled eggs and then just leave it on the table for her.

Other diabetic parents have resorted to just giving the required amount of insulin for the food AFTER the kid has eaten so if they don’t eat it then they won’t hypo. They might go high for a bit but that is safer than a low.

Are you a member of the facebook group ‘parents of children with type 1 diabetes in the UK’ they can be amazing with advice.

Sending big hugs, it is such a difficult situation with these kids on top of the normal stresses of parenting.

Glassesofmilk · 08/03/2025 13:54

Burnoutbetty · 08/03/2025 12:47

I've spoke to his diabetic nurses, they're not concerned in the slightest about his eating habits, as long as he gets food in him and his sugar is under control they couldn't give two flying fucks about what method I use of the stress and anxiety it causes me. He's still on injections, we were meant to put him on the pod but he was in so much distress over the new change over to Dexcom we couldn't in good conscious put him through pump changes every 3 days.

we had to give injections after food when my daughter was this age as we couldn’t rely on her eating the food we had given insulin for . It did make her blood sugar a little higher some days but it was the only way till she was more compliant

NicolaCasanova · 08/03/2025 13:58

Can you give him a smaller amount of food that is more sugary? How is he with drinking fruit juice or milk?

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