NOW CLOSED: Tell Weetabix about breakfast in your house - you could win a £100 Sainsbury's voucher

[NewGirlHelenMumsnet]

Weetabix would like you to share your top tips for making breakfast time as stress free as possible. What are your top breakfast tips? Can you share your best breakfast stories with them on this thread? For example, do you run round trying to eat and feed the baby at the same time or is it a calm, relaxed affair in your house?

The best tips and stories will feature on their new page on Mumsnet (coming soon).

Everyone who shares a story or tip on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky winner will receive a £100 Sainsbury's voucher, from Weetabix.

Thanks MNHQ

Leave it to dh and deal with the mess once he's at work and dd1 is at school

When I plan to have porridge for breakfast I mix the oats and milk in a tub and leave overnight in the fridge to save time on the weighing/measuring.

Usually it's a bit chaotic and tbh I tend to leave my breakfast until after the school run.

Go to work! - grab breakfast for yourself before you go, drop ds1 off at childminders and then ds2 off at nursery and relax knowing that they wil have a filling and nutritious breakfast

Not at weekends though - breakfast can take half the morning by time they've helped to cook their boiled eggs, put the bread in the toaster then cut up the soldiers, had a yoghurt and a bit of fruit, extra milk to drink.........

I like weekend breakfasts though, they're a good chance to catch up and plan the day

I lie in while DH gets breakfast for the DCs which takes away most stress

We all have breakfast pretty much as soon as we're awake. I tend to get the DCs sorted out first and then have mine. I find I need to have 5 minutes to sit in relative peace to have a cup of tea to function well. Everyone has their favourite breakfast which we tend to stick to rather than experimenting much although I do like to make pancakes at weekends on occasion.

It's a pretty relaxed time really, as long as DD gets her marmite

we have a disco breakfast
normally start with 70s funk to unload the dishwasher.
might move onto a bit of rock to get cereal out
then finish with a Glee type rendition as we chomp away reading magazines as we do

then we finish and disappear off, barely speaking.

( theboys read Match or nintendo mag and i read the ipad)

we are Thoroughly Modern Family

Give the 18 month twin toddlers just 2 CHOICES of cereal or you are there all day

Mum and dad have to have real coffee.

We have a special breakfast on the weekend with special cups, nice music on the stereo. Lovely.

Make your own museli from oats seeds and dried fruit and nuts- a lot cheaper and more delicious

DH goes down after his bath and has muesli with fruit juice or toast (or if he is feelig very energetic makes himself an omelet) DrS shares breakfast with his dad. While they are eating I have my bath and then come downstairs to have either porridge (microwave) with fruit and yoghurt or toast and yoghurt.

On the weekend we will have a cooked breakfast at least one day.

We are actually in the process of trying to smooth out our morning routine ATM so I'll watch this with interest and a notebook :o

We have completely media-free mornings now, and that's made a massive difference. Before when we had cartoons on DD would be glued to the screen and would refuse to do anything else

We did try saying "no tv until you are completely ready" but that didn't work either, and it's just lovely having a nice quiet breakfast!

During the school week my three boys have cereal. DS2 (ASD) always has weetabix, has to have warm milk on with honey. Other two might have have weetabix, porridge or cornflakes.

At the weekend we have crumpets or toast, except for DS2 again who still insists on Weetabix.

When we went on a caravan holiday, we were all having fried breakfasts as a treat, yet DS2 had Weetabix. Stick with what you like best I say

We enjoy breakfast. We have some days when the children choose their own cereal (my DD loves Weetabix or Shreddies while my DS likes all the unhealthy ones!). On other days I make pancakes for everyone and we have them with fruit. At the weekend we sometimes have a cooked breakfast. I think the secret is to allow enough time. If you try to eat breakfast while you're racing about it will never be a relaxed buisiness. I get up and showered before the children wake up so we have time for a leisurely breakfast even on a school day.

withagoat

I hide in the kitchen otherwise DS2 insists on shoving his grubby little mitts into my cereal bowl

school day breakfast is SO much better since I bit the bullet and made ds eat breakfast at the table instead of slumped on the sofa slowly covering himslef, the cushions and the floor in toasty crumbs/bits of cereal. Not sure how we got into that habit in the first place to be honest...

Top tip for a stress-free breakfast: Have it brought to you in bed at 6.30am while daddy gets Boy up and changes his nappy.

2nd breakfast follows at 9am-ish,him in the Bumbo demolishing toast and cheese spread, me on the kitchen floor with cereal and coffee. He's only 6 months and spoon-refusing at the mo so no cereal for him right now

Always at the table.
No TV. Ever.
No choice.
If one is having porridge, EVERYONE is having porridge.

then [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q_CKzWqIHQ this for the cereal]

and then finishing with

Stress Free - Have everything set up ready to go the night before! It makes everything so much easier, or in our case have your 8 yr old DD make it herself! She loves the job and thinks she so grown up for making her own cereal

Marry a morning person: stay in bed until he has got the breakfast things ready, sends ds through to wake you up, then get up and enjoy.......

Seriously though suggestion not what happens in our household on most days only if I am really organised : set the table for breakfast the night before (makes dh really happy when he sees that I've done that, 'cos I am a night owl)

Also, porridge done in a microwave is really quick and easy. Cereal bowl with c. 1/2 cup of rolled oats, covered with enough water to just make the oats start to float, microwave for 3min 30sec (750W microwave). Serve with skimmed milk and blueberries/strawberries/bananas (whatever yuo have in the house) and some cinnamon. Healthy, quick and good slow release energy for the morning.

But I suppose Weetabix would serve the same purpose

Breakfast time can be quite hectic in my house as both dh and I work so we all have to be up and out pretty early. Our dcs are aged 2 and 4.

I try to vary the dcs breakfast, so they don't get bored of having the same thing every day and I add fruit such as strawberries, raisons, dried apricots and banana to their cereal to make it a bit more exciting. Breakfast times are definitely less stressful if they have food they enjoy, and even better if I can get them to eat something healthy at the same time.

Don't buy rubbishy sugary cereals EVER and then they can't get used to the taste. In our house there is porridge, muesli, weetabix or toast and fruit.

Eat at the table to keep mess to a minimum and start the day together.

First thing I do is feed baby DD while our older DS is trained to get his own cereal, and DP makes our toast and coffee.

The baby always decides to have a poo halfway through, DP is detailed to deal with that (as I have usually been up in the night with her) and I get to eat my toast then.

It usually goes like clockwork, in fact it's the only part of the day that does.

Top breakfast tip errrrm, never forget the coffee, or you'll get a headache. Buy every new concept chocolate cereal that comes out in unashamed consumerist fashion in order to keep DS interested.

It's alwayss worth getting up half an hour before everyone else (unlss yor dh starts work at 5am of course!!)

In my peaceful and solitary 30 mins I have a shower, have my first cup of black coffee and get the girls breakfast out. I know they are old enough to get their own but the truth is they wouldn't bother and I find getting them up for breakfast at a set time gives a bit of structure to the morning. We all have breakfast together, we have cereal, toast, fruit and yoghurt (not all of it, but that's the usual choice)

When we've had our breakfast me and dh get ready for work and the girls get sorted for school. Hair straighteners, hairspray, attempts to 'personalise' school uniform and the big decision about which bag to take mean that the girls take a lot longer to get ready than we do

I'm lucky enough to work 'flexi' and so don't leave the house until the girls have left to get the school bus. I go around the house unpluggng the hair straightenrs ect and 'tutting' at the shockingly badly made beds.

I throw some laundry in the machine and get to work in time to have a third coffee. Happy Days

adn every half term we have teh CRAPPEST cereal in the world
neqquick rabbit droppings
golden nuggets
coco pops

we go BANANAS

you lot are DEE YOUU ELL ELL

I throw some toast/croissant/brioche at DS to eat while I run round getting into my work clothes/put makeup on and slurp my tea. He then usually insists on something else to eat while he should be getting dressed.

Experience shows that ds(4) takes too long to eat cereal on a weekday for us both to get out on time (we leave at 7.45).

But today, I'm away for work, so I get a relaxed brekkie and dh did all the rushing

I do a "Grandma" breakfast a few times a week....the night before I lay the table with a proper embroidered cloth and a toast rack..for some reason my children LOVE the toast rack. Then in the morning I have butter, jam, marmalade etc on the table for them to help themselves from.

Cereal comes with the coffee, juice and tea..on the table in pots (not the cereal!) and for some reason, having an old fashioned set-up like this really appeals to the children.

I can't do it every day...no time! But when we do have the table laid nicely they always eat more!