Teaching portions— cereal
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Anonymous
| Hi there- we follow the philosophy that we decide what to feed for meals and the kids decide how much to eat so they can develop their own sense of satiety. Our kids love cereal, and we buy low sugar cereals that they like to eat with milk and sliced fruit for breakfast. My DD (age 9) eats so much cereal, like 4 bowls. She also tends toward constipation so that’s maybe the reason I’m concerned about the volume. Anyone else have a kid who gorges in cereal? I’ll make eggs in the side and encourage her to eat some or some nuts. But she primarily wants the cereal in the AM. FWIW she’s similar with pasta, just gorges on it. We talk about listening to your belly and encourage eating side dishes to fill out the meal. That doesn’t really change anything. Is it appropriate to say: “one bowl of cereal is a portion, and if you’re still hungry you can fill up in eggs and berries”? Or is that going to create a feeling of deprivation that makes her want to forge more? Appreciate your thoughts. Also. I don’t really want to ban cereal(and pasta) because it’s so easy for breakfast and also due to not wanting To cause a feeling if deprivation as she will surely encounter all you can eat cereal situations at friends / relatives’s houses, summer camp, etc |
Anonymous
| Is she overweight? Is there a family history of obesity? The j our family on both sides there is obesity so we absolutely say no unlimited eating. Two bowls is plenty. I then tell my kids to wait 30 minutes. |
Anonymous
| Its totally fine to limit to a serving of something and then if they are still hungry must choose something else. |
Anonymous
| Cereal two days a week only, for example, Saturday and Sunday and then fix something else on the other day. How much cereal she has on those days, is up to her. I don’t find cereal to be a good start to anyone’s breakfast so I would completely limit it |
Anonymous
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I mean, eggs aren't going to help with constipation. And are you really going to let her eat as many eggs as she wants? People are so convinced that carbs are evil, but they are okay with their kids eating the kind of high-protein diet that might be a bit excessive for a professional weightlifter. I don't get it.
It's fair to say that four bowls is too many. I'd set a cap at two. Make sure the cereals you buy have a decent amount of fiber. And then she can eat as much fruit as she wants, or have some eggs or nuts or whatever. |
Anonymous
| I would say no more than two bowls of cereal because it's not a particularly nutritious. If she's still hungry, I would offer fruit, eggs, yogurt, and/or turkey sausage. Same idea with pasta. |
Anonymous
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I have twin 9 year old boys. They are between 35-50 percentile on height and weight so pretty normal size kids. What I have noticed is that my kids have one large meal a day and the other two meals are smaller. So if they eat a large breakfast, then lunch and dinner will tend to be on the small to medium size. As long as they are eating only one large meal a day, I let them self-regulate portions. And they have been pretty stable on the height/weight charts for about 5-6 years.
Like you, I have noticed that they love to fill up on carbs. As children, I had no problems getting them to eat carbs and fruits and veggies, but have always struggled to get them to eat sufficient protein (until the pandemic). So, I make sure to balance the fruits and veggies in their meals. If one of my sons wanted four bowls of cereal, I would say that after two bowls of cereal they would have to have a full portion of fruit before they had another bowl of cereal. The one that loves spaghetti, I make sure that he gets one portion of spaghetti, but if he wants another portion, he has to have a full portion of whatever vegetable we're serving for dinner before a second portion. Basically, I monitor and regulate my kids' intake per day rather than per meal. If you make sure that your daughter gets enough fiber around the carbohydrates, then you can avoid the problem of constipation from large amounts of carbs. |
Anonymous
She is not overweight. She’s generally very active and I believe has a fast metabolism / tall athletic build. But she gets constpated which can cause issues with sleep, school, activities and just general discomfort. It sure what causes the chronic constipation (she’s been tested for allergies, drinks lots of water, etc), but I suspect it’s the volume of carb type stuff like cereal and pasta that she likes to eat. |
Anonymous
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I think if you're going to teach kids to listen to their bodies, making an exception for one or two foods just makes that food forbidden and higher value. I think it's going to backfire. There are other philosophies about how to feed kids, and I'm sure people also get good results from them, but if you're going to follow this one, then I think you need to allow them to make their own choices.
What is in keeping with that philosophy is not serving cereal or pasta every day. You decide what's at the meals, they decide what and how much to eat. |
Anonymous
Hi,OP here. Thanks. I don’t think fiber is the constipation issue as the cereal has a good dose of fiber, she eats whole wheat bread, grain crackers, popcorn, apples, berries, peas, nuts, smoothies, oatmeal, salad, raw veggies, etc. Basically loads of fiber foods |
Anonymous
OP here. Good point. We do not serve cereal every day so maybe I shouldn’t worry so much. I have actually considered serving it more to take the luster away. But I suspect that wouldn’t work for her |
Anonymous
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I would just buy a box of cereal a week or whatever you think she should be eating. If she eats in it two days or spreads it out that's up to her; when it's gone she'll have to eat something else. If the issue is that her consumption means less for everyone else, maybe let each person choose their own cereal (parents or siblings young enough that you're serving them can share)?
I am an adult who loves cereal and other carbs and this is what I do with my cereal--one box per week and when it's gone it's gone. And I don't buy crackers unless we're having a party or something (so not at all this year) because I can't trust myself with them! |
Anonymous
| It doesn't sound terrible given it is healthyish cereal and they are normal weight. I might but a limit there just to encourage variety but my guess is he will move on to another food. |
Anonymous
| I’m a fat person and “listening to my belly” would never work. I can only control my weight when my conscious mind overrules my physiology, which is really hard. |
Anonymous
| I would not let my 8yo eat 4 bowls of cereal. I would max out at 2. If hungry have eggs, cheese stick or some nuts. |