Recommendations for breakfasts?

[NewYearsRacerLution]

Any tips for tasty breakfasts for a nearly 7m old? She will have a little bit of plain yoghurt or a small piece of toast but I haven't really tried anything else. It's a bit early for eggs isn't it? I was thinking of some suitable cereals for her to try. She will probably reject as not keen on spoon feeding at the minute but I'll give it a go - she can make a mess before I get her dressed so it would be a good time to learn some spoon skills.
I have offered sticks of banana and pear at other times but she just plays with it, it's so slippy she isn't managing to eat much. That's ok, I'm not in a rush to replace milk, but, well I'm just looking for some other ideas really.
Thanks

Is she ready for oats? I can't remember what age it is! Mine loved (and still loves) oats that have been blended to a fine powder in the blender (you can keep loads of these in an air tight container) then either mix with apple juice until they're quite soggy or mix it with a small tin of pure fruit puree until quite sticky and microwave for 40 seconds (don't make it too thick because heating it really thickens it up), then add whole milk/formula/breastmilk until you reach the desired sloppyness... must admit it's messy though.. DS loves it now with cinnamon/mixed spice stired in; lovely and sweet but no sugar!

Just checked babycentre.co.uk on oats and it says 8m if started at 6m, which pretty much did, so I might leave it a bit. Having said that, I've given her wheat products a couple of times and we have no history of food allergies so maybe oats would be ok. I like the sound of the cinnamon/mixed spice! Do you think the blending down is necessary as she is quite able to swallow rice cake lumps? May need to experiment on that I think!

Thanks - any more?!

If your'e happy with wheat then why don't you perhaps try Weetabix or ReadyBrek with Apple puree.This is what Ds has for brekkie and I also put cinnamon in with the apple which he loves.
They both have no added salt or sugar and even Annabel Karmel recommends them so they can't be that bad.

Hello Bubbs and Racer!
Sounds like she will be fine with porridge without bothering to puree it. Can I just say what a good idea to blitz the oats before cooking. With dd1 I pureed after....what a mess. Admittedly I had some fruity bits in it but it would have been much easier to stir in a puree. I have no common sense though .
Or weetabix if you are happy on the wheat front. DD2 has had dd1's weetabix crumbs mixed with banana and milk....HTH

You can get no added salt or sugar brown rice crispies from health shops, and just whizz with a hand blender either before or after adding milk. Cooked brown rice is nice whizzed up into a puree with milk, banana and cinnamon.

There is a nice baby muesli called Familia but it is very expensive by weight. I used to sometimes whizz up 'homemade' dry muesli to powder it and then add milk, fruit etc.

Oh yes and I know it sounds a bit poncey but quinoa is very nice cooked and made into a porridge with milk as well, and you can add grated apple, banana, cinnamon or raisins for sweetness.

haven't read whole thread so this may have already been mentioned...porridge(plain, no sugar/salt brand) cooked with water, then pureed. you can cook a big bowl and freeze portions.

Oo thanks for the ideas! I'm not sure about the wheat - feel a bit daft for having given DD a few Heinz biscotti and a couple of pieces of bread but I kind of thought once I'd waited till 6m (well, 24wks) I was ok with things. Anyway, no reaction and no history of food allergies so I think I will continue to give the odd bit of wheat just maybe try not to go overboard. Feel like it's a bit of a minefield really, thank god for MN though!

I agree it is a fab idea to blitz the oats first but I think DD will cope without. There are some great ideas here thanks. I am going to reveal my ignorance here - whilst I am familiar with Weetabix (who isn't?!), I've never heard of Familia but might try it, I've heard of quinoa I think, but no idea what it is! is it like a semolina or something?

I think the wheat thing is not such a problem as you waited until 6 months to begin with so your lo's guts are more mature and able to deal with things better than at 4 mths. If you have given some already too then I wouldn't be so concerned, but do what you feel happy with of course. It feels like a minefield sometimes doesn't it.

We avoided wheat for a while with ds so for breakfast he had a variety of things like fruit or rice cakes. We don't eat commercial cereals anyway so its wasn't a huge hassle really. He also had quinoa flakes (made into porridge type mixture with water) which he loved. You should find them at a health food shop. The are gluten free so suitable from 6 months.

Familia is yummy but I think may have nuts in so you may want to wait awhile for that one, or at least study the ingredients. Quinoa is a sort of grain like rice or similar, you cook it by boiling it. It has an unusual texture and a (IMO) pleasant taste, plus it is a complete protein food - contains all the amino acids, which is unusual for a plant food.

Thanks, I'll have a look - definately want to avoid nuts for a while yet! Quinoa sounds more interesting than baby rice so might well be worth a try, cheers!

Yes I don't blame you - we did nuts quite early as I was giving him a vegan diet and getting HUGE pressure from mother, hv etc. as to where he would get the nutrients from. Hard to know what to do for the best sometimes...

Yes, very hard. I'm expecting DD to get most of her nutrients from milk but I have no doubt that my HV will make me feel like I should be getting her to take more food since she expected me to be giving her 'plenty' of solids at 22wks! I haven't been to HV since but I suppose I'm bound to see her again soon as they have these developmental checks they do - ho hum!

I would quite like her to take more interest in solids though, which is why I am looking for tasty breakfast ideas

With luck you will get someone a little more sensible for your developmental checks - we were lucky that way and I really enjoyed them. At 2 year check actually got someone who was supportive of ds still breastfeeding although on questioning her training turned out to be as in child development rather than as an hv...

I think Weetabix is a bit salty for this age. It certainly does have added salt. Ah, just checked, it's 0.125g of salt per biscuit.

I tend to just give whatever for breakfast when they're tiny. Bit of banana, some toast with butter ...

I think I get the same person as she came to do the 3/4m check. May be wrong of course! The next one in the red book is 6-9m so I imagine it will be soon. I'm dreading it actually. I know very well that I shouldn't but it's the nagging doubt that there is someone telling you that you should be doing better for your child when you truely feel and hope that you are doing the best you can. Shockingly emotive, the feeding thing, isn't it?

NQC do you think that is an ok amount of salt? She's unlikely to have more than a few spoons of it. And would you use full fat milk as it is such a small amount? I only have a little BM frozen and no sucess in expressing anymore. I could use formula but it's a faff!

racers, it's not that much I guess. But oatmeal is nicer and better, in my opinion.

Both my boys often eat loads at breakfast, and DS1 certainly went through phases where he'd have four biscuits of Weetabix in the morning. That was after he was one, though, I think.

(But then, I think there's too much wheat in our diets anyway, and am always looking for ways to cut it down.)

I'd just use full-fat cow's milk, assuming you have no allergy issues. Expressing is such a faff.

Well I can certainly give oatmeal a try! I don't think we'll have allergy issues with small amounts - she has 7oz formula a day without any problem and I do feel like I want to lay my breast pump down to rest... until next time...

I used cornmeal or rice mixed with fruit for brekkie and gluten free rusks

Racers - I have tried dd with cows milk already and so she has this mixed with banana sometimes. Like you I was so fed up with the whole expressing thing....hated it and was never very successful. This was something I was more paranoid about allergy wise and so gave her a real smidgen to begin with but fortunately there was no reaction. I want to be able to do cheese sauces etc for her so thought I would start with some dairy. I feel totally lost weaning this much later although I am glad I waited. We are definate cereal in the morning people and often have porrige ourselves so when dd is having breakfast properly I hope that this is what she will have. The salt is a factor too as NQC mentions. I have reread my diary and I didn't give dd1 who I weaned earlier (as per advice then) weetabix until she was 1! I think dd2 will be getting it sooner than that though as it is nice and easy. Food is very emotive and I found it got worse with dd1 before it got better. She is a faddy eater eating LOADS some days and none the next. Very frustrating but I have been learning not to let it stress me out to avoid it being an issue etc......anyway I digress. HTH a bit. Take care.

Thanks Skyler. I did a cheese sauce the other day using formula and it was an extra hassle so I think cow's milk proper from now on for that at least! I haven't been to the shops yet so she was still on toast for breakfast but it's good for the gums anyway, eh?!

Well I popped to my local shops and got some oatmeal and found some rice cereal which I thought might go down well as it's just like ricecake (which she loves) but not mushed together in a disk. A few spoons were accepted from me and a few more flicked about the room by her but she was looking longingly at my toast so I made her a bit of it, which she wolfed down! Will try the oatmeal tomorrow. The room needs redecorating anyway LOL!