Toddlers & Cereal

Just wondering what other mums give there toddlers for brekky? My DD will have a bowl of porridge and then a peice of toast, and seems happy enough with that, but I hate porridge its so gross and it must be so gross with no sugar on it (and im not going to put sugar on it!) She had cornflakes at a friends house the other day and loved them! But they are so full of salt and sugar :( what cereal can you recommend thats not so full of crap? I try to keep her really healthy, no juice, fruit for snacks, etc

Also, is cereal bad? could she choke?!

DS has porridge every day. Cold porridge at that (he doesn't like it heated up). He also likes rice pops (the really cheap ones have fewer additives in my experience), weetabix, shreddies and toast. Sometimes he gets homemade flapjack.

Porridge is great and very yummy - don't worry that her taste buds aren't the same as yours, that's all right, normal and good.

I think DS was having weetbix at that age? plain weetbix with milk no sugar.
he also loves yughurt and fruit.

My LO loves the sultana bran buds with milk for breaky. she also has them as a snack.

Porridge is an awesome breakky hun!! It is wholesome and good, and if she likes it give it! Mine have it every day as well, with occasional Nutri Grain about once a week, which I know is full of sugar but meh. We normally put in mashed banana in the porridge and a little spoon of honey to sweeten it a bit which they like. I don't mind giving them a bit of honey, or you could also get those Rafferties fruit tubes and put some of that fruit in if you wanted to, I used to do that when the kids were younger!

As for choking, kids are pretty good at self-regulating if they are feeding themselves so I woudn't' be too worried, just keep close while she eats!

Me and DD both have porridge every morning... completely plain! I love the taste and DD seems to too, she races to the kitchen to help make it every morning and never leaves a single trace in her bowl haha. If your DD likes it then I would let her have it; good fibre, energy and not full of salt and sugar!

My DS has weetbix with milk (and a bit of hot water first to soften up) no sugar etc. He likes weetbix so much he'll steal them and eat them dry from the pantry (yuck)

My kids either have kids weet bix with milk (warmed) or sultana bran bugs or nutragrain dry just as biscuits, or toast or yougurt or fruit puree.

Weetbix with warmed milk. She also loves Sultana Bran and can eat that on her own with spoon and her fingers.
Cheerios, Nutri Grain (use as a dry happy snack as well for taking out).
She also has toast, or a muffin or crumpet with vegemite, bannana, my porridge when I have it has butter milk and sugar and she loves it :lol:
You could make pikelets and serve those either as they are or with topping such as strawberries, yoghurt and bannana.

Amaunet: As a kid I loved dry weetbix with butter and vegemite..yum!!

We alternate between porridge, weetbix and sultana bran.

my son loves his cold weetbix for breakfast and my daughter has just right (slightly warmed)
both with NO sugar

Once a week I finely grate up a whole heap of apples and pears and pop the pulp in ice-cube trays. Then I put in a couple as I heat up our porridge - adds a bit of sweetness without the need for sugar.

DD also likes sustain and sultana bran - some added sugar in these but I figure they're better than any of the kiddie-marketed alternatives and she wants it because Daddy has it! Never had an issue with choking.

Pretty much all cereals have lots of added sugar and salt. Except for porridge and Kids Weetbix (it has reduced salt).
For me, it's a weighing up of badness v goodness. DD1 eats cheerios or Sultana Bran buds. They have lots of sugar in them but they also contain fibre and wholegrains and I'm happy for her to get that in this form. (I don't have to worry about her weight but I do need to worry about her only wanting to eat stuff that tastes sweet. So I try to balance this out during the day by offering savoury snacks with only the odd sweet one. With the exception of fresh fruit.)

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He likes weetbix so much he'll steal them and eat them dry from the pantry (yuck)

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OMG, DD2 does this! It is hilarious. (Until she leaves masses of Weetbix crumbs all over the lounge room carpet.)

DD is 2.5 and we have always alternated between porridge, weetbix and toast.

my daughter hates weetbix and milk
but steals dry weetbix and LOVES it too but the mess is unbelievable

My Moo loves porridge, I use the quick oats as I personally like the taste of them better. I do put a bit of raw sugar on his (again because that's how I eat them so never really thought about it :D) but it's minimal. He also loves weet bix which he has cold with no sugar. Now and again I'll get nutri grain or something different just to mix things up a bit. I used to give him fruit salald and yogurt for breakfast a few times a week but he's gone off all fruit except bananas lately :rolleyes:

Oh I would so love it I could get my DS to eat porridge or weetbix for brekkie. He stopped when he was about 10 months old and haven't been able to get him to take it since. Don't know if its the texture or taste. Any suggestions on what to put in to make it edible for him welcome.

He has either scrambled eggs or omlette or we've just started boiled egg this week most mornings. Along with toast and yogart. At weekends I normally make him pancakes on one of the mornings which he has with fruit. The porridge would be soooo much easier and means I can use egg in whatever I give him at tea.

My ds refuses any breakfast :( it's driving me nuts. Would love to give him egg but can't due to his allergy. Hoping to try a few of these ideas .....homemade muesli bar?

GZl

WOW! Thanks for all the replies ladies!! My threads never get very many :hide: :cry: lol

We normally do pikeletts (sp) once a weekend and she loves these. I do them with wholemeal flour, so there okay, but not an everyday thing!
I will just keep on the porridge then, she does enjoy it, I just find it boring and feel mean :p I did find some cereal in the health food isle today, kinda like cheerios i think, honey rings or something, they are very low in salt and sugar, so ill see how she likes them in the morning! then i can just alternate!

Santosha - I really like that idea!!! Im so gonna try it!

How much does the price of bananas suck! I used to do the mashed banana sometimes in the porridge, but not now!! I got DD one banana for a snack while out in town today and it cost $2.80!

My DD is loving "rice puffs". They are in the organic aisle at Woollies, i guess they're the healthier version of rice bubbles. She has one wheat biscuit and some rice puffs, with a tiny bit of honey and full cream milk.

The simpler the breakfast option, the healthier they seem to be. You have those huge rows of brightly coloured, highly advertised cereals. Then you have the bags of oat based breakfast products like muesli, quick oats, rolled oats etc.

Wheat biscuits are good on most counts but amazingly low on fibre, so i offer some pear on the wheat biscuit, to make up for that low fibre number.

i did a food course, where we spent alot of time reading the nutrition boxes on the sides of products. very interesting - you are so right about most cereals having very high sugar and salt content. So many sweet things in supermarket, also have a very hihg amount of salt - which we don't taste, cos it's been camoflaged by the sugar.

in the food course, we were told, it's rare to find any product, that meets ALL criteria
e.g low in salt, low in sugar, high in fibre, low in fat
the trick is to choose, which is most important to you, and aim for that one.
e.g a person with a heart condition, would choose the LOW SALT as their top criteria

like with everything, there has to be some balancing.

and with what you say, about feeling "mean" - our adult palates, are very different to baby's unadultered palates. What we may find very boring, they may enjoy. So you don't have to feel mean, you wouldn't be posting about this in the first place, if you didn't love your DD to bits (the opposite of a mean mummy).

Oh Lou! Bummer! Breakfast is something Phoebe would absolutely DIE without. As soon as she wakes she asks for it.
Lunch and dinner on the other hand...

Snacks my son is the same
demands cold cheche (cereal) every day but happily skips lunch and or dinner