HELP! My Son Only Eats Cereal!

Stop buying cereal. When he asks for it, tell him sweetly that what he sees is what there is to eat and show him that the cereal shelf has no cereal. He might be hungry for a day or two, but he should learn that a family meal is just that--a meal for everyone in the family to eat. Good luck!

It seems as though the cereal has become a habit. He knows that if he doesn't eat his dinner and asks for cereal, he'll get it. We went through the same thing when my son insisited on "cheerios and milk" for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We just denied him. Like my pediatrician says - they won't starve. If they are hungry, they'll eat. You might have a couple of rough nights, but if you stick to the routine of having him eat what the family is eating, he will get it!!
Good luck!

Have you tried mixing fruit and/or veggies in the cereal?

Ah yes, I've lived thru the insanity that 3 kids can bring. My girls are now 17,15 and 10. I was once in your shoes with the food thing.

As moms, we are hardwired to make sure our kids are fed, BUT, I can promise you that kids are NOT hardwired to starve! If a child goes to bed hungry, he will wake up ready to eat! Check with your pediatrician and I'm sure he/ she will back up these statements.

Even the lowest sugar filled cereals are chock full of refined carbohydrates. Basically your son has got a sugar habit! There are ways to shift this and to help you reclaim a more sane food environment. As a nutritionist/ food educator, I've been working with moms of picky eaters for years and my youngest daughter has taught me loads about picky eaters. I also have written an E-book filled with picky eater strategies called "winning the picky eater war". Find it on my website, www.drsusanrubin.com

Don't give up! There is a way out of this one.

Are you sure your not talking about my son????

Its normal, the way i look at it, you do your best to buy healthy cereals, LOL not the fruit loops

I would try to offer him toast with Nutella chocolate
( some have hazelnuts)

Who cold turn that down

Um boiled eggs, eggs over easy to dunk the toast in.

breakfast sausage Maple flavored

strawberry cream cheeses, yougurt and fruit
dole fruit cups

stewed beef and chicken,

barbeque sauce,and ketchup
( my kids like sweets and they like to dunk stuff)

peas and pasta,

Fish filets,
and veggies with cheese.

Mac N cheese

Rice a roni

( not the healthiest stuff but they seem to like it)

I hide the cereal so he can't see it, and wait to eat as a family, so he sees everyone else eating, helps encourage him)

If you know he likes ketchup, or barbeque sauce let him have it on every thing, even peas.

thats what my kids do, and eventually they forget about the sauce when it runs out,

YOU could always say there is no more cereal?

M

I would agree that you should put a stop to this before he gets any older. He'll eat when he's hungry. That said, my son, 18 mos, is a very good eater and mostly eats whatever we eat. However, my niece who is almost 6 eats almost nothing and every meal that we eat with her she eats something different because she only eats about 5 things and won't try anything new. I would give him cereal for breakfast or maybe snacks if you do snacks but meals are meals. Good luck!!
A.

Hi C.!

I strongly urge you to stick to your guns and only give your son what the rest of the family eats. I made HUGE mistakes by giving in and letting my kids eat what they asked for and not what I was making. I made a HORRIBLE mistake and I'm paying for it. Trying to re-train a kid to eat is difficult...but doable...I'm happy to say things are better but it is very exhausting.

Anyway...just wanted to encourage you. And about being hungry in the night...I will only give my kids what we're having for dinner now and nothing else. If they decide not to eat it they go to bed hungry (but make sure they're hydrated!!!) I usually will give them like a half cup of milk mostly cause I'm a softy. ha. They give in after a while.

Good luck. :)

My daughter is 5 and I just went threw this. She the pickiest eater. All she wants in frosted flakes. She won't eat lunch in school wants until she gets home to eat her Frosted flakes. So I took a day off drop her off in school went back home and hided the frosted flakes. When she got home and ask to have some i told her it finished and I forget to get some. I didn't give in and she didn't want to eat dinner that night it went on for about 4 days. Now she finally over it and is eating dinner with the family and it not Frosted Flakes. So don't give in he'll eat when he's ready.

STOP!!! I have exactly the same problem as you, but I'm almost 2 yrs ahead of you. My son only eats about 5 things. And if you try to get him to try something new the throws up. Don't give in. Meal times may be a battle to get him to eat, but he will eat if he's hungry. Trust me you don't want to be in the same place as me 2 yrs from now. Give him what everyone else is having and don't give in. I've tried it on several occasions, to make my son eat what we're eating, and he didn't eat dinner for a week, Stubborn little...anyway. Stop this now or it will make it hard for you in the long run.

Though my daughter only wants cereal in the AM now she went through two weeks of only wanting cereal.

Now my husband went on like this when he was a kid for like a year! God bless my MIL. She took him to the doctor and he said that if you get the healthy stuff and try to mix in some fruits he should be okay. To this day if that's all he could eat he would be a happy man.

Hang in there!

Well,a couple of things here.First,DON'T PANIC!A child will never let himself starve.You should really keep trying to stress him eating with the family,but it is not a catastrophe if he does'nt.Try to get him healthy cereal so he is not getting too much sugar or preservatives.Give him some fruit and vegetables to try to balance things out in his daily needs as well as a good children's vitamin. The more you make a big deal of it,the longer he will do it,because it is an attention-getter. Speak to your pediatrician about it if you are really worried,but I wouldn't stress it.
I am a mom of 7 and a grandma of 7. One ofmy boys would eat nothing but peanut butter for all meals fora while when he was a toddler.It will pass. Sit him at the table with everyone else.That is the most important thing,,,to eat meals together,no matter what the meal.
God bless and don't fret.

My son also has and still tries to manipulate me at meal time. It's a sign of assertiveness and the ability to follow through on a decision, I think. However, he's also testing the boundaries about what you will and won't let him get away with. If you let him control dinner time now, just think of what else he will try to take control of. As a Mom, you have to think one step ahead and realize that your kids are not always going to like you. You have to be the "mean" Mom sometimes and set rules and stick to them. He will still love you even when he doesn't get his way. Therefore....

Tell him what you are making for dinner before dinner is ready. Let him know that you expect him to eat it, and that if he does eat his dinner, then he can have some cereal as a desert. If he chooses not to eat, then fine. He still has to sit at the table while everyone else is eating. Completely ignor his fussing. Each time that he takes a bite, engage him in conversation about anything BUT the food. Don't acknowlge that he has eaten, because it will cause him to remember that he wanted to choose NOT to eat. This has worked for my son when he was your son's age. My son is now 4 years old, and he rarely gives us trouble at dinner. I hold firm to my consequence. If he is hungry enough for desert (or cereal) then he is hungry enough for dinner. No dinner, then no desert. As another Mom said, he won't starve and you will both survive. :-)

well if he knows you're going to give it to him, he's less likely to try anything else. Give it to him at breakfast and tell him that's it for the day...he may not eat a lot for the next few days because you have to break the habit but he will learn and it won't hurt him to go without eating for a few days...my peditrican says if you get one good meal in a day you're ahead of the game(at that age)...I know it's hard(I have 5 boys, the first 4 in 4 years and the last not soon after) but you can do it, now is the time to correct it before the bad habits are truly formed.Goodluck!

C., don't worry. If your son is healthy and growing, he is fine. All my kids went through stages similar to this one. It was hotdogs for so long, then cereal, etc. He will eventually get sick of cereal and want a change. Cereal actually has a lot of nutrients and vitamins as does the milk. Just wait it out.

My youngest loves cereal too. He would rather eat cereal than whatever I cook for dinner sometimes. He is only 2 and it is perfectly fine with me since we only have cereals that are relatively healthy. I don't worry that he is going to learn improper behaviors. I know that he is just learning to control his environment and this stage will not last forever. Continue to offer him your meals and relax when he asks for the cereal. I promise it won't go on forever.

A.

Dear C.,
Some kids pull this stunt of refusing to eat anyting except what they want. This is very unhealthy as they do not get enough variety of nutrients in their diet, and supplements are no substitute. The problem is that he has already found a way to get around you to get what he wants. Now is food, what comes next? It is up to you to quit giving in, your responsibity is to take charge NOW! You can tell him that he can have a bowl of cereal only when he finishes what is given to him on his plate. Then the cereal becomes a reward. If he still refuses to eat, do not give in. Tell him he will go without, and follow through. Let him go without. He'll get the idea very quickly. And he will not starve. He simply needs to learn that you are serious.
Back in the day, we were sent away without dinner for any infraction, and we are still alive.
Each of my 2 kids attempted one night to refuse to eat dinner. I simply said, "Okay, you sit at the table until you eat most of it." We did the dishes, watched TV, and went about our evening, while one of them sat at the table. On her occasion it took my daughter until 11pm, my son gave in by 10pm. They were then sent straight to bed without bath, book, or playtime. It took one tough night each, but never again did they refuse to eat. That night was tougher on them than me, but it made a point. They missed their evening.
Good Luck, W.

Don't worry C., I went through this some 23 years ago when I was a new mother. 1st he won't be hungry, cereal is filling and 2nd just try not to give him cereals that have a lot of added sugar and don't add that extra teaspoon of sugar. Cereal is full of vitamins. Do continue to encourage him to eat other foods with the rest of the family. Eventually he will want to eat other foods. Good Luck

You have to train picky eaters to eat what you put in front of them. It's hard, but know, they will not starve to death, when they get hungry enough, they will eat what you put out. You need to be strong and stick to whatever is put out in front of them. Kids are usually more apt to try things at lunch, if you are home with him to try new things at this hour. When my daughter's diet only consisted of a few things I would make something for lunch, if she refused it I would wrap it up and put it in the refridgerator and pull it out again when she asked for her afternoon snack. Normally she would not eat it then but when it was put in front of her again at dinner she would break down and try it, realsing she liked it and she was hungry so she would finish it all. Yelling, fighting, getting frustrated does not work, just be strong and keep offering teh same food until he accepts that cereal is not a food he can live on. Good Luck!

Don't buy cereal!!! It will take a few days of fits and temper tantrums, but he'll eventually be hungry enough to eat what others are eating. Cruel and unusual punishment?? It may seem that way, but parents these days cater WAY TOO much to the WANTS of their kids and not their NEEDS!! He's not even 2yrs. old!!!...YOU know that just eating cereal is not good for him, but he doesn't know that! Be in charge, take control, even if it means suffering for a day, a week...you'll be saving yourself years of heart ache in the end. Good luck!

Hi
My boys both went through phases like this...the worst was when Jeff would only eat spaghetti. He is now a paramedic and no worse for ware. I think if the needed food is simple..go for it. Cereal has lots of good things and milk too. If you do not make a big deal, this phase will disappear. One thing I always insisted on though was that they eat with wthe family at the table and stay until they are excused. Meal time is important...many of my boys friends never ate as a family with the tv off and it shows!
You have your hands full so only sweat the big stuff!
K.