packed lunch

[noko]

ds will start reception in sept and is a really fussy eater. looking for ideas for his packed lunch?

[Goblinchild]

What does he eat for lunch at home?

[noko]

he will eat half of his sandwich, half banana. often he will ask u for pasta as the nursery said that he prefer pasta. he doen't like mash or peas

[Goblinchild]

I'd give him what he's used to, so he could have a little sandwich and a few spoonfuls of pasta and a small banana.
It's more important that he eats something than that he has an exciting lunchbox full of new ideas.
Get the new ideas and try them out over the holidays, then if you are lucky, you will have a bank of foodstuffs he will eat.

[Pancakeflipper]

Will he have pitta bread? Little wraps? Chunks of cucumber/pepper/carrot?
Pasta salads will be nice. Try things like those little savoury eggs and little sausage rolls for variety. Make flapjack with lots of dried fruit in and to make it appear tempting drizzle chocolate on the top.

[noko]

pancakeflipper, he likes pitta bread. i think he will struggle with the vegetables as he tends to take out every piece of vegetable that you put on his plate. will try the egg and sausage rolls this weeks and see how it goes. thanks a lot.

[wheresthepimms]

Watch out for nuts, my DS had his chewy bar sent home with a note saying nuts are not allowed in school due to children with allergies.

[noko]

yes i know most bars contain nuts, if it was up to him he will have weetabix for breakfast, lunch and dinner. this summer i will try everything in order to make him eat.

[littleducks]

Send hot pasta in a thermos (there is a kids one with wide neck) in the winter and cold pasta on warmer weather.

[mungogerry]

My dc's school are ok with you sending nuts, so check with the school reception for your specific school.

The children will also eat double the number of sarnies if I cut them with shape cutters, so I tend to do this for school so I know they are not hungry.

Yoghurt, and cheese cubes/sticks (that you cut off a block) are ok if you include a frozen ice pack to keep the lunch box cool.

[sunnyday123]

alternate different sandwiches, and remove crust if necessary. My DD wont eat if they have crust on! - at home she will but can't be bothered chewing so much in school! Loves sausages, breadsticks, cheeses, mixed fruit, rice crispie cakes (as a treat) and i also used to make cheese and ham squares on a straw (like a kebab) which she loved! She also liked pasta but tended to eat less on those days compared to sandwiches.

[bubblecoral]

Lots of good ideas of what to include above, but you might also like to do a few picnics before he starts to make sure that he is confident when opening tubs, getting straws in cartons, knows to eat his sandwich first and all that sort of thing.

[suebfg]

Glad you started this thread as I was beginning to think about the same ... keep the ideas coming Mnetters

[galois]

You don't have to do something different every day :)

At DS1's school, if they haven't finished the savoury stuff, they're not allowed to move onto the fruit/sweet stuff (I know, I know).

So when I sent him in with carrot sticks one day (more out of hope than experience) I found he had eaten just his sandwich and hadn't been allowed his banana and yoghurt because he'd been staring at his carrot sticks all the time :)

DS1 tends to have sandwich, drink, fruit and either yoghurt, cake or chewy bar. Only rules are no fizzy drinks and no nuts. He sometimes has a thermos of pasta. No exotic sandwich fillings here, just cheese, hummus, tuna or marmite.

[noko]

i think he is not going to have a problem with sweet stuff as he doesn't like sweet things and the only fruit that goes into his mouth is banana, tried everything but get him to eat more fruits.
sunnyday, i will definitely go for different sandwiches.