Cereal and milk runs out by ten in the morning.
Ten breakfasts that each hit a real protein target, with the amounts written out. Plus small starters for the child who is not hungry when they wake up.
Where should we send it?
Two pages, free.
- Protein grams listed for every breakfast
- Dairy free, egg free and nut free swaps
- Ordinary food, nothing to order in
What is in the guide
Two pages. Ten breakfasts on the first, and the hard mornings on the second.
The ten breakfasts
- Targets by age: around 10 g under five, around 15 g at primary school, 20 g or more for teens
- Ten breakfasts with the exact contents and the protein in each, from eggs on toast at 16 g to the smoothie you hand over in the car at 20 g
- Make ahead options for the nights you have ten minutes, including egg muffins and overnight oats
- The palm rule, so the serve grows with the child rather than needing a new number every birthday
The mornings that are hard
- Five small starters for a child who is not hungry on waking, from a boiled egg at 6 g up to half a smoothie at 10 g
- The two week build: one small protein food within thirty minutes of waking, same time every school day, then add to it
- What to do when your child takes ADHD medication and appetite drops once it kicks in
- Dairy free, egg free and nut free swaps, with the breakfast numbers that already work for each
He is fine at breakfast and falling apart by morning tea.
The brain chemicals that help a child stay calm and focused are built from protein. A bowl of cereal and milk is mostly fast carbohydrate with very little of it, so the tank is empty by mid-morning and nobody connects the two.
Protein at breakfast does two things at once. It keeps them fuller for longer, and it hands the brain its building blocks at the start of the day rather than at lunchtime.
Morning appetite also follows routine more than most parents expect. A child who says they are never hungry at seven is often a child whose body has stopped expecting food then, and that shifts over a couple of weeks of offering something small at the same time.
Why we made it
Most breakfast advice stops at "make sure they have protein", which is useless at ten past seven on a Tuesday. So every breakfast here has the contents written out and the grams beside it, and the whole list is food you can buy at any supermarket.
The ADHD medication page is there because it comes up constantly. Appetite drops once the medication is working, which makes breakfast the meal doing the heavy lifting for the day. Get the protein in before it kicks in, and if lunchboxes are still coming home full, that is a conversation with the prescriber about timing rather than something to change yourself.
Give it two weeks and watch what happens at ten in the morning. If mornings are still hard after that, there is usually something else going on, and iron and sleep are the first two places we look.
Send me the breakfasts
Free, two pages.
General information only. Talk to your practitioner about your child's individual needs, allergies and intolerances. Protein amounts are approximate and vary by brand. © The Family Naturopath, The KAN Clinic.