Do you ever make your dc clear their plate?

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I don't generally. If I feel they are genuinely full or don't like something

But it is difficult to get my ds to eat a decent breakfast. I offer various options. He doesn't like cereal with milk, but after months of dry cereal not being eaten (and half of it ending up on the floor) I refused to give it to him anymore.

He has gone off toast now. I made him finish his weetabix (warmed with milk) and threatened to keep it for his lunch if he didn't finish. I feel bad but then I get asked for snacks all morning and he starts school in August and will need a proper breakfast.

Any ideas?

dont give him snacks

Let him not have breakfast and no snacks for a day or two....

nope, i don't

my kids know when they're hungry better than i do.
i find that mine naturally get hungry around 10am, although I know that's not much use when they're at school.

ds1 i guess must've just fallen into the pattern of eating earlier once he started school.

What Cuntardo (:o)b said.

tbh I have often said, right no snacks until lunch unless you eat all your breakfast. But seeing him so relunctantly eat said breakfast makes me feel guilty - like I am force feeding him

I will add that generally he is a great eater. He loves his fruit and veg and has home cooked meals. It just seems to be breakfast. Yet I feel it is so important to eat a good breakfast before school

Yes I try to let him eat later when we don't need to be anywhere. Sometimes that works

Maybe he just doesn't like breakfast type foods.... Could you try giving him something different for breakfast, maybe something savoury, or fruit and yoghurt. Or ask him what he would like (within reason) for breakfast. What sort of things does he have for snacks in the morning? Maybe he could eat those for breakfast instead of later.

Having said that my DS doesn't really eat cereal or toast often for breakfast.

He has a variety of things ; omlette, brioche, crumpets, natural yoghurt and strawberries, croissants.

We've started having all sorts for breakfast recently which has helped. Beans on toast, boiled eggs, kegeree, pancakes. It still has to be vaguely breakfast-y or I'd feel ill I think!

some good ideas thanks

We do have croissants at the weekend. He won't eat eggs unfortunately. I make him sound like a fussy eater but generally he isn't. Lunch and tea are no problem and he eats a wide range of meals.

Snacks tend to be fruit, breadsticks, rice cakes etc. Yes sometimes a biscuit or treat but limited to once a day usually.

He would eat fruit and yoghurt for breakfast but I doubt it would fill him. He is a very tall five year old.

Crumpets/pancakes is a good idea.

Banana pancakes go down well here
My daughter often has some ham and cheese

V bad IMO to make children clear their plates - sets them up for a lifetime of bad habits, eating when full etc.
I'd try offering him something else, fruit, yogurt, plain bread, cheese, ham. Or keep breakfast very small and give him a mid morning snack instead.
Even at school - at DD's school nursery and reception kids get a little mid morning snack or fruit or veg.
My DD won't eat cereal with milk either - has a little bit dry, some toast somedays and some apricots for school day breakfast, porridge is a hit in this house too.

Give him his snacks for breakfast instead.

And in answer to your question, yes, sometimes. Depends

I do - because they will leave the good stuff (eg veg) and then complain they are hungry an hour later.

We have a rule that you don't get snacks later in the day if you didn't finish your main meal.

Depends on age a bit though.

some people just aren't very hungry in the morning though, are they? dh never ever eats until mid morning at earliest, whereas i generally eat all morning between 6-9am and then nothing til supper. i agree its healthy to eat a good breakfast, but its a tricky one to enforce.

Ithink they need protein, so wouldn't just give them fruit.

DS is in the middle of GCSEs at the moment and makes himself a bacon butty, omelette or sausages for breakfast.

actually I don't insist on it if they are obviously ill. And on occasion will say eat the veg but leave .

I agree - make breakfast more variable - mine have been through a phase of pasta with cheese for breakfast recently.

V bad IMO to make children clear their plates - sets them up for a lifetime of bad habits, eating when full etc.

I think part of this issue is not to give them more than they would normally eat at any given time - if they are hungry afterwards they can come back for more.

I hate wasting food (apparently 1/3 of food bought in uk is wasted !) - so go for smaller servings, eat it all, more later if needed.

Good point throckenholt - portion size is important. If your children consistently leave half their food, perhaps you're giving them too much. I know I do this with DD - but as she is the main consumer of that cereal I have been known to tip the leftovers back in the pack...

the other side of not making them clear the plate is that you get the kid who won't eat anything decent because they know there is cake for pudding. We have had that with visiting kids (who know there is cake because there mum sent it with them !).

It is somethign that drives me nuts and I have to try really hard not to get irritated with them while not letting my kids follow suit.

I do otherwise my DS wouldn't eat hardly anything and then be asking for crumpets etc half an hour later.

what about fruit with yogurt for breakfast? Porridge with honey? I guess like adults some children dont like eating in the morning but i agree that it is an important part of their diet. especially with concentration and energy etc...hope it gets better for you x

It is a tricky one isn't it?

I think portion size is interesting. I have been guilty of giving them too big a portion I think - although I won't make them clear the plate generally.

Last night I actually weighed out a portion of pasta as advised on the packet. I was astonished at how little it seemed! However it made me realise that I eat far too big a portion and probably give my kids too much.

Now I don't want to get into food issues (I grew up with that and it damaged me). My kids are healthy and a normal weight. But it did make me think.

I do think breakfast is needed though and with some crabohydrate and protein in it! Have picked up some good tips here thanks

thanks babybumpx - yes I suspect he isn't a breakfast person. My dd on the other hand loves it!

Will he still be able to have a mid morning snack at school? If so, I don't see the problem with him having a small breakfast and then a healthy snack later.

maybe that is the problem of most of us - we are actually used to seeing more food on our plate than we need. We either get forced to eat it (possible food issues in future) or waste it. Of we happily eat it and get fat !

So maybe we all need to re-educate ourselves in how much a reasonble portion is.