managing toddler breakfast times with work ?

She is in daycare? Do they offer bf and lunch? If yes, go for that option. If not then try to wake her up so that you can have breakfast together. Fruits, bread, curd/youghurt.

 

I personally wouldn't opt for day care lunch and b'fast for the kid on a daily basis. They could feed better food, and she could love it. But there are chances that the day care food is not in great quality; hence my child could miss important nutrition at the most important growing age. So, I am not ready to take chances.

Even, when I had to leave the kids with a nanny, I always ensured I cooked their lunch, and fed their B'fast. Because nanny would always say they ate. How to validate that.
So, at least I can satisfy myself by giving them full meals at b'fast and dinner. So whatever they eat for lunch is an additional for me. But it is just me.

In your case, wake her up very early. To which you have to put her to sleep very early too. So, she wouldn't be cranky if woken up early.

Don't give her any milk immediately after wake up. Let her play or do anything on her own. So that she would get hungry.
Feed her some good food. Then milk.

If you can, pack her lunch bag too. See whether the day care has heating option. If so, you can pack her lunch in a microwave safe box.
If that is not the case, let her eat the day care food. Since she is full after a good b'fast, anything at lunch wouldn't make her day bad. You can compensate her nutrition with a good dinner anyway.

Train her to play on her own. Watch cartoon or game. So that she won't disturb you in the mornings.

 

Since we all ( me, my DH and DS) starts at the same time, before my DS get ready to eat, i complete both breakfast and lunch. if i feed rice or any heavy food for breakfast, he doesnt finish his lunch fully. So i feed tiffin everyday like dosa, bread, upma and keep rice varieties for lunch.
Dont give milk in the morning. try to feed with breakfast per your style and try to give milk in the evening or night. if kids have milk, then they trouble us for breakfast. according to me milk is not a complete food till noon. try different easy recipes for lunch so that it wont consume most of your time in the morning for preparation.
try your ways and let us know how is it going..Good luck

 

[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]@sanjuruby,[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]I cook breakfast and lunch for my DS in the morning. Generally me, DH and DS start at the same time.

For DS lunch its mostly pasta with veggies & cheese. I prep the veggies night before and in morning I boil pasta and mix the veggies & cheese. If making roti i mix the dough night before and add veggies & cheese make it as quesadilla in the morning (takes around 10-15 min).

Breaks fast is mostly, bread, [/FONT]croissant or mini dosa. which is can eat as finger food.

All this is done in about 1 hr from 6-7. DS wakes up around 7 - 7:30 and has his milk and my DH takes care he milk and bath while i get ready. While DH gets ready, I give my DS his breakfast mostly he eats while roaming around the house or watching TV and i pack our lunches and have my BF.

By 8:30 we are out of house, if my DS refuses his breakfast i don't worry much as he as his morning fruit in daycare at 9:30 and lunch is at 11:00.

 

sanju,

I'm sure, you would be sending to well know daycare.Typically in US, they take care of nutritional value of the food.If the kid chooses not to eat then it's a different story.

Even you send food from home, other kids would be eating a different meal.Typically that age kids shows interest on the food from the daycare and they notice other kids and try to follow it.

TO be honest, I wouldn't worry much on breakfast.Becuase even I went through these stages of my life.Is the daycare provides Breakfast too?


In that case, typically kids enjoy their meal with other kids.So don't stress much on breakfast.As long as they sleep well and eat whatever without junk food(chocolates and all those) and drink water should be fine.


Don't give milk in irregular timing.Maintain the timings for everything including sleep.Then your life will become much better,

 

As other Ils mentioned skip milk in the morning also try to wake her little early. Put her to bed asap. when kids are still sleep they will refuse to eat anything. try giving brkfast of ur choice. if doesnt work then you can give her a health drink. below is the recipe. you can ask your family members to prepare this powder and ship it. my parents ship abt 5 kgs, it lasts for 6 months. i have twins. in your case you might just need half the quanitiy. even elders can have this kanji.

wheat - 1/2 kg
ragi ( soak it overnite and dry it in sun ) - 1/2kg
moong dal- 1cup
channa dal (the one which we use in chutney) - 1cup
badam 1cup
sabudana ( jevarisi) - 1cup
poha - 1cup
jowar - 1cup
bajra - 1cup
oats - 1cup

pista - 1/2 cup
walnut - 1/2 cup
cashew - 1/2 cup
elaichi and kesar according to ur need

separately roast all the above...cool and grind them. you can include few more nuts of your choice excpet peanuts. peanuts will reduce the shelf life.

Prepartion method is similar to making ragi kanji. add jaggery and milk for taste.
also you can check on youtube if you need more instructions.