My 16 month old does not eat breakfast. She drinks her milk and refuses to eat anything I give her. Then the rest of the day is normal. She eats her morning snack, lunch, etc.
Any ideas on how to get her to eat breakfast?
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I would keep offering stuff but ignore it. My LO doesn't always want to eat a lot but I just offer him stuff and if he eats it then great, if not oh well! If she is eating well otherwise then so be it. Not everyone is a breakfast person!
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My guy isn't hungry for breakfast for a while. Sometimes not till lunch. He nurses a lot in th early morning hours (aka my snooze button) and I know he's full. But if you think about it, some adults struggle with having an appetite for breakfast. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Just offer something light and maybe a mid morning snack?
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My son is the same age and he is real hit and miss with breakfast but there are days he eats every bite so I just always offer. I keep a variety of things on the menu to pique his interest. I offer a turkey sausage or sometimes even a hot dog cut into bites for protein (for some reason he doesn't like scrambled eggs or omelets) because he likes minced meat. If I have leftover meatballs or meatloaf I give home that too sometimes. Usually the carb is mini pancakes or mini oatmeal muffins or a whole wheat Fig Newton (which nutritionally I found pretty identical to Nutrigrain bars but sturdier and better portioned). Daycare gives him yogurt in the afternoon so I don't give it at breakfast and he doesn't really enjoy toast or sticky things on his hands like peanut butter. He almost always gets half a banana since he will at least eat a few bites always. Sometimes he also likes clementine sections. Some days when it's cold out I give him a plate of fruit and try to spoon feed him some warm oatmeal I've spiked with butter and milk and cinnamon and a little brown sugar and maybe even some applesauce or raisins. He always gets milk.
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Would she drink a smoothie? LO loves breakfast and is iffy on other meals, haha. But I like to blend up plain yogurt and a few frozen strawberries or bananas or whatever I have on hand and she loves drinking it. Maybe that would be similar to her morning milk and still get some protein and fruit in her? We also do mini banana/Apple/oat pancakes
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My son is this way. He nurses in the morning, then often asks for milk, so he isn't hungry for a while after that. I've started just making an easy breakfast for breakfast #1 (fruit, yogurt, a frozen waffle) for DD (and offer to DS then, even f he doesn't eat it) then do a big breakfast #2 around 9-9:30 (scrambled eggs, usually, or French toast). It's sort of a pain, but otherwise he wants to drink milk all morning instead of eating.
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I'm starting to wonder if the breakfast items I'm offering are too plain, or maybe just don't taste good. Most times it is plain oatmeal, wheat mini waffles or pancakes, plain scrambled eggs.
I know I can feed her anything at this age, but for some reason I didn't think to try hot dogs or sausage, syrup, etc. Mainly because I kept hearing how sweets and processed foods are bad.
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You could try just a touch of all natural maple syrup. Toast with jelly (though it does get messy). We did a lot of fruit and greek yogurt at that age. The greek yogurt was nice because he could feed himself with a spoon and since it is thicker it didn't fall off as easily.
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My son gets MAYBE half a teaspoon of real maple syrup drizzled over his pancakes and he rarely eats all of them anyway. The oatmeal muffins have brown sugar in the batter and some raisins in it but really not achingly sweet - it's definitely a healthier muffin (I use America's Test Kitchen's oatmeal muffin recipe but reduce the brown sugar and do not make the crumble topping and instead add cinnamon and raisins to the batter). I stopped caring so much about the processed food thing mostly because I feed him homemade food most of the time and they are the meals he eats better for anyway. I also try to get him to eat protein because he's gonna get plenty of carbs during the day anyway. Also some kids like savory foods more - there have been plenty of times we've fed my son some rice mixed with some leftover soup in a thick porridge or risotto type mixture and he's eaten that, or he just eats his sausage and fruit and doesn't touch the sweet carb.
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@Pumpkin Pie: What about yogurt? My DD doesn't really eat any of those things (oatmeal, pancakes, etc). She does like eggs but only fried, not scrambled.
With my younger son, to make waffles sweeter I will mix in a banana or add blueberries. Still no syrup for him at 18 m.
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@Pumpkin Pie: have you tried feeding her breakfast before letting her have her milk?
Eta: my kids eat cereal, fruit, yogurt, pancakes with maple syrup, salted scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, bacon. Kids like flavor!
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@T.H.O.U.: She gets yogurt during the day at daycare, so I was trying to add more of a variety to her diet, and something more substantial than yogurt.
I'm only concerned because you know how they say that breakfast is the most important meal, so I was hoping to get her into the habit.
I've tried giving her food before milk, and she vigorously shakes her head and throws the food on the floor.
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@Pumpkin Pie: I think you figured it out. My girls probably won't eat plain things, but they certainly love stuff with flavor (they're foodies like their dad
). For breakfast, we offer cereal (Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Cheerios), oatmeal (organic banana and strawberry), organic blueberry waffles, sausage or pancakes w/ strawberries or bananas.
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@Pumpkin Pie: If you are serving greek yogurt, that is VERY substantial, more-so than pancakes!
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DS is 17 months and loves the blueberry mini waffles - we get the Whole Foods brand but I'm sure there are other similar brands. That and a banana is definitely his favorite breakfast. We also let him stand in the learning tower to eat breakfast and he eats more that way vs. at his high chair.
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Do you offer milk first or food?
Could be she's getting full from the milk, not liking the items or just not a breakfast person?
DD2 is almost 17 months and we nurse at wake up but there's not much there, I think. And she has to have breakfast or she's cranky!
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Try more flavor! Also have a 17 month old over here. Here are our favorites for breakfast.
- earth's best makes whole wheat mini waffles with blueberries.
- eggs, I add cheese and veggies. cheddar and broccoli eggs is my son's fave. Have also done spinach and cheese, peas and cheese.
- yotoddler yogurt tastes great and has lots of nutrients like dha.
- I make healthy pumpkin Apple mini muffins and Freeze them. Pop in microwave for 15 seconds and serve with yogurt. Done!
- I second smoothies! We do plain Greek yogurt, PB2 powder, whatever fruit I have on hand, baby oatmeal, spinach. He looooves it and so much nutrition. I also buy SQUOOSHI pouches to serve it from so he can do it on his own.
- for when I'm lazy I also have earth's best yogurt smoothie pouches
- nothing wrong with non-breakfast items either! If your LO likes savory, you can do cubes of cheese and multigrain crackers. I also cut up fruit (blueberries grapes or banana most commonly).
- Cheerios with milk! Can get messy but my son loves this! Cut up some blueberries and it's complete.Also could try to push breakfast later and not do a morning snack? Maybe LO just isn't hungry when you offer?
And it COULD just be that your LO isn't a breakfast person at all. I personally can't get myself to eat until like 11am! And at that point I figure il just wait an hour or so for lunch. Unless I'm on vacation and it's a luxury
Keep us updated!
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My 17 mo munches on some cheerios or other dry cereal while I make her a greek yogurt and fruit smoothie each morning. She is obsessed with smoothies.
I'll sometimes make waffles or pancakes with berries in them and let her dip them into some yogurt. Gives them flavor without the syrup. Or I'll use quick oats and milk to make some oatmeal with mashed banana and/or peanut butter so its got some flavor and sweetness without sugar.
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I have to give DS food before milk for a while because he was obsessed with drinking and would just fill up on milk. He has granola and yogurt for breakfast 99% of the time. I make it with just oats, molasses, and oil so it is sweet but molasses has some good stuff in it. I've noticed lately he hasn't been ravenous in the morning and eat better if I wait an hour before giving him food.
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Does a half cup - 1 cup of milk really get them full enough to not want to eat? Just wondering. She always has milk after dinner, and seems to be able to drink the whole thing even after eating a meal, so I thought the milk wasn't the issue.
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My 3.5 year old has never been a big breakfast person. She's like me and doesn't like to eat until she has been up for a few hours.
). For breakfast, we offer cereal (Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Cheerios), oatmeal (organic banana and strawberry), organic blueberry waffles, sausage or pancakes w/ strawberries or bananas.
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