Toddler Breakfast Ideas

Sorry I am a bit stuck on a 19 month old child still eating baby food (probably being fed not self feeding) for breakfast?

I do home daycare and at the latest, at the first birthday my kids go on the "big kid menu" for food program standards. They get wha tthe others get...unless they have PNB, then they jsut get a jelly version or butter, etc.

We always have a grain and fruit.
Cheerios or other plain cereals (Rice chex is the fave here)

Waffles (the flavored ones I dont add anything to them..but my toddlers like a blob of applesause on theirs...I chop up with the pizza cutter, put in a bowl, add the dollop of applesause, mix, then dump on the tray)

French toast...make it for dinner sometime, or in the evening when you just have time..then pop leftovers in the toaster a few mornings.

Bagels, muffins, toast with a little cinn/sugar (very little sprinkle), or some jam/jelly..or just butter (my toddlers love applebutter actually).

I chop all their stuff to bite size with my pizza cutters! quick and easy!

Always with fruit..banana, melon, berries, etc.

Sometimes we'll make pancakes or French toast the night before and have them available in the fridge! Maybe make some on the weekends and freeze them. I worry about the cleanup later. Feeding my DD and getting out of the house on time takes precedence.

I make a batch of regular oatmeal with cinnamon and vanilla that lasts for 4 days in the fridge (1 cup oatmeal, 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp cin., 1 tsp. vanilla). In the AM we heat it up with a little bit of water in the nuker for 35 seconds, then add a bit of organic whole milk and mix it up. She also gets a fruit pouch (from Plum Organics) which she can feed to herself or half a banana which she can also feed herself. My daughter is 19 months old also and she half the time feeds herself and half of it we feed to her (so she actually gets a good amt. in her mouth)- not all kids get that skill early on. If we run out of that, frozen toaster waffles, and on the weekends, she gets scrambled eggs, french toast or pancakes. On occasion she will get Cheerios or Joe's O's with milk and fruit if we run out of time.

I agree on the Super Baby Food book, especially since you have another one coming. We do oatmeal a lot (real oatmeal, not instant), you can flavor it many different ways, my son loves it with apples and cinnamon, or sometimes raisins or blueberries on top. That also keeps really well, so you can make a bunch and then microwave it on other days. Yogurt mixed with fruit (I say plain and you mix it yourself, less sugar), cheerios or other easy to eat cereal. We also often do eggs, pancakes, etc every once in a while, and keep leftovers to use when we are in a hurry. I have also heard of people freezing pancakes and waffles, so you could just thaw them easily. That is the easiest/quickest thing to do, premaking stuff on the weekends, and then eating through the week. Soon he will be able to eat normal cereal, or maybe even now, that makes it easy too.

Use eggbeaters if u dont have time. At least yours eats. Mine just doesn't eat. Sometimes she will drink some of my protein shake.

It try to get some protein in with cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt, deli turkey slices (rolled up with a piece of cheese).

Cut fruit or grapes/berries are also good, with a cup of dry Cheerios on the side and milk in a cup.

Sometimes he even eats leftovers from dinner! Don't restrain yourself to "breakfast" foods.

For breakfast, we usually do oatmeal and fruit. My 15-month-old also likes yogurt, cheese, dry cereal, and bites of whatever I'm eating.

If he likes eggs, maybe hard boil a few to have on hand and then cut them up for him in the morning?

Toast a piece of bread, put on it cottage cheese (I like the Knudson Fat Free) and drizzle honey all over. The kids loved it. I sometimes still do it for my 7 year old. Also oatmeal.

After reading your response to others, I read their answers. Just look the other way from those comments. This is the hardest job ever and with working moms, what ever is the easiest for you will be what is best for your child too. You are doing a great job, so just enjoy.

My son is 15 months old and here are some things I do breakfast for him:

-frozen french toast sticks (microwave 40 seconds)
-go-gurt from the freezer (okay this is kind of messy)
- scrambled eggs
-toast with one of the following as a topper...jelly, butter, cottage cheese, slice of cheese, applesauce
-they make squeezable applesauce pouches
-bowl of cereal (he's recently gotten much better at feeding himself with a spoon but even before that if I put in very little milk he would still pick at it just fine. Loves cheerios, applejacks, chex)
-frozen waffle (toaster)
-thick oatmeal because its easier for him to spoon out himself
-fruit cups or canned fruit
-a banana (really enjoys this!)
-handful of fresh blueberries (another favorite)
-poptart
-granola bar

Yogurt and Cheerios (if you use granola let it sit in the yogurt for a few minutes to soften), plain frozen waffle, hard boiled eggs (cook a couple at a time so you have one for the next day). I usually serve fruit on the side.

Our little guy LOVES pancakes. We make a huge batch and add fruit to it (such as blueberries) as well as flax seed, etc. and then freeze them. Then when we want pancakes we pull two our of the freezer and drop them in the toaster on the frozen setting. It's super fast and easy.

My son loves yogurt. String cheese too. As for the scrambled eggs, here's an easy way to make them: crack an egg in a small bowl, add some cheese (if you like), beat with a fork for a bit, put in microwave for about a minute. Done and done. My kid loves egg & cheese sandwiches, so that's how I make them quickly. Oh, and smoothies. My son loves smoothies. Sounds like work, but not much really - frozen fruit, carton of yogurt and some milk then blend. I usually add a little Shaklee meal shake or Kids Super Green Food. My child prefers snack type food - i.e. finger food. I work full-time and so does my husband, finding food for our son that he will eat and is healthy and doesn't take forever to make in the morning.

when you could be dealing with a child who decides the dirty Batman shirt is the only one he can wear that morning, thus throwing him into a fit and your time is running out before you have to get yourself dressed, make-up and hair done, him fed, dressed and all supplies gathered for the day, the last thing you have time for is a complicated meal that he may or may not eat. I try to get up early, but not to get breakfast ready for him (because he is so picky and will tell me what he wants), but to get myself ready. Then, I am calm(er) and can focus on getting food in his belly. Once fed, the morning seems to go so much more smoothly. We usually start with yogurt. He can now use a spoon on his own, but we started with yogurt squeeze. If I think he didn't eat enough in the morning before we leave, I grab an extra yogurt squeeze or go go squeeze (squeezable apple sauce) and give it to him in the car.

Best,
S.

Really nothing wrong with baby food in my opinion. It's healthy and it's not like the kid won't ever transition to adult food, so don't stress on the people who suggested something was wrong. Don't we eat soup, applesauce, and smoothies as adults? LOL :)
I've got three kids and they all have totally different food preferences, so when they were babies I just kind of adjusted to what they liked best and what worked for me. I think my second child ate breakfast in the car most of the time while I drove his older brother to private school across town. My 3rd baby ate in the stroller while we walked #2 to school down the street. And by the way baby #3 is now 2 years old and pickiest eater I have ever seen. She just doesn't eat much and what she does eat is totally unpredictable. We just offer her whatever we are eating and if she doesn't eat, oh well. But for breakfast a few things that sometimes work with her and are easy finger foods (if you need them to feed themselves or if they have to eat in the stroller or whatever). Mine sometimes likes berries, especially blueberries (messy though), dry cereal, bunny grahams (I buy them at Target), triscuits (could be a choking hazard, but my 3rd has had a full set of teeth forever), cheese sticks cut up into little pieces (or not), leftover pasta (cut up), even shaved parmesan cheese. Don't worry if it's not a typical breakfast food. Most of the stuff we consider breakfast food spikes blood sugar and isn't really the best way to start our bodies in the morning. It's probably a lot healthier to feed them something that would seem more like lunch or dinner (more protein), but let me be the first to say that I'm a honey nut cheerios addict, so I'm not real high and mighty in the health food world, lol. Do what you gotta do to keep your sanity and keep your kids as healthy as possible without driving yourself crazy.

I know I'm late to the party, but thought this could be helpful, for both your son and your new little one. Get this book: "Super Baby Food." It was AWESOME. Lots of make-ahead recipes for toddler food, and easy, easy, easy instructions to make your own baby food. (We both worked but had time to make all our food -- never bought a jar! -- because of the instructions from this wonderful book).

Good luck with both of your kids; I think you're doing great.

Soft boiled eggs mixed with toast was a favorite that my dad used to make us when he was in a hurry to get to work {sounds like a dad breakfast doesn't it? =) } I loved loved loved it though. Hard boiled eggs with toast (that would be easier- boil them the night before and just make the toast in the morning). Cinnamon toast, cheese toast, raisin toast, regular cereal (cheerios, kix), yogurt with fruit...

Fruit and toast? Pancakes and syrup and fruit?
Fruit yogurt smoothie?
Yogurt and fruit?
Cottage cheese/fruit doubles?
French toast sticks?
Cheese and fruit?
Cheerios and milk?
Biscuit & butter and fruit or protein (meat)
Breakfast sausages or bacon?

At 19 mos. he can basically eat what you & everyone else eats for breakfast, right?

Other than the items you already mentioned, we also do mini pancakes (the frozen kind), frozen waffles, or a bowl of cereal with milk. Time is limted in the morning so I dont exactly have time to whip up fresh made pancakes or anything, but you can just pop the frozen ones in the microwave for 30 seconds and their good! They also have french toast (or french toast sticks) but my son does not like it as much. He did good with a bowl of cereal with milk earlier than I though he would.. my mom tried it first and told me. Just break out the bibs again until he gets real good at it :) At 2.5 my son does not even make much mess with it anymore. He loved the plain cheerios for a long time and since he has gotten older he also eats the honey nut kind, the chocolate kind, or he also likes cinnamon toast crunch and honey bunches of oats.

Wow, my 19 month old is a bread fiend! He wishes we gave it to him more often. In the mornings my son gets yogurt, or cheerios and fruit, or a granola bar and applesauce. Once it gets cold again, I'll make him hot cereals like oatmal. My mom watches him in the mornings and she likes to make him scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese. Lunch is usually his big meal so I typically just give him something that will stick with him for those few hours until his lunch. My son is not a fan of being fed but not quite spoon ready so I stick to finger foods and he'll tolerate me feeding him the yogurt if he can feed himself cheerios in between bites.

Oh! And wanted to give a thanks to those who mentioned cottage cheese! Great idea!

toaster waffles and strawberries/blue berries!!!! i try to keep a bowl of fruit salad in the fridge too....just for super last minute days lol

Yogurt ! frozen waffles or pancakes cut up into stips !

My friend just made us crepes. I know that sounds CRAZY, but she said it as easy as pancakes. You could always make a patch the night before, or a few days before, throw them in the fridge, & take out as needed. She spread Nutella on hers. So very good!!

She found the recipe online.

-oatmeal
-a banana with dry cereal on the side
-Frosted Mini Wheats, let him dip it in yogurt
-scrambled egg - my son likes it with lots of mozarella cheese in it
-french toast (soak it in the egg the night before. I put one egg, a splash of vanilla, a shake of cinnamon, a shake of nutmeg all in a sandwich bag. Add a slice of Ezekiel bread and let it soak overnight. Next morning I put butter in the pan and it cooks fairly quick. Top with agave-nectar syrup or maple syrup.)

My toddlers love a yogurt parfait. Cut up bananas, strawberries, or other fruit, top with yogurt, and sprinkle granola on top.

Regular oatmeal, waffles or toast with peanut butter, Nutella or cream cheese, granola bars, Nutragrain bars, yogurt, dry cereals, all with a side of fruit and milk to drink are my quick, go-to breakfast items.
I do agree that the baby foods need to go, even if it's easy, and he needs to be given the chance to feed himself, even if it's not the easiest way. Diapers are easier than potty training, but you wouldn't delay learning that skill just because it was easier, right? :-). Good luck!