Jam sandwiches at wraparound care

Well that's more an issue with the timing of meals. In which case, surely you'd be better off sending a healthy packed lunch type offering in with her, if she's going to be ready for her last meal of the day before you're ready to collect her.

It baffles me that you would consider ham or cheese sandwiches ok but have an issue with jam. The filling is going to be very minimal of any option. The processed bread is probably crap, and full of sugar anyway. Processed ham or cheese aren’t health foods. But I’m vegan so probably biased.

It’s not the end of the world, hopefully you can continue offering healthier choices at home. I find it’s all just trying to get a decent balance with young kids. Some days I feel like mine have a great diet, other days especially if they are under the weather, they only eat beige.

The margins are so tight for food there but if you aren’t allowed jam in packed lunch boxes then shouldn’t be allowed at ASC

cab you tell them to stop giving your child a choice and pick for her

Throwing a hissy fit because you don't like the replies you're getting, frankly speaks volumes. You need to climb down from your ivory tower, take many deep breaths, look in the mirror and get a grip of yourself.

The best way to encourage children to eat healthily is to lead by example. We put lots of healthy food on our plates, our DC then wanted what we had, job done.

All schools are the same. If you can't care for your children after the school day then be grateful wraparound care exists and accept what is on offer - don't be THAT parent. Wraparound care (WAC) provision is outside the school day (policies) so you need to learn to accept that your child will not make the healthy choices you hope for. Pick your battles more carefully - you have no control whatsoever on this - so let it go, it's a tiny part of their weekly diet. On a limited budget, often with genuine food allergies or plain fussy kids, the wraparound care people do not have time to persuade your DC to have carrot sticks instead of the sandwiches everyone else is having. Have you even seen the offending jam sandwiches? They have the bare minimum jam because they need to make it go as far as possible.

WAC was a new thing when mine were at school, mostly they chose healthily because it was what they were used to at home but crucially, I never forced healthy options on them nor gave them a hard time if they had chocolate spread/jam etc.

Jam is not remotely 'filling' and this has nothing to do with having a low bar for nutrition 🙄 it's simply the real world. If you don't like it, make your own snack for DC, take them out of wraparound care or, get a childminder to take them, then you CAN dictate their snacks.

Ham?! But processed meat is a cancer risk! Cheese?! Full of salt and fat!

Posts like this make me laugh. It’s a jam sandwich not a Yorkie. If you want to completely control what your child eats after school, pay for an after school
nanny or look after her yourself.

My 4 year old is always ravenous after school so it may be meant as a snack but if offered a large portion of something like this after school my own child would have so much of it it would definitely spoil my lovely healthy dinner. She’d essentially be eating it as her last meal of the day.

Me too.

After a very stressful morning I’ve just taken my teenager to Greggs for a pizza.

It’s not a meal though, it’s a snack.

we don’t know what time she is having dinner. Maybe she could move dinner a little later if she’s too full for veg.

Or again, send a snack in with her.

ASC used to report that my DS1 would regularly eat 6 slices of toast 🙈(junior school)

I thought it was a snack , I would expect it to be that not a meal 🤔

Yawn

There nothing ‘poor kid’ about ASC.

How about feed your own kid? Breakfast club and ASC four times a week for a 4year old. Poor kid. Not to mention giving her a lifetime of eating problems by discussing this with her at such a young age. Completely unnecessary.

I am thinking of 'Jam Sandwiches' in the context of the Enid Blyton boarding school ones, a sponge cake full of jam and cream.

YANBU there are very few nutrients in a jam sandwich made with white bread, I think of them akin to a pudding — ok as an occasional treat not as a regular meal.

My child is the same and if they had a whole jam sandwich after school they’d be too full up to eat a proper dinner. I definitely wouldn’t be happy for my child to essentially have a jam sandwich for dinner 4 evenings a week.

Hilarious that others are trying to make you out to be unreasonable for requesting this information. Ofc YANBU for wanting to know what your child is having as a meal 4x/week and it’s absurd this information wasn’t more forthcoming.

I agree with you these responses are making me feel the standards in this country for both childcare and child nutrition are dire!!

I highly doubt a small jam sandwich would fill up most 4 year olds. It certainly wouldn’t my 4 year old.
If OP is so bothered she can pack her child a healthy snack.

That should be a snack. You should be cooking her a healthy dinner for when she returns home.

It’s just meant to be a tide you over snack. Either tell her she can only choose jam on Monday, cheese in Tuesday etc or grin and bear it! If she’s happy and care is good and fun, you’re winning.

🙄🙄🙄

OP has already said

she's too full of jam sandwich to eat dinner

You should book her into an after school nursery with the food options you prefer. There is one near here. The ASC is £7 per session, the nursery club £23.50 but they have healthy food and do educational activities.

Feed her yourself if it’s that much of an issue.

Very cheap block cheese will contain, guess what, cheese. That's all. Kraft cheese slices are not cheap so they won't be using those.

What a ridiculous fuss
Why not tell your child she isn't to have jam if you're that bothered
Be grateful you have access to wraparound care

I wish my biggest problem in life was my child having a jam sandwich

I'm not surprised at most of these comments. I got the same reaction from Mumsnet when I posted about my DCs getting jam sandwiches at nursery. The British seem to think jam is healthy just because it's got ruit in it, forgetting that it's usually mostly sugar and that combined with what is probably UPF white sliced bread ( I don't think they'll be using made from scratch sourdough)it's not acceptable in a nursery or school setting imo. No different to a chocolate bar.