Child Will Not Eat Breakfast

[haybilly]

I would like a bit of advice with regard to the fact that my daughter, 6 years old, rarely if ever wants to eat at breakfast time--this is before she gets ready to go to school--otherwise she seems perfectly healthy, if very stubborn, naughty and willful--my problem is that I have always valued breakfast as being the most important meal of the day; when I ask her at what time does she actually feel hungry she has replied that it's usually around lunchtime when she gets fed at school.

She obviously likes to eat sweets, crisps etc...like all kids but I don't think she eats anymore than any other kid--incidentally, not that she gets the option, but she doesn't ever express any desire to eat these at breakfast--I have tried to give her every conceivable type of food from fruit, cereals, toast/jam, eggs, even thai fast foods like 'mama' noodles and chicken soup [ no, I don't have a jewish mother!]--really, what I want to know is should I just give up trying and wait until she, maybe, asks for something and just get on with the other morning jobs or is it really something to try and pressurize her into--this is never a successful option with my kid.

[Goinghomesoon]

Oh, you have my sympathy! This was a regular occurrence with my son when he was that age, until around age 11 when he started to develop a teenage appetite We settled on letting him make his own smoothies for breakfast from banana, milk and cinnamon. We left him whizz them up himself and he was quite proud of those efforts. It was the only breakfast he had for a long time.

[JohnC]

My yougest daughetr was a nightmare! she had a very small appetite and worried us very much, after consulting with a paedatrician he said she was healthy and not to worry, she will eat when she is hungry. Now she is a healthy 24 year old with a son of her own and has never had any health problems so my advice is to stop worrying , he will eat when he is hungry. Interestingly here many Thais do not eat first thing in the morning, they eat when they are hungry, my partner often does not have their first meal until mid afternoon.

[PeaceBlondie]

I do not need breakfast, and now only eat watermelon to go with my morning pills. I have never been hungry in 65 years, including when I fasted. Some folks just have different hunger yearnings. My own kids, like me, just had cold cereal and milk if anything, and they and their kids are very healthy.

Breakfast is optional, and some are full of bad foods. Breakfast is probably the least of your worries with a six year old. You might work on the naughty and willful tendencies!

[slapout]

Many children who skip breadfast start doing so because they are or feel pressed for time. Get them up 30 minutes earlier and they have time to set down, review the day to come and if food is presented at this time they may or may not eat. I know many of us skip breakfast, but with kids going to school, breakfast is one of two meals that parent may know for sure what is going in their little gullets. Breakfast is a greaaaaaat way to start the day.

[sigmondfreed]

What, exactly, are you concerned about?

You said she appears healthy and says she is not hungry, so what is your anxiety about?

What law says 'we must all eat in the morning'?

Let her rule her own eating. You will still be a good parent.

Edited March 17, 2008 by sigmondfreed

[h90]

I never ate any breakfast, now I am 37 so it does not seem to kill fast.

[bina]

ichchhhhhhhh

who can eat breakfast in the morning?????

non of my kids, ever. unless they are up an hour before hand: the youngest gets absolutely neausous just thinking of food in the a.m. and cant even tell me what to make her to eat for her lunch snack at school ....

the army aged one never has eaten breakfast either until the army as she never knows when they will have time to eat the next meal...

i dont eat breakfast and as a kid i ate maybe a banana on the way in the bus/car pool...

now its just coffee.

way back when in the old kibbutz days, we would get up at 5:00, go to work, come back at 7 a/m, and eat tomatoes/cuncumbers/white cheese for breakfast. ichchchch....... barf........

now we have american cornflake stuff. most kids still dont eat breakfast.

some kids can manage some sweetened tea (mint w/o the real tea) or ovaltine or something.

my son eats cold pizza for breakfast. go figure.

i wouldnt make a big issue out of any eating habits or styles. the only time its really important for kids to eat breakfast are those that get meds like ritilin that depress the appetite so that they arent hungry when the school break occurs for eating (as with youngest). she gets permission to eat later when the pill hs dropped off and she's hungry. (we dont have hot lunch hours but 20 min. breaks for small meals. they eat lunch at home at 16:00!!. needless to say, dinner then gets delayed.

bina

[pampal]

I find difficult to eat after I wake up, I need to drink a few cups of tea and wait at least an hour before I eat Breakfast.

I think the advice given about waking her up 30 minutes earlier might help.

[PeaceBlondie]

Post #5, by slapout, got me to thinking I was the only one who never eats breakfast and lived all my life hating hot cooked morning meals. But I see I am far from alone. My in-laws could not start the day without four fried foods (eggs, bacon, ham, buttered toast, sausage). Out of parental duty, when my twin 8 year olds came to live with me, I thought I had to cook them bacon, eggs, breakfast tortillas with chorizo, etc. After a month they asked for cold cereal, and I agreed that was the correct family tradition.

[Sheryl]

I'm a life-long non-breakfast eater and I've made it to 55 in good health....(knock on wood!)

If she is taking in enough nutrients over all in the course of 24 hours, is healthy, and not having any problem concentrating on her studies then I wouldn't worry. The main concern would be that by mid-morning her blood sugar might dip affecting her ability to concentrate. You could try maybe sending her to school with a packet of fruit juice (unsweetened) or milk to take mid-morningish.

[TheDon]

I used to be the same when I was a kid, I probably didnt start eating breakfast until I was about 13 years old. I think its pretty normal when your a kid