NOW CLOSED: UK MNers with a child aged 5-15: take a short survey for Warburtons - & share your best morning tips/breakfast recipes - £300 of Love2Shop vouchers to be won

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by Warburtons to find Mumsnetters to:

~ Complete their survey all about the morning breakfast routine in your house - this is open to all UK MNers with at least one child (of approx school age) aged 5-15 years - complete it and add your details at the end and you could win a £150 Love2Shop voucher - here's the link

and also for all parents (whatever age child you have) to please

~ Share your top tips for making mornings run smoothly, your top breakfast recipe tips or top advice on how to get your children eating breakfast - everyone who adds a tip etc will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win another £150 Love2Shop voucher.

This is all in advance of a new book which Warburtons are producing, so please note your anonymous tips/ advice may well appear in the book - as well as stats from the survey. The book will be distributed free of charge next year and there will be an opportunity to get a copy via MN.

Here's the survey link again (at the end you will be redirected to this thread so you can add a comment then)

thanks
MNHQ

Get as much done the night before as possible
Get up 10mins early
Have a written routine with pictures
Have a reward at end of routine that children get once in coats, shoes, bags ready - in our house it is tv - you don't then have to nag as they are more motivated and if you get up earlier you have more time for them to faff. I find the more I nag the longer they take.
Get dressed before going downstairs and put children in aprons for breakfast
Get children to do as much as they can themselves
Walk, or cycle or scoot to school - good for you, the children, the environment, your pocket, and saves the stress of where to park.

I do make a delicious version of eggs Benedict, but only manage it on birthdays and Christmas. The recipe is (serves 2) 2 savoury muffins, 4 free range eggs, lots of nice bacon, spinach, jar of hollandaise (lazy), salt and pepper.
Toast the muffins, wilt the spinach, fry or grill the bacon, poach the eggs, heat the hollandaise. Stack on the muffins with spinach, bacon, eggs then sauce, season with salt and pepper.

My other favourite recipe is cereal for the kids. Put in bowl and add milk. :)

We don't have time. We all leave the house at 7.20 to drop ds off at child care and we go to work. No time for breakfast.

Teach your children to make their own breakfast - obviously age appropriate - much easier if they just go and help themselves!

Our breakfast routine is easy! I only really eat 3 things for breakfast, Weetabix (eaten 3 in one sitting since I was about 4!) Shreddies or occasionally Ready Brek, OH doesn't eat it and since the age of about 7 my daughter has just had toast which she has done herself from about that age with initial supervision. Can't remember the last time she had cereal. I have sometimes tried her with different things that I wouldn't eat to see if she likes it but she prefers toast with margerine on it

Top breakfast/smooth(!) morning tips? hmmm...

I put uniforms out ready for the morning.

Ds gets his bag ready at midnight the night before and Dd's book bag is ready as soon as she's finished her reading the night before. If she reads on the way home in the car, it is left in the car.
I don't give too much choice of cereal. If Dd (6) can't decide, I give her no warning and start counting down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Right, you will have x to eat and it's what she usually chooses.
Ds is 14 and has taken to eating toast with Nutella for breakfast with a cup of milk (I insist for calcium if no cereal).
I have finally got Ds to shower sometimes and clean his teeth before he eats and if he's running late (99% of the time), he'll take his second slice with him .

Currently, I have my breakfast once I get back from the school run, but in 3 weeks time, I'll be leaving the house 1.5 hours before the Dc's hopefully get up and it will probably be down to Ds to get Dd up, washed, dressed and fed before dropping her at a childminders and taking himself to school. That'll be fun ~ not! so, I will be leaving their breakfasts ready to be finished off and eaten. I will eat before I leave home.

If I win the voucher, I will be buying a new dishwasher to try to make life easier!

Definitely good organisation the night before - make sure school bags are packed ready for the next day, prepare packed lunch and place in fridge until the morning, hang school uniform on bedroom door ready for the morning.

Sometimes I make pancake mixture the night before so that I can quickly make pancakes in the morning as my daughter loves them for breakfast.

I try to stay as calm as possible in the morning as I hate sending my daughter off to school after an argument or any sort of stress and also find she gets ready quicker if we are all calm and happy!

Plan ahead and be organised - bags packed the night before, lunches prepared so only sandwiches to make.
I'm fortunate that I don't have fussy eaters in my house, mind you I've always run a 'take it or leave it' policy at meal times, I will not make different food for different family members. As a result of this the children eat whatever is put infront of them, however, now they are older they get their own cereal/toast.

I try to get as many things prepared as possible the night before. I distinctly remember a conversation with a friend pre-children who described getting everything, including cereal bowls, out the night before. I Laughed... but now i follow her lead!

I get each of my DDs clothes out, a little pile each with everythign on, even down to bobbles or hair clips.
School bags are packed and sit by the front door waiting.
Packed lunch for me and DH made night before and in fridge.

Very much looking forward to when my DD's can be more self-sufficient and also when my DH learns to plait girls hair!

We have at least 3 variations of ceral on the go at any one time, plus toast (usually a seedy batch for dd1) and for a treat they have pancakes or variety boxes of cereal. As long as they eat something before school I'm not too fussed which variety it is, some days they'll want fruit and yogurts other days cereal or toast. I also won't turn the tv on until they are all ready for school/preschool.

get up half an hour earlier and keep child 'company' whilst she's getting dressed and stop her getting distracted.. any fun stuff (reading, playing) only to be done once she's ready to go out of the door!

Get an early night. Try to avoid getting distracted by MN in the morning.

Both bits of advice I fail to take!

Lunches are made and bags are all packed and ready by the door.
Uniform laid out ready.

I always make sure my keys are where they should be, especially on a work day.
I wash my hair the night before so only need a quick shower, spray of dry shampoo & some make up in the morning.

We all like cereal for breakfast. The favourite is porridge with frozen raspberries added - the raspberries quickly defrost in the heat of the porridge & are delicious!

Varying breakfast seems to keep DS (2yo) interested - in fact breakfast is quite often his biggest meal of the day.

During the week we're on a schedule so he'll have something quick (cereal and fruit that he can manage himself while I get my own). At the weekends we'll also have toast/crumpets/tea cakes/pancakes about an hour after first breakfast (we eat like hobbits in our house).

I organise everything the night before. Sadly I can't organise my IBS so spend a lot of time in the bathroom, unless I don't eat then I'm just very shouty and bad tempered.

I know what I do have which is a bit organised. We have a 'morning basket'. One of those plastic cleaning baskets (it was from Poundland) and I chuck in the freshly rinsed warm, damp flannels, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hairbrushes and anti-nit spray and I can get the kids ready downstairs in front of the TV so I can keep the bathroom free for me. Keeps them in one place once they've had breakfast and got dressed.

Have a set of toothbrushes downstairs so children DO NOT have to go upstairs again after breakfast.

Everything possible done the night before. Breakfast club for DS2 is a godsend.

I have 3 boys ages 2, 5 and 6 so my morning routine is like a regimental routine so that we manage to get out of the house in the morning. I expect my older boys to help as much as they can.

No TV, computers or anything like that until EVERYONE is ready to leave.
Try not to get stressed about 12 year old DD refusing to eat.
Try to remember to give warnings of transition times to 6 year old DS
remember to give countdowns to 'I am walking out the door now' leaving times....

Definitely being organised the night before, packing swimming kit etc in bag also having homework done on time so no last minute rush. I wake DS by tickling him it's so much nicer hearing him waking up giggling rather than having to shout although how long i'll get away with that I don't know as the teenage years are just around the corner

as many others have said, organise as much as possible the night before (clothes, school bag, packed lunch etc), offer simple but quick breakfasts and keep to a timetable as much as possible eg. teeth at 8am, dressed by 8:10, hair at 8:15am although I suspect the timetable is going to go a bit awol when dc2 arrives.....

My top breakfast recipes/tip is to make breakfast pancakes. Sounds a far, us actually really quick and easy, and with a large family it's easy to cater to a variety of tastes with different toppings. Fruit goes really well with them too and the ingredients are cheap. Just whisk it all up with an electric whisk:

2 eggs
225g plain flour
3tsp baking powder
25g melted butter
300ml milk

Dollop into a non stick frying pan with a tiny bit of oil. Flip over when bubbles appear across the top.

Good for families where everyone turns up for breakfast at slightly different times too.

with 4 young children i just do as much as I can the night before and ironing, no, never!

Our kids are involved in making breakfast menu. Sunday is always pancakes but rest they plan ( often shop for too) which tends to work well for both

No tv until breakfast is eaten, uniform on, teeth n hair brushed. Saves a lot of hassle and shouting.