Breakfast in a hurry

[momma.bear]

I have a 2.5 year old and 4 year old, who are slow eaters. Breakfast usually takes 45 minutes, unless it's oatmeal because they let me feed it to them! I vary breakfast all the time: one day pancakes and fruit, eggs, toast and fruit, muffins and fruit, and oatmeal. But it takes forever. I'm likely going to have to do drop offs in the morning and will be under a time crunch. They wake up between 6:30-7:00, and eat breakfast at 7. We're usually not done until closer to 8am, but soon we'll be under a time crunch as I'll have to start getting ready to leave the house by 8:15. I want to develop some sort of routine.
What do you do with slow eaters? And are there any other ideas for quick breakfasts? I've tried cheerios and milk, but DD is not a fan.

[*Ali*]

Cereal and a piece of fruit.

Get ready first so that they can just fill the remaining time eating and when time is up, it's up.

Do they get distracted while they eat? Just wondering if there is tv on for example.

[momma.bear]

They definitely get distracted. They'd rather just chat with each other! There's no t.v. on, just them at their table by the window.

[Haribo2012]

Dry Cheerios and raisens then take a piece of toast on the way!? We definitely get up and ready first if we're in a rush then eat until time runs out so we just have enough time for teeth...always reminding 10 mins left, 5 mins etc.

[*Ali*]

We don't do anything more than cereal or fruit and maybe a yogurt in the week.  Only on the weekends do we do cooked breakfasts. Just no time.

[anna*]

Banana or muffin and a cup of milk in the car.

[Domestic Engineer]

If you take away their food after the allotted time, they will learn to eat faster! You could also try enforcing no talking during breakfast; if this seems harsh, you could let them listen to music or an audio book while they eat.

I think that anything you can pick up to eat is faster than fork or spoon food, and easier to bring with you if not finished. So toast (peanut butter makes it more filling), muffins, breads, granola bars, bananas, breakfast sandwiches. You can make scrambled eggs in muffin cups in the oven, then each one is a little hand-held food, or you can sandwich it. The yogurt that comes in a pouch or a tube.

[momma.bear]

Thanks everyone! I tried a yogurt parfait yesterday and they loved it - ate it in 20 mins. I think I could alternate between this and oatmeal. However by 4 year old still eats the baby cereal oatmeal because she can't handle the texture of cooked oatmeal. Any suggestions for alternatives to baby cereal oatmeal??

[*Ali*]

Ready brek?

[Domestic Engineer]

Have you tried both thick and thin oatmeal from old-fashioned oats? I hate, hate instant oatmeal, and I will also only eat old-fashioned oatmeal if it's so thick that I can eat it with a fork. You could also try grits or cream of wheat.

[We Three]

 On days where we are running late I make dd a PB&J for the car ride.  Or a squeezie yogurt and some dry cereal and berries. She thinks it fun to eat in the car.      We often have what we call a "breakfast buffet"....which is a bunch of things, like 2 strawberries, some granola, apple slices with peanut butter, and a piece of cheese.  Another day it will be dry cereal, a few blueberries, and a yogurt.  She loves to eat that way, little bits of many things instead of one big thing. 

[MelindatheWriter]

I like the old-fashioned kind of oats, too.  Here's my oatmeal trick: Put the oats into the milk (I used milk rather than water, but water is fine if that's your preference) in a pot the night before.  That softens the oats and makes it less lumpy.  When you push the button for your coffee, start the oatmeal on low and covered and walk away.  Then, come back and raise the fire to finish the cooking, Especially if spend 2-3 minutes beating them with a hand mixer, you'll have very creamy oatmeal!  Oops, I just added time to your morning!