Outwitting a toddler advice

[LuckyC]

Gave the Bratlet Cheerios today (part of continuing battle to get her to eat in morning.) Am I doomed to a slow decline into sugary breakfast hell?

Anyone else with any ideas on how to get her to eat anything other than yet more toast?

How did you bribe/inveigle/persuade/entice your toddler to eat cereal?

Anyone have a brilliant breakfast plan?

Try porridge which is warm or weetabix which your DS/DD can 'bash up' with his/her spoon before you add the milk.

Try to relax and make it fun. if he/she just tries some praise her and make sure he/she hears you tell your partner/realtive/friend " he/she ate some of his/her breakfast today isn't that brilliant"

Also just make breakfast part of your routine no matter how much he/she eats, the thing is to keep trying. My DS refused to eat anything salady, but I continued to add it with his sandwiches (like mine and my DD) and he now eats tomatoes and cucumber. It seems like a waste when you keep having to bin it every day, but if you keep offering with no pressure eventually they will try.

I recenty read 'The 10 Most Important Things You Can Do For Your Children' by Roni Jay which has a whole section on this (no wiffy waffy Psychobabble).

cereals are not particularly healthy though. A slice of toast and a glass of milk or a bowl of shreddies. = 6 or half a dozen to me. What about offering her slices of cheese, fruit or a boiled egg to dip her toast in?

Are cherios very sugary though? Never tried them but I get the impression they aren't as bad as say frosties!

Ha ha just discovered the word 'her' in your post, sorry for all the /s!

withwithallthetrimmings - that's actually so true - and I appear to have got fixated on her eating cereal, rather than just eating breakfast.

ramade - excellent use of / - thanks for good advice

storm - have not read box but they taste insanely sugary, at least as much as so as frosties

have you tried orange or apple juice on the cereal? if you can turn it into "something she shouldn't really have but hee hee just this once then" it can go better too.

Peanut butter or cream cheese on toast is more nutritious. Whole earth do a butter with no sugar, just nuts and oil.

Mine like homemade tea loaf (like teacakes) as a change as well as scrambled egg (in fact anything that I have on my plate that is different to theirs).

Puffed wheat is sugar free. It looks like the sugary stuff though, DS is a fan.

Does your DD like dried fruit? You could try giving her some raisins etc. to sprinkle onto porridge. Get a baby variety - Organix or Plumbaby - they often have fruit to flavour, but aren't too sugary.

Yep, Cheerios are insanely sugary, you're quite right! In fact, even the "healthier" breakfast cereals like Shreddies, Bran Flakes, Special K etc. have a lot of sugar in them (but aren't as bad as Cheerios, Frosties, Sugar Puffs et al.)

We give our DD (19 months) a little baby porridge with some raisins, and a few "Shreddies" (own brand variety) followed by a couple of prunes and some fresh fruit and/or toast if she's still feeling hungry. Dried fruit are still rather sweet, but also pretty nutritious. I figure it doesn't matter if DD's breakfast is a bit on the sweet side provided it's nutritious. She doesn't have much sweet stuff otherwise.

Does your DD like banana and yoghurt? Especially if you can interest her in plain yoghurt? (the Greek-style variety is less sour-tasting than most with a nice creamy flavour) - that would be another good alternative.

Is she one of those people that just isn't that hungry for breakfast?

My DD (almost 2) likes oat or semolina porridge for breakfast. I mix in quite a bit of apple puree and cinnamon so it's kind off sweet.

You can also make fake/lazy Bircher muesli. I use porridge oats, moistened with juice, then mix with yogurt and apple sauce. Better for warm weather maybe. (People get alarmed at the idea of using juice but it's delicious.)

DD also LOVES smoked salmon.

How does she eat for the rest of the day? Is not eating much breakfast actually causing a problem?

My sons (and I) like plain yogurt on cereal instead of milk. It has the advantage that the cereal doesn't go soggy as quickly if breakfast takes a while.

DS2 is 2 and quite random about eating. At breakfast I'll sometimes share mine with him rather than give him his own, so we don't waste so much food. He also snacks more during the day than his brother ever did - he'll quite often help himself to a banana. He seems okay with it though.

I've found half a teaspoon of hundreds and thousands on any sugar free or low sugar cereal (porridge, shredded wheat etc.) goes down a treat, and equates to far less sugar than sugared cereals. I think it may be cheating, but we are happy with the arrangement :)

Surely wholemeal/granary toast is better than white sugary cereal? Switching from white bread to brown is the single biggest change you can make in any diet. As long as she's having milk to drink with the toast I wouldn't worry about it - be glad you're not having to buy cereal just because it's advertised on tv!

My Ds loves Eggy/French toast with cinnamon. Also likes porridge with honey.

Have you tried the wholewheat shapes things - i thought they looked sweet but think they have less sugar than rice crispies ( at least thats what i worked out with a quick glance at the back )

Try putting custard on cereal or bananas, they think it's party food, but really it's milk with cornflour and yellow.
Smoothies made with fruit, milk and oatmeal are always popular,
Make plain unsalted popcorn and add raisins.
Fruit bread with berries squished on it tastes fab.
Make a banana split with squirty cream and berries, or set fruit into jelly in a plastic beaker.
Freeze milk in ice lolly moulds and dip into chocolate and oatmeal when serving for a healthy twist on "feast"

I had forgotten I had started this shame. There are some really really good ideas here. Thanks so much.

I mean, unsalted popcorn and raisins! oats/juice-style muesli! - genius!

And she is exactly the kind of little brat angel who would eat the cat if he were sprinkled with hundreds and thousands.

I am overweight and have a couple of food hang-ups inc a bout of anorexia as a young girl at boarding school. I have also spent years being unhappy about my weight and yoyo dieting.

I have been floored by how not-confident I am about feeding my DD.It's the usual stuff - so want her to eat well, enjoy food, be healthy, be happy about herself, have read too many books, don't trust my instincts.

I was brought up in a 'eat everything on your plate' family. My DH had a sweetie/crisp cupboard in his house and pretty much grew up on sausages and mash. Counted pesto as a vegetable until he met me. I just have no idea how to steer my approach with DD.