A breakfast that lasts until lunch contains wholegrain, something with protein and ideally fruit or vegetables: porridge with milk and banana, egg and a sandwich, plain yoghurt with muesli. It takes under ten minutes if it was prepared the night before. Sugary cereal and juice give an hour of energy and then a hungry child at nine o'clock.
Ten past seven on a Monday in Sundbyberg. A three-year-old does not want to get dressed, a six-year-old wants pancakes, and you have to be at work by eight. Breakfast is the meal that most often ends up as a compromise in the hallway. Here is what our nannies do on the mornings they are with the families, and it is not complicated.
What a breakfast should contain
Three things. Something wholegrain for slow energy: oats, dark bread, rye flakes. Something with protein or fat that fills them up: milk, yoghurt, egg, cheese, nut butter. And ideally something from fruit or vegetables. Sugar is not one of the three. A bowl of chocolate cereal with milk contains the milk, and that is all. The child is hungry again by the time they hang up their jacket at förskola (municipal preschool, from age one).
Ten quick breakfasts
- Porridge in the microwave. One decilitre of oats, two decilitres of milk or water, three minutes. Banana or unsweetened apple purée on top. The one-year-old eats the same.
- Overnight oats. Oats, milk and grated apple in a jar in the fridge the night before. Served cold, with nothing to do in the morning.
- Egg and a sandwich. A boiled egg (boil six on Sunday) or scrambled eggs in two minutes, dark bread with butter.
- Plain yoghurt with muesli and berries. Frozen blueberries thaw in the yoghurt in five minutes.
- A cheese and cucumber sandwich, a glass of milk, a piece of fruit. Boring, quick, works.
- Yesterday's rice pudding. Cook a double batch for dinner one evening, serve cold with cinnamon and milk the next morning.
- Toasted wholegrain bread with peanut butter and banana. For children over one, if you have checked with BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in) that nuts have been introduced.
- Pancakes from the freezer. Make them at the weekend, freeze with baking paper between them, warm in the toaster. Cottage cheese or yoghurt on top instead of jam.
- Fil (Swedish soured milk) with rye flakes and apple. Five minutes, and fil is often more popular than yoghurt with children who find yoghurt too thick.
- Sandwiches made the night before, in the fridge. Butter, cheese, ham, in a box. Take out, eat. For the morning when nothing else works.
What suits which age
| Age | Works well | Skip |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 12 months | Porridge, välling (the Swedish milky cereal drink), soft banana, finger-sized pieces of bread | Honey, whole nuts, salty toppings |
| 1 to 3 years | Porridge, yoghurt, egg, soft sandwiches, soft fruit | Sugary cereal, juice, hard pieces |
| 3 to 6 years | All of the above, the child spreads their own, muesli, crispbread | Breakfast in front of a screen, it takes twice as long |
| 6 to 10 years | More substantial: two sandwiches, egg, porridge with fruit | Skipping breakfast, it shows at school by ten |
What to drink with breakfast
Milk or water. A glass of milk with breakfast is good, and children who do not drink milk get calcium from yoghurt, fil and cheese. Juice gives sugar and no fullness: a glass of orange juice contains the sugar of several oranges without the fibre, and it is often the one source of sugar parents do not see. If the child wants something sweet in the morning, a fruit to eat is better than a fruit to drink. Välling works for the littlest ones but should not be the whole breakfast for a child over one who can eat porridge.
How to make the morning work
- Lay the table the night before. Bowls, spoons, glasses on the table. It sounds silly until you have tried it.
- Breakfast ready before the child gets up. A child waiting for porridge finds something else to do.
- The same breakfast every day is fine. Children like knowing what is coming. Vary it at the weekend.
- Ten minutes earlier. The single best breakfast move is to wake the child ten minutes earlier, not to find a new dish.
- The child sits, you sit. A parent standing up packing a bag while the child eats gets a child who also gets up.
- No screens at the table. A breakfast in front of a tablet takes twenty minutes instead of ten, and the child does not remember having eaten.
Breakfast at preschool
Most preschools in Stockholm serve breakfast to children who are dropped off early, often until some time around eight. It is a resource many families miss. A child who does not want to eat at home at seven can eat porridge with their friends twenty minutes later, and preschool breakfast is usually simple and good: porridge, fil, crispbread, fruit. Ask about the times and whether you need to let them know. If you drop off after breakfast is over, the child should have eaten at home, because the next meal is lunch.
Weekend breakfast
Weekday breakfast should be quick. The weekend is something else, and it is where children learn that breakfast can be enjoyable. Pancakes the children make themselves, eggs they crack, a fruit they cut with a child's knife. Let it take an hour. It is also a good time to try something new: a child who has seen eggs three Saturdays in a row often eats them on the fourth. And what you do on Saturday morning, calmly and together at the table, makes weekday breakfast easier on Monday, because the child knows the table is a good place to be.
The child who is not hungry in the morning
Many small children wake up without an appetite, especially if they ate late the evening before. Do not force it. Give something small, a banana or a glass of milk, and let preschool take care of breakfast if they serve it. Ask what time breakfast finishes, so the child does not arrive after it. Children who eat little in the morning and then a lot at lunch are not a problem. Children who do not eat in the morning and are whiny at nine have often just woken up too late to get hungry in time.
How we do it with our families
Esther is with a family in Nacka two mornings a week when the parents start early. She arrives at a quarter to seven, and the porridge is in the microwave when the children, four and six, come out. The six-year-old wants pancakes every time, so Esther and the children made a big batch one Sunday that is now in the freezer. Tuesday is pancake day, Thursday is porridge. The argument disappeared once the day was fixed. The note says what was eaten, so the parents know the four-year-old only drank milk that morning and needs a proper snack at pick-up.
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Read more: Morning routine with children · Snacks for children · Sugar and children · Prices
Frequently asked questions
Does my child have to eat breakfast?
The child should have had something before preschool, but it does not have to be at seven o'clock. A child who is not hungry on waking can have a banana at home and breakfast at preschool, where most serve breakfast to those who arrive early. Ask at your preschool.
What is a good breakfast for a one-year-old?
Oat porridge with milk, välling or a sandwich with butter and cheese, plus soft fruit. All without added sugar. One-year-olds can eat the same breakfast as you, just without honey, whole nuts and salty toppings. Put soft pieces on the tray so the child can eat with their hands while you spoon in the porridge.
Is cereal with milk okay?
It depends on the cereal. Oats, unsweetened muesli and porridge flakes are good. Chocolate and honey cereals often contain more sugar than biscuits and do not fill the child up. Mix: a tablespoon of the child's cereal over a bowl of unsweetened. The child gets the taste, you get the wholegrain. After a few weeks you can reduce the sweet spoonful without anyone noticing.
How do we get our child to eat breakfast when mornings are stressful?
Lay the table the night before, have breakfast ready before the child gets up, and set the alarm ten minutes earlier. Those ten minutes give more than any new dish. Children who get to sit in peace eat; children handed a sandwich in the hallway do not.