Cereal for Breakfast? Picky Eaters

It sounds fine to me! We have cereal night about once a week... usually with a fresh helping of lots of chopped strawberries, bananas and blueberries. We only do the Lucky Charms thing a few times a year, like on birthdays, other than that it's usually a bran or granola type cereal, but right now we are taking it easy with simple Cheerios.

I am totally fine w/ this. Our daughter occasionally requests cereal for dinner and that's ok. I used to love when my mom would sometimes make pancakes for dinner :) And I know that healthy cereal is better than that! Wouldn't it be funny to switch it up a bit and serve her a "dinner" for breakfast?? Then cereal for dinner?? Anyway, does she like oatmeal? We do (real, not the packet) oatmeal w/ milk and blueberries a lot in our house.

added: haha, we do eggs for dinner sometimes, too, Rebecca!

Have you seen all of the commercials for cereals for a healthy snack in the evening? I think it's a great idea. Heck - sometimes my daughter wants soup for breakfast. OK with me - here is a bowl of vegetable soup to start your day! We have grown up with such strict meal ideas - when you start messing with it (like, eggs -or cereal - for dinner) - it kinda makes meal times more fun!

My theory is it's not going to hurt her to have cereal for dinner a few times, and in the grand scheme of choosing your battles, this one is not worth a whole lot of tears and frustration. However, I probably would try to make it look like I wasn't giving in but instead was fixing something I thought she'd enjoy. I'd say something like "hey, I thought you might like to eat some cereal for dinner tonight! We can't do that every night, but it's fun sometimes. How does that sound?" and she can either be very excited about enjoying that for dinner or can ask to eat what the rest of the family will be having. Either way, she's happy, and you are still the one in charge.

Try compromising with her, tell her that she can have cereal for dinner 2 nights a week ONLY if she eats or at least tries to eat the things you make for dinner on the other nights. Have her help with dinner and ask her what things she would like to have go with dinner like a favorite veggie, or fruit etc so that she feels like she has some control over what she is eating too.

On the nights that she does eat cereal have it with fruit like you said, but also with some toast with peanut butter on it. That way it is more balanced and nutritional for her.

Honestly, I think this is a slippery slope. I understand being a picky eater, but unless everyone has cereal every night, I think she will be crying for a long time to come since she knows that's all she has to do to get her way. You will likely end up having to make her something she "wants" while everyone else eats something else. My aunt did this with my cousin, all she "would" eat was buttered rice and grilled cheese. So there stood my aunt making her that every holiday, bday party, etc, while we all ate what was served. So although I understand you don't want your kid crying, I also think it just sets it up for more eating battles in the future. Just my opinion and I hope you find something that works for you. Good luck.

I love cereal for dinner! I don't let my kids have cereal for dinner often, but they love it and think it's a big treat when I do allow it. Now, I don't think it's a good idea to let her have cereal for dinner regularly, but once a week won't hurt her. We have breakfast for dinner once a week. I change it up (pancakes, waffles, egg and sausage casserole, etc) and it's usually a hearty meal, but sometimes we just do cereal and a smoothie. Ooh, that's a way to get more nutrition into her without her even knowing :) Frozen berries, banana, yogurt, milk and a little bit of OJ, mmm! Maybe if you let her have it every once in awhile, she'll stop pressing the issue every night. However, since you know she does like other foods, don't let her take advantage of you. And don't let her rule the dinner table. At the beginning of the meal, before she starts in (so maybe even when you start cooking!), tell her "We're having X for dinner tonight. You do not have to like it, and you do not have to eat it, but you will not get anything else to eat. You do have to sit at the table with us quietly. No whining, no crying, no pushing the plate away. You will be polite. If you need to cry and/or complain, you may go to your room and join us when you're finished." Talk in a calm, normal voice. Resist all urges to tell her to try it or refer in any way to her eating or not eating. It took a few nights of this speech for my picky eater to realize I was serious, and now I rarely have to bust out with "the dinner speech", and when I do, it takes him about 2 minutes to start eating with us. Good luck!

My daughter and myself have both had cereal for dinner as well as soup for breakfast.. I say go for it

i would say if she loves it, offer it maybe once a week as a special "dinner". make sure you make a big deal about it and make sure she knows that since she was such a good girl that she gets to have cereal for dinner. and make sure she knows, it can't become an every night thing.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Fruity-Baked-Oatmeal

Try this recipe! Its easy & healthy. Any fruit works :-)

I'd give her something she might like and a wild card even if you offer her cereal instead of rice or pasta or something.

I actually have no idea why you aren't aware that cereal is pretty healthy. It is full of complex carbohydrates, fortified with vitamins, with low fat milk it meets a lot of the daily diet needs of children.

Why not choose one day of the week, like every Wednesday to have cereal for dinner. The rest of the week more traditional dinners. If she screams that she wants cereal, just say, "Its not Wednesday yet" She can even keep track on a calendar when its cereal night .

I have a 4 year old too. Terrible eater. Picks a few bites of my handmade dinners and that's it, asks for cereal or goes to the fridge to grab a gogurt.

I don't really care. I only buy decent cereal so it's not like it's cookie crisp or something. The wrost I buy is Golden Grahams. Mostly Cheerios, Rice krispies, etc. She doesn't really drink milk either, so at least she gets it with her cereal.

She also wants a turkey and cheese sandwich or mac n cheese for every meal. I have SUCH a hard time switching it up. Oh well. I keep telling myself that back in the day people existed on bread and cheese only, and in some tribal areas or 3rd world countries it's the same watery grains every day for sustanence. So, I offer what I offer and model good eating habits. from there i don't stress. Who wants to argue over food all the time? Not me. I save that for when they are crying for unlimited sweets and treats and that's where I put my feet down.

At my house the kids get to pick breakfast and lunch. Dinner is whatever I make. They can eat or go hungry. I usually include something with dinner that I know they will eat, then I am at least comfortable they have green beans or a muffin in their bellies.Then when they complain they don't like dinner I can remind them they got to choose what they had for breakfast and lunch. We love breakfast for dinner, usually pancakes and such. My FIL has cereal as a bed time snack almost nightly.
The only issue I see with this is you are letting her know if she cries enough she gets what she wants. It will cause her to test this theory in other parts of life. You say she can't have that piece of candy, she wonders how long she has to cry to get it. Does that make since?
If you let kids help make dinner they are more apt to eat it.
Good luck, I hope this phase ends quickly and you get a break before the next one starts.