Breakfast Ideas for Picky Two Year Old

Have you considered non traditional breakfast foods? Maybe a veggie plate or a morning star patty (aren't those the vegetarian ones??). My two year old used to like to eat dinner left overs for breakfast. (he actually ate a plate of lima beans for breakfast one day! LOL)
We just kind of went with it for a while and after a while he wanted the breakfast foods again. As long as the meal is nutritious and fits into your lifestyle it could be an option. However, as a picky eater you may have been down to your last options:)
Best of luck!

We eat a lot of yogurt and fruit for breakfast around here. My kids often like to dip the fruit into the yogurt. Cinnamon toast is a fave, but we only have it occasionally. And white and brown rice is also a favorite too...when we have rice at dinner, I make extra so the kids can enjoy it for breakfast as well.

My son is picky too, but also just isn't much of a breakfast eater. He is a lot like me and doesn't have an appetite in the morning. When he is ready to eat, he will pretty much eat mandarin oranges, cheerios, applesauce, or yogurt. Maybe try those?

breakfast does not really have to be breakfast food... ask her what she wans... if she says pasta, then so be it... as long as she is getting healthy food what is the difference?

Also, I know you are vegetarian, but does that mean she has to be? maybe her little body is craving proteins and meats?

maybe you could try an egg substitute or even just a fruit yogurt smoothie?

My niece is a vegetarian, and when she comes to my house I always have meat free stuff for her, one of her favorites for breakfast is a fruit and yogurt parfait with granola... she also really likes when I make her egg substitute breakfast tacos... egg, cheese, beans, and salsa on tortillas

Furit smoothies? You can make them with yogurt, tofu, wheat germ and can also add supplements like protein. I will make one for my baby and give her a handful of dry cereal along with it, she loves them. Good Luck!

Don't feel limited to what you think of as breakfast food. Let her eat what she likes or what she will eat even if it normally would not be eaten for "breakfast." Our pediatrician suggested this to us and it worked. He said the most important thing is that our kids eat, preferrably something nutritious. Good luck!

Are you sure she's actually hungry when she wakes up? My youngest is rarely hungry first thing in the morning, but if I wait an hour or so, he'll eat much more happily.

Some other ideas...
-- yogurt
-- peanut butter (on sandwich, toast, or for dipping apples in)
-- Cheerios or other cereal (with milk on it or dry)
-- any other kind of fruit
-- leftovers from the previous night's dinner

Honestly, kids won't starve themselves. Give her a couple choices, and set out some grapes or dry cereal. Either she'll eat or she won't. If she's like my kids at that age, she'll want a snack in a couple hours anyway, so she can eat then. Don't make a big deal out of it.

There is nothing written in stone that says anything is only for breakfast...so utilize whatever other foods she will eat for her breakfast...make sure that there is protein in her meal.

Being a vegetarian does not mean you have to throw carbs at your kids and call it breakfast. Find a small protein packed snack that aren't a ton of food. Like peanut butter on wheat toast (a complete protein). Just Google some complete proteins and go from there. No one says you have to serve traditional breakfast food for breakfast. Get creative. :) It's hard to give suggestions when we don't know what foods your little girl will eat. Does she eat veggies? I know too many "vegetarians" with picky kids who won't eat veggies and end up being bread and cheese-etarians. I am not saying that is you at all just something to keep in mind. :)

If avocados are a great breakfast food (good fat for the brain) but again if your kid doesn't like veggies or fruit (avocados are fruit) then it's not helpful. Don't feel like you have to serve breakfast. Leftover dinner makes a great breakfast too. Look for something she likes with lots of protein and healthy fats. Your brain needs fat to operate and protein will stay with her longer than most carbs. Hope this helps. Please don't read any judgment into this because it has no judgments on you. Hugs and I hope you find something that works. Picky kids are hard. And breakfast can be the most challenging meal of the day. Get creative!! You can do it!!

M.

Have you tried other fruit other than bananas such as kiwi, strawberries, melon, grapes and apples?

Besides fruit, my 2 year old also loves toast, bagels and english muffins with butter, fruit spread or flavored cream cheese on it. He also enjoys blueberry muffins, zucchini bread and banana bread. You can also try making potato pancakes for breakfast.

You may want to consider also introducing her to eating cereal in a bowl with milk like with cheerios or honey bunches of oats. Our son likes to eat those two types of cereals, too.

Do you grow any of your fruits and vegetables or ever go pick them from a farm? Sometimes by having your children partake in picking out the food, and prepping it will get them to eat it, because they are proud of the accomplishment of helping! My son loves to pick out the kiwi at the grocery store, and then he'll help me rinse them at home. He'll watch me slice them up and put them on a plate to share together. He loves to eat anything he sees us eating and what really helps is when one or both parents sit down with him to eat together! I hope that helps. :)

My 2yr old has given up most of what you've listed as well.
He loves cold cereal at this point, though. A little bowl of cereal and a little milk in there and he's typically happy.

For alternatives, he also loves yogurt and fresh fruit.

I agree with the previous poster...go non-traditional. Now that my daughter is three, I set more limitations, but at 18-26 months or so she could choose from a pretty wide array of foods. She would also get on a little kick when she only wanted ONE specific thing over and over and over. I spent a small fortune on "her" Greek yogurt.

She's eaten beans, peanut butter and celery, raisens, fruit, etc for breakfast.

My sister liked potato salad, pizza, and leftovers for breakfast.
YMMV
LBC

My go-to dish when my son doesn't want to eat: yogurt with cereal. I keep lots of different flavors of yogurt, and I let him pick with yogurt and either Kix or Cheerios. I think it's a control thing, if he feels like it was his idea, he's more likely to finish it!

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Awesome book. You add veggie puree to muffins or smoothies and stuff like that.

My 5 year old went through this phase and still gives us grief about not eating. It was a control issue with her. We had to not react which was hard. But, we tell her if she doesn't eat, she will be served the same food when she is hungry. So, when daddy decided to eat a cookie, she had to eat her lunch. "Should have ate your lunch, you'd be enjoying a cookie right now, too."

tofu scramble, toast with amond butter, fruit, yogurt, cold cereal... or whatever she will eat (assuming it's reasonably healthy).

how do you do french toast without eggs?

Nidhi, have you tried making idlis or variants of idli/dosa/dhokla?

Also try crepes - with nutela and add fruits or for a spicy twist - avocado, beans and salsa?

Does she like suji kheer? Upma (which you can pre-roast and just add to boiling water with peas in it) or grilled cheese sandwich cut in fun shapes?

Yogurt/fruit/toast w/jelly...
I agree with the PP saying it can be non-traditional breakfast foods. The first time my son said he wanted cheese, crackers & pepperoni for breakfast, I cringed...but when I thought about it I decided it's not that big of a deal right? I have a friend whose son always wanted soup for breakfast!

My kids really like dry cereal. They also eat a lot of toast with peanut butter and they really like it with butter and little cinnamon & sugar. Any kind of fruit is always good. My boys like bagels as well. I am sure she is just going through a little phase, as most kids tend to do.

i feed my kids(twin 8yr old boys & 2 yr old girl) plain yogurt with berries and banana...you could skip it for some other fruit...with granola or whatever cereal is on hand and a sprinkle of honey. They love it. My kids also like dried fruit and nuts(good source of protein)with yogurt and honey.If you don't do dairy soy yogurt is really good mine can't tell the difference most of the time. good luck! oh and there is always pizza;)

Avocado and healthy chips.

Or use little cut up pieces with toothpicks.

My two-year-old loves the "squeezy" foods for breakfast. Do you know the ones I mean? They are little pouches with pureed food in them that he can squeeze out of a pouch with a spout himself. He likes putting the cap on and taking it off again.

They come in a bunch of healthy flavors that often mix something fruity with something not. Spinach, mango and pear, or blueberries with beets and bananas. We usually use the "Happy Baby" variety because I can find them at the local supermarket, but we have also ordered other brands (like Plum Organics and Ella's Kitchen) from Diapers.com because they sometimes have sales.

I know it's technically baby food, but it's healthy and easy and he loves them. They are also easy to grab for the car or the playground.

Yogurt is a great choice- let her pick the flavor.
Cream of Wheat is tasty too.
you could do a bowl of fruit, or a fruit smoothie made w coconut milk or almond milk.....
If your goal is to carb her up in the AM- perhaps do a grilled PB&J ??

Be careful with the packaged foods as they tend to be super high in sugar and salts. Could be her body is sensitive to processed sugars and salt, or the preservatives.

Are you vegetarian or vegan? What other dietary restrictions do you have?
Are you morally opposed to using the eggs yourself? I am curious because all of the aforementioned packaged foods use egg in the preparation.

PM me- I can send you some vegan options.