won't eat breakfast...

[Lovedtodeath]

It is really impeding our homeschool. I am afraid low blood sugar will keep her from learning, or make her throw fits, but she will not eat. Nothing ever sounds good or she is not hungry. We don't start school until after she has eaten, which is often around noon. I don't like it this way. It really works better for me to do her schooling in the morning. What would you do?

[JenneinCA]

I would start school at a reasonable hour for you and say you will take a break for breakfast when she is hungry.

 

My middle child (ds8) is just not interested in food early. He will eat if required, but would rather not. So I start school work and if he needs a food break we take one. Sometimes he starts school work at 9:00 and takes a breakfast break at 10:00. Other days he doesn't notice he hasn't eaten until 12:30.

 

I figured out that it is his body and as long as he wasn't having a melt down, he could be in charge of feeding it. I know I don't want to be told to eat when I am not hungry. Now if he were having a melt down about being hungry, then we would try something different. So far that hasn't been the case.

 

Good luck

[RoughCollie]

I have a similar situation here with DS2, except I'm not worried about his not eating impeding his learning or behavior.

 

I start school at 7:30 or 8:00. I ask DS2 to have a glass of either mlk or OJ beforehand and he complies. We take a snack break at 10, and I offer breakfast food and encourage a drink of either milk or OJ. If DS2 still isn't hungry, I offer him a protein bar, and he resumes his schoolwork at 10:30, and lunchtime is at 12. By then he is hungry.

 

I have had this problem with DS2 since he was around 2 or 3 years old.

[Lovedtodeath]

Oh, maybe I should get some granola bars, I bet she would eat them.

[JoyfulMama]

I would agree - maybe something to drink instead, but start your routine, and stop for breakfast later. Don't make a big deal about it, but make sure she knows that there is something available when she's ready.

Is it possible that she is manipulating the morning? (I don't like to think this way, but...)

[Michelle T]

My DS is 12, and rarely wants to eat breakfast. My rule is that he MUST have at least a glass of milk. He is agreeable to this, although I usually have to remind him to have it.

Michelle T

[Lovedtodeath]

I would agree - maybe something to drink instead, but start your routine, and stop for breakfast later. Don't make a big deal about it, but make sure she knows that there is something available when she's ready.

Is it possible that she is manipulating the morning? (I don't like to think this way, but...)

 

She could be manipulating the morning. I have thought of that.

 

My DS is 12, and rarely wants to eat breakfast. My rule is that he MUST have at least a glass of milk. He is agreeable to this, although I usually have to remind him to have it.

Michelle T

She refuses to drink milk. Juice might work though.

[Ria]

I have a son who just doesn't like breakfast, either. We finally figured out that he will eat if offered lunch foods. So, while the rest of us have eggs and sausage, he makes himself a tuna fish sandwich, or eats leftover baked ziti or pizza. It works for us! He has to eat, but I'm not going to fight him on what he eats.

 

Ria

[Angel]

My older dd has never been a breakfast person. She will get low blood sugar and a little bit of shakiness if she doesn't eat. Per doctor's advice when she was 6 and still attending school, make sure she drinks something to get the blood sugar up. Juice or even Gatorade will get them "going." I do keep a supply of protein bars and granola bars on hand. She can eat these while doing her schoolwork and we don't have to be interrupted.

[Parrothead]

Has she actually thrown fits or not learned anything because of not eating breakfast?

 

If not, this isn't a battle you want to fight. Make sure she drinks something because after sleeping all night she needs to hydrate, and get started with school. Set an appropriate amount of time for her first meal though. Tell her that when she is hungry she has 30 minutes to eat breakfast/brunch. When the time is up then the food has to be put away.

 

Now if you want to be a bit lenient, let her eat while she is working. I have on occasion let dd eat while working on school, but not anything potentially messy like pancakes and syrup. She could always do her eating with a reading book in hand.

[elegantlion]

I like children's clif bars for breakfast. They seem to be a tasty alternative and more healthy than some breakfast bars.

[runamuk]

I have a son who just doesn't like breakfast, either. We finally figured out that he will eat if offered lunch foods. So, while the rest of us have eggs and sausage, he makes himself a tuna fish sandwich, or eats leftover baked ziti or pizza. Ria

 

This is our oldest daughter. It wasn't that she didn't want breakfast, she just didn't want breakfast food.

 

I used to buy the Carnation Instant Breakfast drink packets for her and that would encorage her to drink milk in the morning. She didn't care for plain milk, but liked the chocolate and strawberry flavors of the instant breakfast.

[HappyatHome]

I would start school at a reasonable hour for you and say you will take a break for breakfast when she is hungry.

 

This is exactly what I was going to say. I'm not always hungry when I wake up and feel sick when I force myself to eat. I have one dd who is the same way. We just start as scheduled and break for a bite to eat later. If I am not eating while she is eating, I use that time to read aloud to her. It works great.

[Lovedtodeath]

Has she actually thrown fits or not learned anything because of not eating breakfast?

 

Yes...of course, discerning the reason is not possible.

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks for all the advice!

[cillakat]

disclosure: the following contains info on a 'controversial' diagnosis. it's basically just an inborn error in how our bodies use b6 and zinc. repleting the lost b6/zinc is easy, symptoms go away. I believe it exists and that the symptoms/treatments are spot on. I've seen it in action with me and one of my kiddos. I suspected it for myself based on symptoms/ancestry and with dd, we have test results (urine or blood, i can't recall which....it was done by an orthomolecular M.D.)

 

 

http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=Pyroluria

 

pyroluria symptoms:

 

• Little or no dream recall
  
• White spots on finger nails
  
• Poor morning appetite and/or tendency to skip breakfast
  
• Morning nausea
  
• Pale skin, poor tanning or burn easy in sun
  
• Sensitivity to bright light
  
• Hypersensitive to loud noises
  
• Reading difficulties (e.g. dyslexia)
  
• Histrionic (dramatic)
  
• Argumentative/enjoy argument
  
• Mood swings or temper outbursts
  
• Much higher capability & alertness in the evening, compared to mornings
  
• Anxiousness
  
• Preference for spicy or heavily flavored foods
  
• Abnormal body fat distribution
  
• Significant growth after the age of 16
  

 

 

 

http://www.healthrecovery.com/HRC_2006/Depression_06/D_Hide_In_Closet.htm#pyroluria

 

 

 

 

This disorder is connected to an abnormal production of a group of body chemicals called pyrroles. Pyrroles are a worthless byproduct of hemoglobin synthesis. Most people have very little if any of these pyrroles circulating in their bodies. We know that through measuring levels of pyrroles excreted via the urine. Some of us, however, are not so fortunate. Pyrroles are abnormally high in about:

 

• 30% of schizophrenics
  
• 40% of persons with psychiatric problems
  
• 11% of normals
  
• 25% of disturbed children
  
• 40% of alcoholics
  

 

Pyrroles do damage to us by binding to aldehydes throughout our bodies and causing their excretion along with the pyrroles. B6 (pyridoxine) being an aldehyde is systematically removed from its many needed sites and a severe B6 deficiency results. Equally damaging is the further scavengering done by the combination of B6 and pyrroles. Together this duo also seeks out and attaches itself to zinc and so both of these essential natural chemicals (B6 and zinc), are promptly dumped into the urine.

The loss of B6 and zinc is a psychiatric disaster. Many seemingly unrelated symptoms develop. Our interest in pyroluria is that it creates symptoms of inner tension, and bouts of nervous exhaustion and fearfulness that can be traced back to childhood or teen years. Without proper identification and treatment, pyrolurics slowly tend to become loners to avoid stressful situations. Their lives become an ongoing struggle to protect themselves from too much emotional and physical stress.

[Peek a Boo]

I figured out that it is his body and as long as he wasn't having a melt down, he could be in charge of feeding it.

 

This is where we are also w/ my oldest:

The rules for breakfast are you need to eat SOMETHING nutritious --even if it's just a couple bites of something nutritious [applesauce, juice smoothie, hamburger, whatever]. Donuts and cinnamon rolls don't count ;)

 

As long as you are responsible enough to continue your educational duties in a competent way w/ a good attitude then I will honor your choice to eat breakfast the way you want [w/in nutritional guidelines].

 

So if fits are being thrown, they lose the right to make some decisions for themselves.

[Lovedtodeath]

Applesauce! another good idea.

[mchel210]

My dd does this to me...I started making pancakes with chocolate chips...cliff bars, oatmeal, carnation shakes, yogurt-banana-frozen strawberries-and v8acai juice shakes...mmmm....thats about it. I make her choose something but she hates to eat.

[Melissa B]

I used to buy the Carnation Instant Breakfast drink packets for her and that would encorage her to drink milk in the morning. She didn't care for plain milk, but liked the chocolate and strawberry flavors of the instant breakfast.

 

 

 

I don't eat breakfast either. My mother would have me drink the Carnation breakfast drink in milk, have a small glass of juice and take a vitamin before leaving for school. That worked fine for both of us.

[fivetails]

It wasn't that she didn't want breakfast, she just didn't want breakfast food.

 

That's totally me. I can't remember the last time I ate a bowl of cereal or waffles or such... I'd much rather have a veggie patty cut up with ketchup, an egg roll with plum sauce, or other similar thing (savoury/spicy usually) for breakfast. :D

 

My dh is not a breakfast eater - ever. He'll get sick if he tries to eat anything until he's been up for a while (few hours at least)...and dd11 seems to be following in his footsteps, often not wanting anything until she's been up for a few hours too.

[Tap]

dd9 has never liked to eat breakfast, even when she was a baby.

 

I can get her to start her day (1-3 hours after she wakes) with a starchy breakfast or a drinkable breakfast.

 

Blended smoothies (see current related thread for ideas),

toast with a little butter-jam or honey,

protein/granola bars or preferably homemade muffins (the smell of them cooking gets her appetite going),

baked potato,

baggie of dry cereal (Cheerios, Kix, mini wheats-nothing sugar laden),

Cream of Wheat cooked and mixed with milk so she can drink it with a straw,

fried potatoes with kielbasa sausage (made and then reheated in the am).

 

 

She is not the pancake, french toast, egg eating person.

[Lovedtodeath]

disclosure: the following contains info on a 'controversial' diagnosis. it's basically just an inborn error in how our bodies use b6 and zinc. repleting the lost b6/zinc is easy, symptoms go away. I believe it exists and that the symptoms/treatments are spot on. I've seen it in action with me and one of my kiddos. I suspected it for myself based on symptoms/ancestry and with dd, we have test results (urine or blood, i can't recall which....it was done by an orthomolecular M.D.)

 

Very interesting. I will look into this. Someone else was just telling me that ADD (which we all have in this household) is greatly improved with B6 supplements. And morning nausea... oh yeah... that's us. Were all of the symptoms spot on for you?

 

On an unrelated note about nutrition... do you have specific info on Vit D supplementation?

[Lizzie in Ma]

My little one is like that, especially when her allergies are bothering her.

I think it is because her tummy doesn't feel great from all the post nasal drip at night. We just break around 10:30 for oatmeal and tea.

[Remudamom]

You're afraid she'll throw fits?? Sounds like you are trained. I don't know why you're looking for medical reasons, but I'd get her out of bed and get to work. If she's the boss at six how awful is it going to be when she's older?

[Lovedtodeath]

You're afraid she'll throw fits?? Sounds like you are trained. I don't know why you're looking for medical reasons, but I'd get her out of bed and get to work. If she's the boss at six how awful is it going to be when she's older?

Well you are right to a degree, but when I have low blood sugar, or have been exposed to allergens... or am low on certain nutrients... I throw fits. This eating in the morning is not the only reason I am looking into the medical aspect. I have been seriously low on B12 before and we all have ADD over here, so I am very interested in the B6 information.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

I would start school at an earlier time (8am, 9am, 10am) and let her eat when she is ready. Keep fruit, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, nuts handy. It only takes a couple of minutes to scramble an egg.

 

Some of my kids eat before school, others start lessons and then grab something when they are hungry. "Big" "cooked" breakfasts are on Saturday morning.

 

Pam L

[myfunnybunch]

No time to read the other responses. I have a child who does not eat well in the morning. He's simply not hungry. Given a choice, I'd probably run around for an hour or so after waking before eating myself, but as an adult I've managed to overcome my natural preference to accommodate our schedule.

 

We start our school day at 9:00 and have a mid-morning snack break (fruit, or leftovers from breakfast) around ten. My non-breakfast eater is able to do his schoolwork just fine w/o much for a morning meal, and the snack break helps him make it until lunch. I figure it's healthier to accommodate his natural preferences because it teaches him to listen to his own hunger signals. :)

 

Cat

[Lisa R.]

I also need to eat breakfast, or I tend to get light-headed. However, nothing sounds good or feels too heavy in my stomach. I'm hungry, but don't really want to eat...hard to explain.

 

This past year, I've found the answer for my situation. Protein fruit smoothies. I make them with orange juice, bananas, frozen strawberries, and whey protein powder. They aren't too heavy for my stomach but are still filling. There is a big difference when I use protein powder and when I don't. I make it all the way to lunch without feeling hungry.

 

This is packed full of vitamin C. It isn't an inexpensive breakfast option, but it's a healthy one.

[homeschoolmomtutu]

I hated breakfast growing up...it actually gave me tummy aches when i was forced into it(and orange juice made it even worse)...nowadays it is one of my three fave meals...:lol:

[stripe]

My mother doesn't eat until 10 am or something, and she prefers to eat cold leftovers, while my dad reliably has a bowl of cereal immediately upon his (very early!) rising. I'd try different things, from "easy" (granola bar, piece of fruit) to more out of the ordinary (baked potato, pizza), and also see if she eats later on.