Jo Frost, better known as Supernanny, recently stopped by on the iVillage Kids & Food message board, to promote Kellogg's National Breakfast Week and to help our members with their breakfast issues

Question: I don't feel comfortable giving my children sugary breakfast cereal as even the ones that claim to be healthy seem to have lots of sugar in them. I try and make them eggs on toast or other healthy meals, but they do seem to enjoy the sugary cereals.

Jo Frost: It's very positive that you ensure your kids are getting a consistent breakfast routine. After all, it is the most important meal of the day. If your children do enjoy eating cereals it is better that they eat them in moderation and allow them some choice.

This way you will remain in control of the percentage of sugar that they have each morning. Also, bear in mind that most cereals are fortified with minerals and vitamins and are eaten with milk so they're also getting calcium. Continue to give them a varied diet.

Fruit and wholewheat toast are a good staple, both rich in vitamins and fibre, and porridge in winter is good for releasing energy slowly.

The key is to sustain good routine, with variety, healthy options and a positive attitude towards educating your children. It will do no harm for them to have chocolate cereal every now and then.

Why not try my cocktail morning idea? Have one cereal as a staple and the other cereal that is preferred by your child as a handful on top - that way there's a compromise.

My seven-month-old has three meals a day, but for the last couple of weeks she has been screaming through the meals. She eats the food but between mouthfuls screams the house down and it's very stressful.

Jo Frost: Firstly, look at what's changed over the last couple of weeks. Instinctively, it sounds to me like she's not getting enough sleep and so is very irritable (as well as hungry) and that will be causing the meltdown.

As a pointer, your child should be sleeping at least three hours a day in two separate intervals.

It's still important at this stage to make sure that your daughter is having the correct intake of milk and that her nap times are a regular event in her day. Include play and stimulation, an essential part of a baby's routine.

I would suggest keeping a log of her sleeping times and activity over the next week so that you can look back at her history. It may be that you need to change your times, which ultimately would mean tweaking your routine.

Have you checked that your food is not too hot for her? Microwaved food can seem warmer around the edges but creates heat in patches throughout the bowl, so always stir it and leave on the side to cool a little before giving to her.

My toddler loves fruit and veg but she isn't keen on breakfast options like cereal, crumpets or toast. She will eat strawberries, blueberries and grapes. She also snacks on fruit throughout the day. I'd like to know if a child can eat too much fruit?

Jo Frost: It's a good 'opposite' situation to have. It's much easier to cut down the intake of one's food than to try to build it. You obviously introduced your child to fruit and veg at a young age and it's paid off, so well done. The sugar content in fruit is natural sugar and, when released, creates energy and she's getting sufficient vitamins and minerals.

It is also important for your daughter to also receive protein and carbohydrate for a well-balanced diet.

I would suggest you add the fruits that she eats to a cereal of her choice. Choose a maximum of two for this age group and complement that with plain yoghurt over her blueberries.

If you present a child with one breakfast meal, they refuse it and you give them something else; not only do you teach the child to believe they can order what they want anytime anywhere; it doesn't teach the child to make a decision and stick to it. You want her to make decisions and choices. This is plainly playing up!

Don't forget positive praise for her behaviour at the table as it seems to me that she has a good attention span when sitting down at this time of the morning and it would be wonderful if you could encourage that by doing the same with her.

My three-and-a-half year old twins will not sit down and eat breakfast and it's turning into pandemonium. They have their own bowls and choice of cereal and one of my boys will eat a little, the other won't eat any, but generally they just chase each other around. They have a drink before breakfast (part of our routine is spending a few minutes in our bed, watching CBeebies, while they have their drink and we have our tea). We don't have this problem with other meal times.

Jo Frost: I'm glad to see that you've changed your own eating habits and are now sitting at the table for breakfast with your boys. It's all part of setting a good example and it's great to hear dad is doing the same. However, what I do want to do is to change your morning ritual.

Instead of Cbeebies in the morning, and fighting with them to stay at the table (they probably want to continue watching it), do it in reverse. Set the table with a few selections of cereals and yoghurts, place their decorative bowls at the table and invite them to come and sit for breakfast. Make it very clear that once they've done this they can watch ten minutes of TV before nursery.

Turn around your morning routine, enabling your kids to get the most important meal of the day and setting them off on the right foot for the rest of the day.

My baby is five months old and I have another on the way, but I'm keen to get into good habits and eat as a family, even if it just means Molly sits in her high chair with us. Ideally, this would be done around a dining table, but we have a small living room and no dining room space to have a permanent table.

Can you suggest any other way we could eat in a civilised way as a family or am I just going to have to grin and bear it and maybe put my sofas on castors?

Jo Frost: I love your enthusiasm to do this correctly from the beginning. I would suggest putting Molly in a high chair and sit at the little fold-away table so that when you are feeding Molly, you can also sit at your table and eat your meal as well. It's important to be sitting down as you're feeding her and not standing up like you're on the go. When she becomes older, look into how you can shift the furniture in your room to make space for a small table.

And if that really is impossible because your space is confined, start off with little plastic tables that she can sit at when she's a toddler so you can still implement good table manners. As she becomes older, you can all sit at folding tables in the same space with no television on.

The only difference is that you all have different tables but it won't affect the message. But don't worry yourself with this for now; you have a young baby and another on the way. Your priority is to remain healthy, and consistent.

My little boy is two and is an excellent eater. He gets very excited about food and insists on trying everything.

Until recently, he went to the child minder, where he was given breakfast. This meant we got up, gave him some milk and knew he would eat a huge bowl of porridge there. We have been on a kind of holiday since June and have got into the habit of playing a little bit before having breakfast. When we give him breakfast first thing, he eats very little, but is then hungry an hour later.

He will soon be back with a new child minder and will not get breakfast there; only a snack of biscuits, crackers, or fruit at 10am. Then he starts at a new nursery in January, which does not provide breakfast.

Can you advise me on how to change the routine to encourage him to eat earlier in the morning?

Jo Frost: The inconsistency of your son's routine right now is creating the instability at breakfast. You've been flexible with your routine because of your holiday and that is why he doesn't want an early breakfast.

So I'd suggest giving it to him about half an hour later. Then, when he starts back at his child minder, give him fruit and a few rice crackers to take.

He's so young he will adapt rather quickly. This situation has only arisen because of your long holiday.

At lunch and dinner he has a well-balanced food plan, which is consistent and means he is eating a healthy, balanced diet every day. Porridge, muesli and yoghurt are all good, so it's fantastic that he likes these too. You could also give him some toast, or a small handful of cereal that he might want to sprinkle into yoghurt.

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