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My son HATES eating breakfast! What should I do??


1GirlTwinBoys
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I feel strongly about eating something to start your day.  I have tried EVERYTHING you can imagine.  Cereal, cereal bars, yogurt, fresh smoothies, store bought smoothies, toaster pastries, fresh fruit, toast, toast with nut butter, sausage, bacon.  This doesn't even begin to list all the things I've tried.  He hates eggs so that's not an option..  I've even agreed to just a cup of milk but now he doesn't even want that.  He says he just doesn't want to eat until lunch time at school.  Should I just give up, or die on that hill??

 

ETA:  He'll be 13 in 2 months.

Edited by 1GirlTwinBoys
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I don't eat breakfast, always hated it. My kids don't have breakfast until an hour or two after waking up. I've seen more studies saying it mightn't be a vital as first thought. I'd let it go so long as he's not having sugary junk before lunch to make up for it.

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Is it breakfast food he doesn't want or does he just not want to eat until lunch?

 

There is nothing unhealthy about eating another meal at breakfastime: pizza, hamburger, steak, rice, dinner leftovers.

 

If he just doesn't want to eat in the morning then I think it would be fine if it doesn't interfere with his mood, thinking or blood sugar levels.  As long as he eats well the rest of the day.

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Is it breakfast food he doesn't want or does he just not want to eat until lunch?

 

 

He just doesn't want to eat at all.  He said he prefers to eat more at his school lunch time.  Says no matter what he eats in the morning his stomach bothers him during his first classes.  He can eat a big lunch and feel fine in his classes after lunch.
 
I guess I'll just let him do what he wants.  It just bothers me a lot to let him leave without eating.  
Edited by 1GirlTwinBoys
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Did you see my thread earlier this year on breakfast pushers?😉

 

I was like this as a kid and I am still like this today. A good portion of the population are not breakfast eaters. It literally makes me sick to try and eat before the afternoon. My dad and step mom always tried to force me to eat breakfast before school when I lived with them. My mom got wise and gave up but packed a snack for me in case I couldn't hold out til lunch (I didn't need it but it made her feel better!)

 

People who "believe in" eating breakfast can be so pushy. Gotta rev your metabolism, start your day, it's so healthy blah blah blah... ok sorry I am a bit bitter,lol... Non breakfast people don't need or want breakfast and often stay that way. More recent research is even supporting extending the bodies natural nightly 'fast' and skipping breakfast is not seen as so horrible anymore. I believe some studies are even showing some health benefits.

 

Why not let your child listen to their natural hunger? If it makes you feel better, you can put a snack in their backpack like my mom did!

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I love breakfast and my kids eat breakfast, but I still say that if your kid doesn't want to eat breakfast then don't push it. Stick an extra snack in his lunchbox if you're worried and trust that he knows his own body. If something comes up down the road, then worry about that when you get there.

 

You can't make people be hungry and if he is otherwise well fed and in good health then not having breakfast is not the end of the world.

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I hate breakfast. My stomach doesn't wake up when I do. Schools eat lunch so early that I'd wait too. At my house, DS and I both have tea when we wake up. That holds us a few hours. We're generally having our breakfast while everyone else is eating lunch. I like smoothies as a first meal, but even that doesn't happen before ten or eleven in the morning. We eat a lat dinner most nights, so we're just not hungry yet. You could try moving dinner to 5 p.m. So he's hungry in the morning, but it seems pointless to me. I feel strongly that breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day and skipping it is not the disaster everyone makes it out to be. It's always the people that WANT breakfast in the morning who push it's importance. I would not be trying to instill a habit of eating when you're not hungry. Better to stay connected to your own body's hunger signals and read them accurately. If he's not getting hungry before lunch, than this really is just your hang up.

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My son HATES eating breakfast! What should I do??

 

Eat your breakfast by yourself in a blessed silence?

 

 

P.S. My oldest won't eat breakfast either. DH did a little bit of research--eating breakfast is not as healthy as we are used to thinking! Obviously if one is hungry and wants to, that's one thing. But if one is not hungry, let them respect their body and their needs.

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I feel better after your replies. It's just hard for me to understand how a growing boy can concentrate and feel right going that long without eating.

Is he having a hearty snack after school? If he's eating lunch, snack, and dinner, that's three meals. Most teen boys aren't shy about eating when they're hungry. If he's healthy, you can relax.

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Sorry. We've been repeatedly hit over the head with "Breakfast is important", but it really isn't. It's hard to let go of something we heard is necessary, almost all of our lives. If he isn't hungry and does fine without eating breakfast, don't make him eat it. He'll be fine. 

 

Breakfast matters is if a someone is the type of person who needs to eat in the morning but doesn't get to for whatever reason. But for those who don't like to eat breakfast it's fine. Even if that someone is a growing child.

Edited by Lady Florida.
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I wake up raring to go, I'm a morning person but my stomach seems to be on a slight delay so I don't feel hungry for quite a while. I also don't really like breakfast food it tends to all be carby or sweet and it just makes me queasy. I do eat breakfast but I tend to leave it for a few hours after I wake up. I think as long as your son is having water and getting to eat lunch relatively early I wouldn't worry.

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You said it makes his stomach not feel good.  I would be more worried about that and trying to figure out why.  I've had sinus problems all my life and as a kid I remember getting up and getting sick to get rid of the mucus.  Maybe it is something like that.

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When  I was a kid in kindergarten (which in my country lasted until you were 7 yrs old)  I would puke daily bc I couldn't eat in the morning.  Daily.  5 times a week I would throw up every morning and they would still put food in front of me.  For 3 yrs.

 

So, I don't force anyone to eat.

 

BTW, with all the food issues kids and teens and adults have in US, the LAST thing I would want is to send a message that you have to eat even if your body is not hungry.

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I am a breakfast believer!  I am not, however, a natural breakfast eater.  I forced myself to convert, and I feel better, physically.  But I'm the only one who could make that happen.  It would have driven me crazy to have someone trying to force it on me.

 

My daughters rarely, if ever, eat in the morning. Because they're home, they can eat around 10 or 11 and I've mostly made peace with that.  My boys tend to eat two breakfasts. If the little ones don't practically wake up with food in their mouths, they're monsters, lol.  Everyone's different!

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I haven't read any of the other replies.

 

I would leave him alone and allow him to follow his body's hunger signals. Not doing so is one reason we have an epidemic of obesity here in the U.S. There's usually very little/no reason to eat when one isn't hungry.

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As long as he's well-fed and in good health I really would not push it. I skipped breakfast for years and felt awesome. Life circumstances dictated a change but I miss it. 

 

If he starts losing weight he can't afford to lose I'd revisit it then.

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I'll add my voice to the unanimous opinion- don't make him eat.  Include something snacky in his lunch like a bag of almonds, so that if he is hungry at 10am, he can quickly snack on something.  

 

In terms of health, I cannot imagine how giving him basically pure sugar first thing in the AM could seem like a better idea than letting him fast until a (hopefully) large healthy lunch at noon.  If you were to accept to eat a toaster pastry or cereal, he'd probably feel like complete cr@p 45 minutes later and continue to feel like that until lunch.  

 

I will now step down from my personal sugar-for-breakfast-is-a-disaster-for-children-and-adults soapbox...

 

 

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I'm not a breakfast eater and neither are my twins. This caused problems in PS, because they would get hungry well before lunch, but at homeschool it's no problem. We usually take a break around 10 and that's when we all tend to eat breakfast. And yes, sometimes is not breakfast food. One of my girls wanted leftover mac and cheese for breakfast yesterday.

 

I've never been a breakfast eater. I like breakfast-y foods...just not for breakfast!

Edited by tdbates78
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None of us, except DSD, eat breakfast.  I know for me, DS, and DD it's because if we eat it's likely to make us sick.  I think it's hormones, which fluctuate throughout the day are higher in the morning?  Please don't make him eat, my mom made me eat and all it did was make me more likely to throw up and and then have stomach pains for the rest of the day (high acid, heartburn). 

 

 

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You could try moving dinner to 5 p.m. So he's hungry in the morning, but it seems pointless to me.

 

We eat at 7 because that's when DH is home.  I really like for us to all eat together as much as possible so moving dinner to earlier isn't an option.

 

He gets up at 6:30'ish and lunch is around 11:30 at PS I think.  I'll just let him do what he wants.

 

Thanks!

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I agree with you that eating Breakfast is extremely important. For most people it increases their Productivity, whether their job is to study or to earn money. However, from the list of things you have tried, you have tried just about everything. At his age (13) he is who ihe is and is not going to change. Probably just accept that he is not going to eat Breakfast, if you can do that. You tried...

 

I learned when I was very young, that I could not do a good job for my employer if I went to work without eating a good Breakfast and drinking a cup of Coffee.

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As others have said, many people don't need to eat right away.   One of my kids is hungry the minute he gets up. The other is like me, not hungry for a couple of hours, sometimes even till typical lunchtime.  Maybe it will help you feel better about it if you think of it this way:  he is not skipping breakfast, he's just delaying it.   

 

If there are blood sugar issues, it's important to eat. But other than that, no one should eat if they are not hungry.   

 

I would not move the family dinner time to accommodate his lack of morning hunger.   Eat with Dad, it's more important.  :-)

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I have never been able to eat breakfast first thing in the morning - when I was a kid or now. When I was in high school, I'd be nauseous in the morning and couldn't eat anything or even think of food until lunch time. Our school started really early - homeroom was at 7:05 I think. 

 

DS is the same way, he never eats first thing. Some days he doesn't get hungry until close to lunch time. 

 

I drink black coffee in the morning and don't eat until 11 or so typically. 

 

This is a good article about breakfast.

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I understand your thinking about breakfast but at a certain age, I figured that they would have to make that decision and deal with the consequences. If they end up starving by lunch, they will make sure to eat breakfast next time. Or it might work for them not to have breakfast. My dh never eats breakfast and my high school senior never does either. I would have felt like a bad mom sending my kid to school without breakfast (or a jacket) in elementary school but once they hit middle, it's on them.

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I haven't read all the responses.   My son has NEVER wanted to eat for breakfast.  Not since he stopped nursing.  He will have a drink about an hour or so after he wakes up - when he was little it was Nutripals/Pediasure, now it's usually chocolate milk.    He does eat a somewhat early lunch - usually between 11 and 11:30.  

 

We gave up a long time ago.  As long as he wasn't getting cranky, over tired, needing to gain weight or showing any ill effects, we let him choose (not like we could force him to eat anyway).

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You said it makes his stomach not feel good.  I would be more worried about that and trying to figure out why.  I've had sinus problems all my life and as a kid I remember getting up and getting sick to get rid of the mucus.  Maybe it is something like that.

 

I have sinus issues and it means I have to eat very soon after waking up.  If my stomach stays empty too long, I feel nauseous.  I also can't drink anything on an empty stomach or I feel nauseous.  I'd rather be able to skip it most of the time.

 

 

We eat at 7 because that's when DH is home.  I really like for us to all eat together as much as possible so moving dinner to earlier isn't an option.

 

He gets up at 6:30'ish and lunch is around 11:30 at PS I think.  I'll just let him do what he wants.

 

Thanks!

 

Lunch is pretty early so I wouldn't worry about that.  You're eating dinner on the late side (for the US anyway) so I could see how he's not hungry in the morning.  I would let him have a pretty decent afterschool snack if he wants it since that's a pretty long gap between lunch and dinner.

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All good input and I appreciate it.

 

I should have noted in my first post that he does have a good appetite the rest of the day.  He is also a very healthy weight.

 

All 3 of my kids are on the track team and are starving after practice.  They eat as soon as they get in the door so he definitely does snack. :)

 

 

 

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