Too Much Cereal

If he's at a healthy weight why are you concerned? If it's healthy cereal I would let him eat as much as he wants. And if he makes himself sick, well then he will have learned a valuable lesson,right?
If it's a cost issue then buy him his own box and tell him it needs to last for the week. I do this with my youngest. I buy a fixed number of lunch "treats" and she knows if she decides to eat them after school of in the evening then she won't have any more for her lunch until the following week. It makes her think first and learn how to stretch it out (she is impulsive and ADHD too.)

Nothing wrong with cereal - I grew up eating it before school and so did my daughter.
Pick out which bowls are to be used for cereal, and make it clear that ONLY those bowls are to be used for cereal, and that everyone gets ONE bowl of cereal for breakfast.

Let him portion it out from a real cereal bowl in a Baggie from the new box.
He can take ownership of his cereal. One bag a day.

Your ADHD son got ready for school without you lighting a fire under his butt and got himself a semi healthy(in my book) breakfast..and you are upset about the serving size? He told you he could eat it and had a big day ahead. I personally think this is a great step in the right direction toward independence and thinking ahead.

NO don't punish the poor kid..he is already struggling with so much in his busy brain and body. He was being very self motivated and responsible...let him have some freedom in getting his breakfast. If it makes him sick then he probably won't do it again.

If this has to do with serving size because of finances and a large family and needing to make your food stretch then go with that angle with him. But the kid is hungry and might be going through a growth spurt.

That is just my off the top of my head reaction to your post. I know you are dealing with a lot in your life with a blended family and a kid with ADHD. I am sorry if this appears I am blowing off your struggles...but I just don't see why you need to make this a big deal.

I gues I just feel bad for your kiddo. He already has ADHD and so is different and knows it from his siblings. He has to wait to eat until you get up even though he may be hungry. He gets to watch everyone eat until you get there. And he has to deal with the emotions that he feels when he sees that you trust everyone else get their own breakfast, but he is not allowed to do so. ADHD or not, that is a lot of baggage to deal with.

And I am left feeling bad for him because, with a high metabolism, he may really BE that hungry. I read somewhere that ADHD and autistic kids actually crave higher levels of carbs... Cannot remember why though. So he may even be craving the cereal on top of everything else. I just feel really bad for him.

Nobody gets breakfast until you get there. Or you preportion the breakfast for everyone. Maybe he gets several servings. One serving of Life is about 150 calories. Not much for breakfast. Cuties are a good option and healthy, but still only about 30 more calories. The banana is a good option, but he does not want that. How about some nuts? That is 200 calories in one serving and will stick with him. Just stop singling him out, momma.

Cereal is not unhealthy. I don't think it's a problem anyway. I don't think it's a big deal for a kid to eat however much of it they want. Our kiddo is ADHD too and once he gets his meds he hardly eats anything at all. When he gets up he's starving. He'd do something like this too but he's probably leave some in the bowl.

By taking it away did you create a blow up? A temper tantrum that set his mood for the whole day? Do you commonly allow a 13 year old to be this kiddo's supervision? Does little kiddo accept this or ignore the older sibling?

What annoys me about this whole thing is this.

You thought it was okay for the rest of the kids to be eating cereal but expected him to wait on you. If this is true then you need to get up earlier and supervise breakfast when all 4 kids are allowed to eat together. IF he's allowed to fix his own breakfast but you're expecting him to make good decisions then perhaps you need to rethink that. He's compulsive and his brain is going nuts before his meds. He isn't going to make a good decision about this. He's going to do what ever he wants without an adult supervising him.

So either get up earlier and supervise breakfast then go get ready for work and let the kiddo's watch some TV or something or stop putting temptation in front of him without being there to stop his impulsive behavior.

Could he eat the whole bowl? If yes, then what's the issue? My oldest boy would pour a massive bowl of cereal, eat it all up and still want a snack. He was also blessed with a high metabolism. As long as it didn't go to waste, I didn't care.

If this is just a hill to die on for you, then pre-portion the cereal into acceptable size baggies and let each kid just pull one out in the morning, including the 9 year old. Bam, problem solved and he isn't feeling excluded.

Why will cereal make him sick?

Put the cereal in your room, or put a lock on the cabinet. Ordain certain bowls as The Cereal Bowls; they must be no larger than an average portion. He's showing you that he cannot deal with the level of independence he has right now in this area, so you may just need to make it off limits without your supervision.

Would you consider making a batch of steel-cut oats the night before? I've done this, put the hot oats into bowls with the correct size serving, cover with saran wrap; just uncover and heat in the microwave in the morning. The only reason I suggest this is that this sort of oatmeal 'sticks' with you longer; you can add nuts and milk for a protein, too, which is also really important.

Hi J.,

I don't think the problem here is the cereal, actually. Please take your kid to the doctor and talk about it. He is taking medications for ADHD, medications with side effects; he is having a hard time sleeping, and for some reason he is craving too much cereal, may be there are other things that are happening, please pay attention to them and take him to his pediatrician or find a second opinion.

Pour out his cereal the night before and cover it. Out his name on top.

Well, unless you lock up the cereal or stop buying it, nothing is going to change. These are carbs, and he's craving carbs. ADHD kids on medication need PROTEIN in the morning and you aren't giving him that. You don't want us telling you no cereal. You don't really want the right solution for your son. Instead, you want to pigeon-hole him needs-wise along with the other children. You're just going to have to live with the consequences if you aren't willing to change your way of doing things.

How about putting his serving in a baggie the night before? He gets one baggie and pours it in a bowl. Or have the cereal in a bowl with a lid ? that way he doesn't have to pour it out himself.

Put his morning serving in a ziplock bag with his name on it. Tell him he is to use that and not the box each morning. :)

My sister measures out cereal and puts it into Tupperware for easy access for everyone. She does this on Sunday, pours one bowl of cereal for each family member for the week. They each (3people) like different kinds - this makes it easy for all.

I think you should a provide a measuring cup with HIS name on it. And he must use it and he may not add more than 2 scoops at a time - ever.

I'm not sure why you would throw the cereal away. If my kids poured that much I'd probably see if they really could eat it.

Also, the other breakfast options you mention are just more carbs. I purchase pre-cooked bacon/sausage/veggie patties for rush mornings for the salt and protein content. The sugar aspect of what you describe is NOT helping his ADHD. There are 3 of us with ADD in our household, and the breakfast you describe would send us into a sugar hi and crash.

And scrambling eggs is fast and easy. Turn the pan on high, put in some oil/butter, crack the eggs right into the pan, scramble them up, adding S&P, and you're done in a jiffy.

We eat cereal, too. No biggie. If the other kids get to eat, I would not make him wait. He's obviously really hungry. I guess, I would portion it out for him. Start with one portion and if he is still hungry have another portion. I would try adding some protein, too. Could you give him some walnuts or almonds or teach him how to make peanut butter toast? He or the 13yr old could scramble some eggs in the micro also. Just use a glass container, crack the eggs, add milk and he's done.

I agree with Doris Day. My oldest was diagnosed with ADHD. He sometimes has Cheerios but I insist he has protein with it because without protein a brain can't function. Plus carbs turn to sugar and his blood sugar will be up and down all day.

How about a protein shake? Whey protein shakes are great for kids with ADHD. Make some hard boiled eggs the night before so they are ready to go. If you have to, buy the frozen egg and cheese sandwiches and have him microwave. We eat a lot of turkey bacon and turkey sausage.

You mentioned he has trouble sleeping. Is he getting a snack before bed? Again, something with protein because the blood sugar rising and falling all day can make it impossible to sleep. The body releases stress hormones. Last night, my 6 yrson had some goldfish as a snack. Not great but I was too tired to provide something better. At 9:15 he was still awake not able to sleep. I grabbed some turkey slices. He ate it and within 5 minutes he was out.

I feed my kids cereal too :) I think if in this situation I would make the rule stick for all kids that cereal is not to be poured until you are up. I think it singles him out that you will allow others to get cereal and not him. If this doesnt work and you want them to save time by eating when they are up you can assign the eldest a "job" of being the cereal pourer (is this even a word?) for everyone so that way it controls the amount that everyone gets. (unless he is eldest than this wouldnt work.) I dont know if I would punish him although sit down and instead of telling him its too much and unhealthy what if you tell him that cereal is expensive, there are a lot of other mouths to feed and he cannot have this much. If he does it again make him use his money to pay for a full box of cereal.

He's 9 years old and should be able to pour himself a normal sized bowl of cereal for breakfast. I don't think you should hide the cereal or pour it yourself for him. He's not a baby, nor is he intellectually challenged. He's just impulsive. Both of my boys have ADD and ADHD (one of each). They do it themselves. Your son can too.

I suggest that you show him the serving size on the side of the box. Get out a measuring cup and allow him a generous 1-cup serving (the serving size is 3/4 cup), plus a banana or a cutie. That's all.

Finally, let him know that if he would like another serving, he needs to ask permission from you. If he takes it without asking, there should be a consequence, and that consequence should be bothersome enough to make him curb his impulse the next time around (perhaps he has to wash all the dishes himself all week, or he has to pay for the cereal that he wastes out of his own money).

We don't do breakfast at home before school. Our boys take the bus to school and eat there. It saves quite a lot of a headache in worrying about serving sizes. So that's something to consider also.

I don't think the cereal is the problem.. but not listening and following directions.. tht is a problem..

He is not listening to your rules.. so .. I agree with the ziplock baggie sized portion of cereal for him.. or a normal sized bowl that he is allowed to fill one time only.

Cereal is not a horrible food.. it is fortified .. but I wouldn't feed my kids 10 apples for breakfast just cause they are healthy...

Buy a plastic one cup measuring spoon and label it with his name. Tell him that is how much cereal he is allowed.

Or let him eat however much cereal he wants and see how it goes. If we don't allow our kids to make mistakes, they'll never learn. He might need a stomachache one morning to teach him how much is too much.

What about a specific bowl and/or a measuring cup?

I would be concerned about Life Cereal since it has artificial dye. That's bad, and for ADHD...well, I would not want the child having that.

I get 5 out the door, all under 8. Everyone goes somewhere, school or a nursery. It's CRAZY in the mornings. We TRY to do cereal (must be low sugar like Cheerios of Wheaties; but some days all I can manage is a fruit and nut bar. And here we try for just fruit/nut, no added anything or even sugar. They are expensive little bars!

Can you designate the bowls his is allowed to use for cereal?

If you don't have a problem with seconds then make sure he knows that if he finishes what is in the smaller bowl, he can pour more. If he happens to be really hungry, he may not make that logical connection and thing that he must have a larger bowl.

I think I would either get a special bowl or just use your normal cereal bowls and tell him he is only allowed to use this kind of bowl ( or even that particular bowl, depending on his disability and need for specifics ) . Then tell him "if you are still hungry after having ONE bowl (in this bowl) of cereal, get a banana, orange, etc." He is trying, perhaps closing the window of options just a little further will help him.

M

I'm sure he'd stop eating it before it made him sick. I doubt it's unhealthy to occasionally eat huge bowls of cereal.

That said, let him know which bowls are okay for cereal and which are completely off-limits. If he uses an off-limits bowl, there will be consequences. Then let him fill the cereal bowl to the rim. If he eats it all, he could fill it again and eat more if he really is that hungry.