Instant Oatmeal N Other Breakfast for 3 Year Olds

Yeah, instant oatmeal is not for loosing wt! It's a healthy breakfast. If that what you feed him, you are doing great!

If you have a bit more time, you can make special oatmeals in the slow cooker over night and save some for the other mornings. If you use The steal cut oats or just old fashioned oats it will be a bit healthier and throw in apples or other fruits and it's yummy!

I wonder if part of the problem is that your child is really not hungry in the morning.

I know our daughter and I take a while to find our appetites first thing in the morning. This became a bit harder when our daughter had to be in elementary school in her seat by 7:40 every morning. . So some times, she was eating n the car ride on the way to school. Even in college our daughter said she probably ate a "real breakfast" less than 6 times in the 4 years of living on campus. She would take a piece of fruit or some snack mix and eat it once her morning class was over.

We also many times, are not enticed with typical "Breakfast Foods".

Sometimes leftovers from the night before is better for us. Cold chicken, Soup, a tortilla with cheese, a sandwich a slice of pizza.

Or something refreshing. A smoothie.. even in the middle of winter, a fruit plate, with small bit of cheese.

Or something like peanut butter and crackers.

So work with your son to figure out what HE needs and wants.

Oatmeal is for loosing weight if your used to eating donuts. LOL Oatmeal is healthy and your adding whole milk. He is just tall and skinny.

We do a lot of Eggo waffles here. I know they are not the healthiest but they can continue eating them in the car if needed. We also do the apples and cinnamon instant oatmeal from Trader Joes for my fast eating son.

It doesn't have to be breakfast food, feed him anything he likes and will eat: sandwich, soup, pasta, rice, burritos, leftover dinner from the night before, ANYTHING healthy and filling.

Oatmeal is perfectly fine. We don't have a lot of time in the mornings either, since my home daycare is already busy and now she has school. My 4 year old eats a lot of granola bars for breakfast-Nature's Valley Crunchy ones, Nature's Valley Peanut Butter bars, Quaker fruit and yogurt bars, Nutragrain bars, etc. We also do cold cereals, either dry or with milk in bowl, yogurt, waffles or toast with peanut butter or Nutella (occasionally jelly or apple butter). I'll do hot oatmeal sometimes and made a few batches of that overnight oatmeal that's been floating around Facebook. I always give a fruit and whole milk with any breakfast too.
As long as he's eating and it's somewhat healthy, it's really not important WHAT he eats.

I wouldn't do instant oatmeal.
It's loaded with sugar.
Soak some steel cut oatmeal over night and it's easy to cook up in the morning.
Add your own honey or maple syrup or brown sugar, raisins, fruit and you've got a very healthy breakfast.
I've found that it's best for us if I get my son up at least 1 hr before we have to leave.
A mini bagel and cream cheese (or peanut butter) is great in the morning.
In a pinch, left overs from last nights supper are fine for breakfast.
Do not worry about his being low weight.
By the time he hits 1st or 2nd grade, he'll be sitting more in class, reading, doing more on a computer - the weight just seems to add up without trying very hard at all.

My 3yo DD is also very tall and thin. People actually mistake her for 5-6 years old, just because of her height. Lol. I don't worry about her weight, because she is otherwise an active, happy child. Her pediatrician isn't worried about it either.

So long as he is eating healthy, is active, and the doctor isn't concerned about it, don't worry about his weight. He may just be a beanpole.

I do add a handful of frozen berries to my DD's oatmeal in the mornings. It cools it off from cooking, adds a boost of nutrition, gives her something to do (she likes to hunt for them) AND it makes her eat faster because I tell her she can't play with her food... If she is looking for berries, she has to eat the oatmeal to find them. ;)

Also, banana pancakes are quick and easy, and store well. You just mash up one banana, mix it with two eggs, and cook like you would a regular pancake. I like to add a pouch of instant oatmeal to mine, to give it some staying power and a better texture. :)

It's refreshing to hear a child is thin.
Sometimes I see fat 5 year-olds! Keep on with the healthy oatmeal (regular kind with NO added sugar) or an egg. Just avoid sugar and bad fats. He'll be fine.
Fruit, cereal, etc. I like the smoothie idea. Use greek yogurt with no added sugar and a banana and organic strawberrries, with a touch of milk. You can get the berries frozen, too. Just thaw them.

What about a Greek yogurt & fruit smoothie?
Waffle?
Sausage or bacon & toast?
Sounds like he could use more protein.

If the problem is not eating quickly, I'd 1. look at the environment and 2. go for something portable. Dry cereal in a baggie is something you can scoop up if you need to and either let him finish in the car or put in his lunch. My DD is not allowed to watch cartoons if she's not eating. And she may only eat a banana and drink some water or juice. I don't think oatmeal is for losing weight only. My sks ate a lot of oatmeal as little kids and they turned out fine. The other thing I kept in mind was that DD had a snack mid-morning, so if she didn't eat a good breakfast, another food time was not that far away.

You may also need to allot more than 20 minutes for breakfast. What can you do to streamline your mornings so he can eat?

ETA: My DD is either in the 21st or 11th percentile for weight. I forget which is her height and which is her weight. Being "low" on the scale doesn't mean she's unhealthy. It means she's going to be a thin person. If he's otherwise gaining and growing, I wouldn't try to chunk him up. He may just lean toward being naturally thin.

Him being tall and thin, is just the way he is.
It doesn't mean its "bad."
My son is tall and thin. And he is not low weight.
The Pediatrician said he is fine and healthy as he is.

Young kids like this, also have tinier tummies than us. They get fuller, faster and with smaller portions.
They don't eat adult sized portions.

Does your Pediatrician actually say... your son is low weight?
If not then don't worry about his body shape.

Just give your son what he will eat and can eat. As long as it is not junk food.
Most young kids, eat "slow." They are not perfect with their coordination etc.
Even Kindergarten kids, eat slow.
I work at my kids' school.

And why does he only have to eat, cereal?
We eat other things for breakfast.
Its just food.
Even left overs etc.

A kid, no matter what size, should eat until they are full.
NOT according to how much is on their plate.
They need to go according to their body's cues, for hunger and fullness.
Not it being about eating EVERYTHING that is on a plate.

IF the Pediatrician actually SAID, that your son is low weight and that it is a problem... THEN, ask the Pediatrician, for food ideas.

Many people are not hungry as soon as they wake up.
And they do not eat a TON in the morning.
Again, eating and portion sizing... should be according to the child's age. Children this young, do not eat... like an adult nor the same portion sizes.
Him eating "an egg" probably makes him full, already.
If you make him eat more and more.... even if he is full and doesn't want to, then he will learn bad eating habits and he will NOT know... his own body nor his body's cues for when he is full or hungry.

Being tall and thin is not bad.
MANY kids are tall and thin.
A child's physical shape, changes ALL the time, and per age.
Boys do not have to be all bulky and stout and "big" and husky.
I know many kids, my son included, that are tall and thin.
And they are fine.
And healthy.
Don't worry about it unless your Pediatrician, said so.

I am with Laurie A. on this one. Perhaps, his early waking hour does not allow him to work up an appetite yet. My 3.5 year old daughter is like this as well. Just not hungry in the morning.

She does ask for milk, which is at least wholesome and have protein, and she will have mini whole wheat bagels with peanut butter or butter.

Cheerios are always good and portable. I also like the mini organic waffles and making whole grain French toast.

In general, I'm not a big fan of instant anything. (See my posts on food wars with my hubby!).

As for oatmeal and weight loss? Please don't take things at face value. When in doubt call your pediatrician.

My philosophy on food is keep it as real as possible and work with the appetite of your child.

If it means giving him a whole grain bagel, or egg sandwich in the car on the way to school, so be it.

Make sure he gets protein.

Good luck, and again I would call your pediatrician, as you will get lots of conflicting opinions here.

Oatmeal is good to help people get their cholesterol down. My brother got his down 30 points just by adding a couple of oatmeal raising cookies per day to his food intake.

Oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate so if anything it should be making him gain weight instead of losing. Most people have to limit their complex carbohydrates if they want to lose weight. You might want to google the benefits of eating oatmeal. Plus the instant ones have other stuff in them like fruit and sugar so he should not be losing weight at all from eating them.

I'd say give him a cup of Cheerio's and a juice box or glass of milk and let him go. Cheerio's are good sources of vitamins and minerals he needs. I let the kids eat like this. They do fine.

I'm not sure why oatmeal is supposed to be for losing weight. It is considered a heart-healthy food, and I personally like steel-cut oats as a way of stabilizing my blood sugar--it is a 'good' carb... but only the steel cut ones... the processed oats are still low cholesterol, but the energy doesn't stay with you as long because it is metabolized more quickly.

Steel cut oats, by the way, are great. Make up a big batch on Sunday, put into cups, and zap in the microwave in the morning;serve with applesauce and nuts, and if you add a good protein on the side, that's great. Avoiding the muffins and donuts is fine, you really don't want him to put on *that* kind of empty calorie weight.

There are plenty of kids who are naturally tall and thin, and it doesn't sound like you are restricting him to low/no fat food options, so this may be how your kiddo naturally is. Please, do not worry about the oatmeal issue-- it sounds like he's fine. If you are doing a regular well-check once a year and the doctor isn't concerned, I wouldn't worry about it.

ETA: you have a lot of great suggestions below. My son isn't very hungry when he wakes either; and I can have a cup of tea and go for another 2 hours or so before I really get hungry. (I don't usually do that, of course, as I don't want my blood sugar to crash, but you get the idea...)

Oatmeal is a great breakfast! I rec steel cut oats. Stay away from the oatmeals loaded w/ sugar and chemical additives.

Most cold cereals have loads of sugar. So, you have to choose carefully. Personally, I only eat organic cereal because I try to stay away from genetically engineered foods. In CT ---They will be labeled soon.

When my kids were that age, I made oatmeal on the stove-top, served organic yogurts w/ fresh blueberries, an occasional homemade muffin or cold, organic cereal.

Every so often, I would put together a bunch of healthy ingredients and make a breakfast smoothie: Almond milk, a frozen banana and 1/2 cup of frozen bluberries...and a dash of cinnamon!

We love oatmeal in our home, but NOT instant oatmeal. It does not provide a lot of solid nutrition. If I do have instant oatmeal around, I would serve it with a protein.

There are other healthy faster cooking oatmeals, like Sally's, and they have a variety of nice flavors.

Our standard breakfasts, and I have healthy, slim kids:

Scrambled eggs with cheese
Easy over eggs with multi grain toast or muffin
Bacon served along side cereal or toast
Sausage(s) served along side healthy type cereal or toast & butter
Home made buttermilk oatmeal pancakes
Home made waffles
French toast

Sometimes I even make a batch of homemade breakfast sausage, with a little diced onion and apple in a turkey/pork mix.

Bagels and cream cheese and lox
Tortilla with cream cheese
Leftovers

I always cut up fresh fruit every morning. We drink whole milk. We used to drink 2% but my kids are too thin.

HTH!

Oatmeal is fine. It is healthy eating..

We do,
Yogurt with fruit and granola- I make my own granola it is really easy.
Pancakes- you can do them with fruit, put peanutbutter on them ..
Non sugar cereals- My son is Gluten Free, Check is awesome.
waffles
You can do eggs, or anything.

Just because he is skinny does not mean there is anything wrong with that.
Just like you can eat breakfast for dinner, you can eat dinner for breakfast.

English muffin, toast it, a little BBQ sauce few pieces of chicken a little shredded motzerala cheese. or what ever food he likes.. make little pizzas.. Protein & carb.

Any protein and Carb.. is good- :)

Cereal can be eaten dry with a milk box and a banana (or mix raisins or craisins with the dry cereal) for a quick breakfast in the car. My son likes his cereal mixed with yogurt instead of milk occasionally and he also likes yogurt, granola, and berries mixed together. You could also toast a bagel or frozen waffle and spread some peanut butter or Nutella on top. I like to keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge and serve it with buttered toast. Does he like cheese omelets? It would be easy to wrap one in a tortilla if it has to go with him in the car. If he has to eat in the car, I find bananas, raisins, and those applesauce pouches work well. You could also see if he likes any other hot cereals beside oatmeal such as Malt-O-Meal or grits.