Why wouldn't you feed your child breakfast?

[DISshopkeeper]

Originally posted by The Mystery Machine


Although I will admit both of them had chocolate cake for breakfast this morning.

LOL!! Cake is a GOOD breakfast! There's EGGS in it!!!

 

[Lorix2]

My DD is 11.5 and is out the door at 6:40 AM without breakfast eveyrday. She just isn't hungry that time of morning, though she'll raid the cabinets and fridge in the afternoon like she hasn't eaten in days But I do send her out with something to eat for the bus ride like peanut butter crackers or mini muffins only to find them smushed in her backpack later.

I think I'd be concerned though (to the OP) if these kids were coming to you saying there was no food for them to eat, that would be another story.

 

[CookieGVB]

Originally posted by The Mystery Machine
Although I will admit both of them had chocolate cake for breakfast this morning.

Yes, but did you serve it with grapefruit juice?

"This is not your child...!"

 

[Lanshark]

Why didn't they have time? It is not automatically the mother's fault. Kids this age are tough to get going in the morning. Maybe they slept in or took too long getting ready.

IMO, by 8th grade they should be able to get themselves going, fix their own breakfast if they want it, and pack their own lunch. If they had food available and didn't eat it is their own fault. Being hungry is called dealing with the consequences of your actions or inactions. If they were denied food it is a whole other story.

 

[peg2001]

I appreciate all the replies. I did not realize that so many children refused food early in the morning. My kids roll out of bed hungry and looking for food.

I did want to clarify that I was talking about FIRST graders, ages 6 and 7.

Anyway, I know better now so next time I will be sure to pack snacks for mid-morning.

Peggy

 

[crazelion]

I was like that when I was little. I would not eat breakfeast that early in the morning because it makes me sick as dog. As adult do not eat breakfeast either. I do have a snack in pocket if get hungrey before noon but that rarely happens.

I like today 11:00 a.m. i have eaten anything for breakfeast. I will eat something at 1:00 p.m. today if hungrey.

 

[*Fantasia*]

My kids will only eat breakfast only if they are hungry. When you wake up early in the morning, the body doesn't know that you're hungry yet (well at least for me and my kids), your stomach is still asleep. Once you got the energy going and the body really moving then the body and mind wake up and start functioning again (again at least for me and my kids).

I always ask my kids if they want breakfast, very seldom they will say yes, and a few times they will say sure. I won't force them to eat if they are not hungry.

 

[disykat]

I DO force my kids to eat in the morning if they're not hungry. I know how their behavior will be if they don't eat - they will not be "prepared to learn". I also force them to go to the bathroom before leaving the house whether they say they need to go or not. Some things just need to be done. If eating in the a.m. makes them sick, I'd pack a snack in their bag for later. I taught 1st grade long enough to know that most of those kids that refused to eat at home are crying that they didn't get any breakfast but the time they get to school!

 

[C.Ann]

If a child doesn't want to eat breakfast, that's one thing.. (Weird as it sounds, when I was a kid - and actually still to this day - I always ate my breakfast just before I went to BED at night..)

However, I think for anyone to say "there isn't enough time " is pretty bad.. Make the time if the child is hungry..

 

[*Fantasia*]

Originally posted by C.Ann
If a child doesn't want to eat breakfast, that's one thing.. (Weird as it sounds, when I was a kid - and actually still to this day - I always ate my breakfast just before I went to BED at night..)

However, I think for anyone to say "there isn't enough time " is pretty bad.. Make the time if the child is hungry..

I agree.

 

[amid chaos]

Reading this thread was such a relief, i am so glad I'm not the only one with a non breakfast eater.

 

[poohlover]

My 2 older hs DD's won't touch breakfast...they don't have time & are NOT willing to get up 15 minutes earlier, believe me I've tried.

My sons on the other hand...will eat every peice of bread in the house!

Each one is different.

 

[Lucky4me]

I have pretty much always made them eat something before they walk out the door. All I need to do is remind dd of her rumbly tummy and she'll eat. It's a long time from dinner to lunch the next day and I don't want her thinking about hunger pangs when she should be learning.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by C.Ann
However, I think for anyone to say "there isn't enough time " is pretty bad.. Make the time if the child is hungry..

Absolutely!

Neither of my kids have EVER been big morning eaters but, they both eat something before they leave each day. 6yo DD, the pickiest of eaters, eats pancakes and bacon EVERY day, kid you not. It's the ONE MEAL I know she eats well every day, whether she wakes up hungry or not. If she's not hungry and, I understand, I'm not hungry as soon as I wake up either, we wait 1/2 hour and, then she eats. It's pretty much routine around here now, she wakes around 7, eats at 7:30, we leave at 8.

16yo DS does his own thing but, I make sure he eats something. A granola, some yogurt, coffee cake, cottage cheese, muffins, whatever he wants, as long as it's something. He's even chosen cold pizza....Fine by me!

Personally, I'm very surprised and, quite saddened that sooo many kids leave home without eating something.

 

[Pete's Mom]

Originally posted by Jeafl
I started working part time at the elementary school this year, and one part of my job is supervising what goes on in the cafeteria. I can tell you right now that more than 50% of the kids throw their ENTIRE lunch away. Even the kids that buy lunch throw it away untouched. It is such a waste to see unopened milk cartons go right in the garbage. I've asked the kids why they are throwing them out, and most of the time they just say they aren't hungry or they don't like it. If kids don't want to eat, they aren't going to eat.

I have observed this too on days I made a special trip to eat lunch with Pete. The school lunch was disgusting and very unhealthy (I have eaten it or at least attempted to eat it). What isn't freezer burnt is so cold and greasy you can barely choke it down and as for what little cold veggies they offer, they are dried out and hard as a rock. Because of this, I have seen many children toss the whole tray. I also thought it was very interesting that all of the school staff BRING their lunch. $ 2.00 a day for junk I wouldn't feed my cat.

That's why I started making Pete's lunch everyday. Half a P&B sandwich, grapes, blueberries, cut up apples, goldfish, juice box, and a little dessert like Chips Ahoy or and mini pack of M&M's. What he doesn't eat, he leaves in the bag so when he comes home, at least I have an idea of how much he eats. I don't think a lot of parents have any idea what or how much their kids eat at school, if anything. I think it would be a good idea for parents to go and check it out. You might be very shocked, I was!

 

[Pete's Mom]

Wanted to add that Pete eats oatmeal every morning. He loves it and wants nothing else so I am very fortunate in that! I just nuke it in the microwave before I get into the shower and it is cool enough for him to eat when I get out and wake him up.

I am embarrassed to say I did go through a lazy stage a few years ago and let him eat Pop Tarts on the way to school. But after realizing how much sugar is in those things, plus finding the "leftovers" in the pockets of my car (especially in 99 degree Atlanta weather) made me realize I needed to find a healthier and less stickier alternative.

 

[Keli]

My dd Ashli used to get sick every day on the school bus. Or if I sent food with her and insisted she eat it at school she'd throw up then. She needs several hours before she can eat in the morning. We tried every type of food we could think of to try to find one she might keep down. She would tell me that she really hated eating breakfast, to please not make her but I was so sure she needed some food in her stomache in the morning before school that I just wouldn't give it up. I kept thinking that if I found the 'perfect' food that she'd be able to keep it down. Finally her first grade teacher wrote me a note and asked me to stop feeding her any type of breakfast at all because Ashli was sick every morning that she ate and she was absolutely fine on the few mornings I didn't make her eat something. I decided then that apparently she would learn just fine on an empty stomache until lunch time and she was much happier (and I'm sure the bus driver was too)

 

[lulugirl]

Add my Dd (4yrs.) to the list of kids that can't eat first thing in the morning. She just doesn't get hungry until about 9:30-10:30 am. If we're home all morning that's fine we just have breakfast then. If we need to leave the house before then I just toss some snacks (banana's, raisens, granola bars) in my purse. Preschool mornings she usually nibbles on a piece of fruit in the car, they serve snack at 10 am in school. I really don't believe in forcing a child to eat, they'll eat when they get hungry. (easy for me to say though, Dd likes healthy food and has always been a healthy weight)

 

[Planogirl]

I'm lucky if I can get my son to eat a pop tart or a few cookies in the morning. However, I do make him drink some milk plus his lunch is early (11:15) so it's not that bad.

 

[gina2000]

My son isn't hungry til lunch. It's just the way it is. He drinks milk in the morning and off he goes. He does fine. He's happy. He's healthy. And if he's hungry, he certainly doesn't ever say anything about it.

Everyone is different. I never was a breakfast eater....I'm still not. I won't force my child to eat when it's obviously distasteful to him.