To ask you all for help in putting together a healthy lunchbox for my dd age 5?

[Florenceandgrace]

Dd1 has decided she does not want to eat the free school meals for reception children as she doesn't like them. I am having real trouble putting together a healthy packed lunch for her. At the moment she is having a ham sandwich, cucumber or red or yellow pepper slices, a pack of skips and a penguin, and a carton of apple juice. I am not happy with this in the context of the rest of her diet, I feel it is too much junk for a 5 year old? Her breakfast is Nutella on toast, morning milk at school, her packed lunch, after school is a fig roll or cookie (or several), dinner is a healthy home cooked meal and desert is ice cream or jelly. She hates all fruit even dried fruit, will not eat yogurt or malt loaf and she hates cheese. I am at a loss what to put in her packed lunch. I am happy with the ham sandwich and cucumber and pepper strips but what can I put in for desert?? Also looking at her daily intake it doesn't look great does it? She is so fussy though :(

In my experience of state primaries (v large!) a child with no "treat" in their lunch would feel v deprived when compared to their table mates. Most pack lunches are the 2 bits white bread with ham or cheese, crisps and a kitkat type, sometimes with added Dunkers/ pepperami / pancake thing.

I think the food she eats at home sound great, all good healthy basics. The catering at my DD's school is by Chartwell and seems OK to me. My feeling about school dinners is that they are a great leveller, are social times and are also a good way for kids to know that they are all in it together. My dd ate teryaki salmon and miso soup at a play date yesterday, would never eat it at home. Eating with their peers makes them more adventurous IMO

Not afraid of her, just afraid of her going hungry at school!

She won't go hungry at school though, even if she just ate her sandwich.

And actually if kids were allowed to feel hunger a bit more often, I'm sure there wouldn't be as many fussy eaters as there seems to be nowadays.

I feel your pain. I have a picky 5 year old who does not like fruit or school dinners. However he has an apple for his snack break and a school dinner. If he does not eat then he gets hungry but I think the best way to improve the range of things he eats is to limit his options. If that makes sense!

Baby eels! You've opened up a can of worms here.

that healthy nutella looks delish tiedupwithstring

"just afraid of her going hungry at school!"

She's got you wrapped round her little finger, I'm afraid. If it was me, I'd start with a chicken sandwich, since you already know she likes chicken.

If she then spends the afternoon hungry because it wasn't a ham sandwich, tough.

I do think there's a lot of treating "not their absolute favourite right now" as "can't possibly be expected to eat it."

Are cut up hot dogs really being suggested as a way of making a packed lunch healthier??!

Artesia it's better than a penguin and a bag of skips? I don't think this dc's range of foods is going to magically expand overnight so gradually introducing some "dinner" foods to "lunchtime" would at least provide a bit more variety. Longer-term, things like hot dogs could be cut down completely if a wide range of foods becomes acceptable.

My ds was quite fussy but universal free school dinners has really helped with that.

I would do it gradually, just introduce one achool dinner a week, perhaps when a little mate is having one and on a day where shell eat something.

I am amazed by the stringent non-dessert eating. Once a week? If you like, then good for you, it probably is healthier. I do have trouble pairing that with the 'most relaxed family in the world' WorraLiberty - so if one of the family asked for dessert more often, would you provide it or refuse?

We have never really had dessert . My kids have always preferred a sweet or chocolate bar to a dessert and apart from ice cream or lollies in the summer I can't think of any desserts we have had in the last year or so.

It probably adds up the same calorie/fat/sugar wise but it allowed the kids the fun of choosing their own treat and eating it when they wanted.

no penguin, no skips.

fruit and veggies for lunch along with a sandwich.

toast for snack after school. (ds has homemade hummous, or chopped tomatoes or melted cheese) you could do egg or beans.

mine sometimes have a pot of sweetcorn to eat in school.

home popped pop-corn. (dirt cheap)

I suppose you look at what she eats now and make gradual changes over time. Start with either, the pengiuin or the skips.. or ask at school and find out their policy on foods in lunch boxes and use that to back up changes you want to make. (shamelessly use any of the heads passing comments to get the children to do things I want, witha lot less fuss)

how about a tea cake (the bready sort) /hotcross bun?

bread rolls?

mine used to take pasta and veggies. I would do couscous but they hate it. they had wraps, and pitta at one stage. it is very annoying when they will not eat stuff.

The desert thing is a funny one, though, it depends what you class as a desert really. My DC can have fruit after dinner/lunch and sometimes have it with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. That's desert in my eyes. However, my friend maintains it's not, a desert would be something like a sponge pudding/cake/crumble/ice cream We'd only have that at the weekend/birthday type thing.
Anyhow... OP, the fact of the matter is that your DD won't actually starve. She may not like the change/variation to her diet, but odds on she won't let herself starve.

Maybe a bit weird but had you tried a different lunch box?

We bought a PlanetBox for my son and he eats much better. I guess it's the little amounts and choice he gets.

Main compartment

Sandwiches/wraps/pitta with Ham/cheese/tuna or leftover meat and a dip or a chicken drumstick with avocado, cold pasta with veggies & sauce, ham and cheese roll ups, chicken and apples, crackers, cheese, ham, salami, eggs, just tuna mayo sweetcorn and a folk.

Fruit compartment: whatever is in season, mandarin, grapes, berries, sometimes I'll just put strawberries and a pot of cream in (he loves this)

Veggie compartment: cucumber, capsicum, carrots, sugar snap peas

Snack compartment: banana, homemade veggie muffin, ham/eggs (depending on what's in main part) home-popped popcorn.

And a small treat compartment which only holds one square of dark Chocolate or a small piece of flapjack.

My son is a fussy eater (getting better) but there's something about seeing his lunchbox open with lots of choice and nicely presented which means he eats more and is willing to at least try any new things I sneak in there.

I agree that pudding isn't needed every night. Fruit fine, jelly and ice cream on Sundays. Even yogurt can be full of sugar if you buy the wrong ones.

Ours aren't allowed nuts, or yoghurt in kindy so will have those at breakfast or afternoon snack. Natural yoghurt with a drizzle of honey, sliced almonds and a banana or berries and breakfast is sorted.

We've also started making smoothies to get more fruit and veg in. You could get a special flask for your dd to take one to school. My dc's favourites are Spinach, Mango and Pineapple or Carrots, apple, peach & Mango as well as the easy spinach and mixed berries.

I wouldn't put crisps AND a Penguin in. One or the other, surely?! Both is excessive.

we put frubes or similar in the freezer and the kids eat them like asn ice cream

I've just made DS(5)'s lunch - he is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts. Marmite sandwich on brown bread, cold roast chicken, garlic stuffed olives, cherry toms, chopped melon, fruit flavoured soya yogurt, chocolate soya milk (the only way he will drink milk - have decided that the dietician trumps the dentist for now!). He has a bento lunchbox and will normally eaT 80-90% of it.

Honestly if she is eating that kind of variety for dinner she does not sounds like a very fussy eater - I think she has learned that if she says she doesn't like something she gets a treat instead.

My 6 yo is a total chocoholic, but we only allow nutella on toast at the weekends, it is a treat and not for everyday - if she is that hungry she can have toast with honey or jam - yes they are quite sugary too but we want her to have variety and not always get her way.

My DD1 is fussy about meals/sauces/trying new things, but does love fruit and veg, her lunchbox is the same most days: bun with ham or turkey, baby bel, cut up veggies, yogurt, few crackers and a piece of fruit, she drinks water not juice - that is a treat when we go out to dinner (it is just empty calories and sugar). She does get plenty of treats (something more filling than a biscuit such as homemade banana/choc chip muffin, popcorn, smoothie) but I would rather save them for after school, I don't want her nagging for junk in her lunchbox everyday.

Dessert in our house is mostly fruit and yogurt (nice fruit from the fridge such as strawberries/blueberries/grapes vs regular fruit bowl fruit). Ice cream/jelly/choc pot is once a week or less treat. If you give it every day how is it a treat anymore?

Hope you can figure out how to cut down on the sugar as it sounds like you have just got in the habit of sweet treats to keep her happy. Good luck!

waxy can you make one of those for me please? sounds lovely.

I am amazed by the stringent non-dessert eating. Once a week? If you like, then good for you, it probably is healthier. I do have trouble pairing that with the 'most relaxed family in the world' WorraLiberty-so if one of the family asked for dessert more often, would you provide it or refuse?

Well it's difficult to say because they're now aged 23yrs, 15yrs and 12yrs and so far it's never happened. I'd probably buy some different fruit though, rather than the bog standard apples and bananas that are sat in the bowl.

I was the youngest of 5 kids and I don't remember anyone asking for or expecting dessert, more often than Sundays/Christmas/Easter/Birthdays or if a friend came to tea.

To us it's not 'stringent non-dessert eating', it's just normality. I wouldn't say 'good for us' either, as it's just the way it is. It's the same way for many other families also.

I think it's strange that your think it's strange

Cold pasta salad may be a good one - excellent for smuggling veggies in and then follow with a small Greek yogurt to top up the protein - we add a few chocolate shavings to make it a treat and that is it for DS (also reception).
Googling 'children's bento' is also a good way of getting inspiration (the mind boggles on how long some people must spend making their kids lunches though!)

Picking out things from her dinners, would she eat
chicken and pasta salad
Cold pizza (cheese!)
plain pittas and hotdogs - no better than ham sandwiches, but different.

We make banana muffins with only half the sugar.

Would she eat sweet or savoury muffins?