Hello mamas,
My son just started Kindergarten. He has never been a good breakfast eater, especially right away in the morning. But starting last year in preschool he was able to get down a gogurt in the car on the way to school with little issue. This year, and this week in particular, though, he complains of a tummy ache and pukes if I give him anything to eat for breakfast. This only happens in the morning, the rest of the day he is completely fine and eats well. I can't get him up any earlier, he is already waking at 6 am. So what do I do? Just give up and not try to give him breakfast? They do have choices at school for breakfast, but it's not always something he likes, so that's why I try to make sure he at least has a yogurt. But I can't have him barfing on the way to school every morning. Is there a natural tummy soother out there that can help him with eating breakfast? Thanks.
ETA: He won't touch peanut butter. He's not lactose intolerant, he loves milk. It's just that the timing of breakfast, needing to be so soon after he wakes up, is causing him to get an upset stomach where if he does eat or drink anything, he barfs. He would be fine if we could wait a couple hours after he wakes up to offer breakfast, but he starts school at 7:30 and if I try to wake him any earlier than 6 I'm just asking for a battle. (And he goes to bed by 9, too)
It's so good to know that my son is not alone in this. His school starts at 7:30am and their schedule is to have lunch at 10am. They do have a snack time, but the parents take turns providing it for the whole class, so I can't control what the snack is or how substantial it may be, and anyways the snack time isn't until after lunch, closer to when they go home.
I will try to do a smoothie or Carnation milkshake and see if that works. Something tells me that chocolate milk for breakfast might go over better than yogurt ;) Otherwise, I guess I won't push it. Thanks mamas!
I don't like to eat breakfast right away, and neither to my boys. I started buying Carnation Breakfast Essentials. They are both ok drinking something in the morning. They just don't always want to eat anything. Some mornings they drink it before we leave, but most mornings I put it in a straw cup for them to drink in the car.
My daughter (and I) are not breakfast eaters. I used to send her to school with an extra snack in her lunch box. The teachers would let her have it for early snack (if she didn't like what they offered) or at lunch.
You can try a breakfast drink in the morning, but since they are having lunch at 10am I wouldn't worry too much about it. At some point if he is really hungry he will eat what's offered.
If the issue is he could eat at school but doesn't like the food, I would ask about packing a breakfast for him to eat at that time, due to his system needing more time to gear up for food. If I eat to early, I feel sick, too.
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If the issue is he could eat at school but doesn't like the food, I would ask about packing a breakfast for him to eat at that time, due to his system needing more time to gear up for food. If I eat too early, I feel sick, too.
I think a lot of people can't eat first thing. My kids have that problem as well but they have a breakfast smoothie in the car. They seem to be okay by then. How about packing a granola bar or a banana that he could have in case he doesn't like the school breakfast that day? I'm sure his teacher could help with this. It's not the first time she's had a child like this. Maybe they have snack breaks in the a.m.???
My husband can't eat right when he gets up either.
I would make sure his teacher knows he can't eat first thing in the AM and send a granola bar or something for him to snack on. A Go-gurt in the car on the way to school is good. I wouldn't push it.
my older was never a breakfast kid. he'd eat a little sugary cereal (bad mom, yes, i kept it in the house) if i pushed it, but even up to today (he's almost 30) he's not a breakfast guy.
so i got him carnation instant breakfast. it's not 'healthy', really, but it's better than sugar cereal. today i'd probably make him a smoothie, with milk and yogurt and fruit and peanut butter.
anything is better than nothing. will he do a spoonful of peanut butter? if he'll drink chocolate milk, you can go back to the smoothie plan and whirl some plain yogurt into it.
khairete
S.
My kids and I are the same way. We cannot eat for at least an hour or 2 after getting up or we get an upset stomach, though I don't recall having an issue with vomitting. Sometimes it takes time for our bodies to wake up. Is he allowed to have a snack at school? If so, maybe buying breakfast bars or making some if you can find a favorite for him, even sending him with a frozen yogurt or gogurt stick. This would at least help a bit. My kids like the Quaker and Belvita breakfast bars. I am currently trying to find a recipe for something similar though have not foudn a really good one yet.
I have not found any kind of tummy soother to help eat breakfast earlier. Our bodies just do not want food that soon after rest.
I'm the same way. I need a little time before I eat in the morn. Maybe more sleep might help? Could you try getting him to bed at 8 and up at 6:30? He may wake more refreshed and hungry. My 12 yr old gets 9 to 10 hrs. In kinder it was more like 11 hours sleep.
Also, do they have snack time? You could take advantage of that. Freeze the gogurt or pack a little half sandwich.
I'm the same way, and so are my kids. Please don't force him to eat! I know a good healthy breakfast is optimal for most people but not when it comes at the cost of feeling sick and possibly throwing up on the way to school.
Our school had a "snack recess" which was late morning and twenty minutes long. Many kids ate a good snack then, granola bars, yogurt, bagels, trail mix cheese stick, fruit, etc. I always made sure my kids had something substantial for snack recess because at that point they were hungry and no longer had "morning tummy"as we used to call it. Does your son have a chance for a snack between arrival and lunch? Even if he doesn't just pack him a good lunch and he'll be fine.
My mother would force me to eat breakfast and my stomach would hurt all morning long. I would beg her to not make me eat in the mornings. She was a very determined woman and I remember a lot of long school mornings feeling so sick. Finally we compromised on Carnation Instant Breakfast powder or bar...I could handle a glass of chocolate milk drink or what would be a protein bar today if I nibbled slowly on it all the way to school, but most ended up in the trash at school.
I still don't eat breakfast...I am not ready for food until at least eleven am. I have a couple cups of coffee and am just fine.
Don't force him!! Let him have a happy tummy in the morning and just enjoy lunch as his first meal of the day. My daughter doesn't eat breakfast either and I don't make her.
I've never been able to eat in the morning until I've been up for a couple of hours. My younger son is like that too. I keep a granola bar or similar in his backpack, in case he gets hungry before lunch.
For some people, breakfast is definitely not 'the most important meal of the day' so don't force it.
I'm not a breakfast eater, never have been and I had a mom that would force breakfast. I don't eat eggs, biscuits, toast, pancakes or typical breakfast foods to this day.
My daughter is not a big breakfast eater either.
I like to get something light 3 hours or so after I get up. Many times, I gave 1/2 a sandwich or leftover dinner around 1030 or eat an earlier lunch.
I do like chocolate milk and I've had Ovaltine, Carnation Breakfast in the past. I also like Boost.
You've received some good input. Hopefully you can figure out something that works for him.
He's not lactose intolerant is he? Mine can sometimes eat yogurt but if they had cereal etc. they'd be sick. I switched to lactose free milk. That's the only thing I can think of if he's vomiting. One of mine had acid reflux and sometimes had upset tummy in the morning. We had to put them on medication which helped and they eventually outgrew it.
I used to make healthy muffins, and give them those on our drive in when we used to go to daycare early. Banana, etc.
Hard to know what to suggest because not sure what you've tried other than yogurt. Just make sure his recess/snack is nice big and healthy.
Good luck :)
Maybe something like a protein shake or smoothie that would fill his tummy, but not be heavy to really cause digestion issues?
Get him to bed at 8pm so you can wake him at 5am so he can wake up and feed him at 6am.
I can sympathize. I can't eat first thing either. Unless he's hungry, I'd say don't push it. He'll make up or the calories throughout the day.
If you want to try getting him earlier (doesn't sound like you do) you'll need to get him in bed sooner... Actually, at 5, I'd try to get him to bed before even with a 6am wake up. 9pm is pretty late for such a little guy. Maybe try 8pm for a 6am wake up. that would give him 10 hours which is probably closer to what's recommended.
If he likes milk and it doesn't make him puke, give him milk. Be careful of giving him Carnation milkshake. It's not really all that healthy. The milk itself is probably enough if he can eat healthy food later in the day.
Yogurt, granola bar, smoothie, oatmeal, cereal. Can you send him to school with a snack he can eat if he doesn't like the school breakfast that particular day?
Probably repeating here, but my son was the same way.
We had the most success with a Carnation Instant Breakfast drink or a smoothie.
Maybe try dry cereal in a cup on the way to school to snack on. This has been successful for me.
Can't he just bring his own snack to school in case he doesn't like the snack provided? I can understand not eating first thing in the morning. I get up at 7:00am but I do not eat breakfast until my coffee break at 10:30am. Before that all I want is coffee!
My four year old can't eat ANYTHING in the morning. She goes to a special preschool,so it starts a little later. She wakes up at 6:40 and has to be there at 8:00. The Problem is she won't eat. You are not alone.
He is probably thinking about school and is slightly anxious so he can't think about eating - but I expect that will change as the weeks go by. For breakfast I've always been all about getting protein in the kids' tummies - peanuts, peanut butter, cheese, baloney, ham, grilled cheese, etc. Make breakfast into finger foots - cubes of cheese stuck with fancy toothpicks, rolled up baloney, string cheese, PB&J or grilled cheese sandwich cut into long strips. Any of these things can be put into a sandwich bag and can be eaten while sitting on the couch or taken in the car.
One of my kids is not hungry for breakfast in the mornings. I hate it because I really really want him to eat something before he leaves for school. Yet, I understand how he feels because I am the same way. He really wants nothing and the thought of eating makes him feel yucky. He is in 6th grade now and he has survived just fine. :) For quite a few years he would drink a hot cocoa. Sometimes he will eat warm cinnamon rolls with milk. Sometimes he just drinks orange juice or milk. I put a couple healthy snacks in his backpack each day. His teacher this year lets them eat a snack every morning, so he eats this at school. I guess that counts as his breakfast. In past years he just would have to wait till lunch...I just pack him big lunches!
I'm not a breakfast eater either. Let him go without. If he'll eat something in the car let him, if he refuses don't force it. My granddaughter isn't a breakfast eater either. She's plenty hungry by lunch and ate lunch then came home to a good protein snack then dinner later and another snack before bed. She gets plenty to eat throughout the day.
If he doesn't eat and gets hungry and doesn't like it he'll have learned what happens when he chooses to not eat. He'll also learn to listen to you. He won't suffer and anything bad happen.
There appears to be a breakfast time at school - you say he could get breakfast there but he doesn't always like the choices. So, can you essentially pack a breakfast for him? Then he could go to the cafeteria to eat his packed breakfast at the same time that other kids are buying and eating the school breakfast.
FWIW, I cannot eat first thing in the morning either. It would make me feel ill, so I totally understand where he's coming from.
