cereals

I guess it depends on how fussy your children are, I know of plenty of parents that as long as their kid is eating something it better than nothing.

It's knowing when to pick your battles, I guess and when its ok to bend your own rules to accommodate your children.

How long would it take for a child to go without breakfast or lunch before they eat what was put in front of them?

I'm guessing not very long.

true. i also know how luck y i am having kids that will eat anything, so the problem for me is moot.

I think something is always better than nothing and if your child refuses point blank to eat anything other than fruit loops or honey puffs then giving them a bowl of those rather than sending them to school hungry is preferable.

In saying that, I would not be bending over backwards to cater to fussy tastes just so I was reassured my child had a full tummy.
If a cereal they had deemed acceptable (and I had too, of course) in the supermarket was then refused, it would be that or nothing.

As for muesli bars and chips etc, for me it is everything in moderation.
I'm very lucky in that their school and kindy make sure that they eat sandwiches and fruit before anything else as part of their healthy eating policies though, so I know they are actually eating the better stuff first.

I know how busy E is at school and as a result she is very hungry, I can't imagine how hard it would be for a child who had had nothing to eat, so once again I think something is better than nothing.
How can they learn if they're too tired and hungry to think?
Mind you, I guess it depends. I remember kids who would come to school with nothing except a bag of big-uns and a bottle of Fanta, I doubt that benefited their learning much?





Edited by caraMel

We're starting with the idea that chocolate is an adult only food be interesting to see how long that lie lasts.

caliandjack wrote: My husband is fussy enough I'm waiting with baited breath to see how his daughter will be.

The girls' father is extremely fussy. I got round it by giving the girls anything and everything, from when they started solids. They have a more varied diet than he does, and it's very rare that they will turn their noses up at anything...thankfully! I even give them food that I personally don't like, because I don't see that it's my choice to decide that THEY won't like it...hence they eat avocado I didn't want them to end up like their dad, because it was a PITA finding food that he would eat, I didn't want to try to cater to them as well!!

For the original question though...I would probably make sure they had breakfast (even if it was one of the crap cereals) and then make sure they had a very healthy lunch without crap. Easy to say that though, might be different when the time comes hehehe I would prefer they had Weetbix or porridge though - healthy filling food. I don't buy the other stuff for myself (I have Weetbix or toast), so it's unlikely that I would buy it for them.

I would rather she have something BUT, I plan on only making healthy foods available with chocolate and chippies as a "treat" allowed for lunch once a week however, hehe shes only 5 months old so I might have changed my mind by then.

+ it seems she is quite happy eating anything at the moment, she chows down on everything and anything.

Caliandjack, lol chocolate as adult food, I should sooo try that.

There is some nutrients even in junk food so I would say that junk food is better than no food.

Our boys have nutella on toast which is probably not the best but they like it, eat it and best of all make it themselves which really helps our busy household. There lunches are pretty standard but they do get a little packet of chips on a Friday and there school do Subway one day a week and also ok with that.

Junk cereal is a treat in our house. In the school hols because I normally have the kids with me in the supermarket they get to choose a cereal. However I don't let fruit loops etc in the house as I have a son sensitive to food colours so a line has to be drawn somewhere. There are plenty of non-coloured junk cereals.

Normally it is weetbix, cornflakes or ricies. We do have some nutrigrain as my DH likes it and the kids have started having it occasionally when I can justify the price. It actually only has 9gms of sugar which is a lot less than most. I was surprised.

I think everything in moderation.    

We always have Weetbix, Rice bubbles, Cornflakes in our house. They are for breakfast & for baking.

Too me Rice Bubbles & Cornflakes arent "bad" cereals. I have occasionally brought Coco pops for DP but DD doesnt get them.

At the moment DD will only eat Ricies. She wont eat weetbix no matter how hard i try But she is big on toast. We normally have one morning ricies, then next morning toast. Then she has fruit etc for morning tea.

We will never have the issue of DD eating junk cereals because i refuse to pay those prices. There is NO WAY i will ever pay $5 + for cereal. Ricies & cornflakes you can get for under $2

Hey, even junk cereals have milk on them, right

Obviously I'd prefer my children would eat a wholesome, well rounded diet, but we'll jump that hurdle when we get to it. I don't even eat a wholesome, well rounded diet though

I don't believe foods like fizzy, lollies, chippies etc should be "everyday food" I'd prefer to keep them as a treat.

I know a Mum and her child doesn't even know about mcdonalds or anything, at 9 years old she's never had it, so doesn't know what shes missing out on. She's also never had fizzy or chocolate. A little extreme IMO but it works for them. If I remember rightly she gets grain waves and stuff like that for treats.