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 :(

Oops, bold fail.

TiedUp I really like your suggestions and not necessarily too much. Just lots of little bits and bobs in presumably small portions. I love the choc coin idea as a treat.

I think they generally often eat what you wean them on to. So if you wean them on to crappy crisps, chocolate biscuits and ice-cream, it's going to feel like hard work realigning their eating habits so they are healthy. If you wean them on to a range of healthy stuff and rarely give processed foods, they will have a very different palette. Convenience food/unhealthy food was hardly in my childhood/adult food repertoire and so it's hardly in my kids repertoire.

If you wean your baby on chocolate, crisps and ice cream violetta at what point do you care about a healthy diet?

IME babies that are weaned on the most healthy range of amazing home cooked food can still become very picky indeed.

Yes - my ds1 got pickier after going to preschool and seeing his friends eat Nutella sandwiches and Dunkers etc. I ignored him and gave him the same as always but if he'd been skinny (causing me to worry about his weight) or I'd been stressed about something else, I can well imagine giving it and it getting worse and worse.

There is not much really. See the size here www.yumbox-uk.co.uk/yumbox-in-action/

For the veg for example! I am talking about 4 thin slices of carrot, the same for celery 2 olives and 2 cherry tomatoes. Fruit, one small easy peeler and 3 grapes fit in the fruit section. The wrap is a mini one. The dairy section can fit 2 babybels or 2 tblspns of yoghurt, the protein, 3 rolls of ham. It's really not that much. It's really healthy too (unless of course you fill it with rubbish).

It's exactly as you say summerhouse.

My DS is unadventurous with fruit but will sometimes try a new one if a tiny portion appears in his lunchbox, eg 3 blueberries, 2 raspberries, tucked in the bottom under stuff he already likes. Just an idea to get them to taste something new - I find if the quantity is tiny they are more likely to have a taste, and after 10 tastes (is that right?) they often begin to like something.

I sympathise because my two have both been through massively fussy stages, however I think you have to stand firm and offer only healthy stuff 95% of the time, and hunger will force them to expand their tastes.

Now that my two are a bit older I tell them it's for their own good and that if they are fussy eaters as adults no one will invite them for dinner .

I haven't read the whole thread but some snack ideas:
wholegrain breadsticks
mini dried salami
olives

As I said, my DS isn't much of a fruit fan but he loves all the above because he has more savoury tastes (that said I put 4 segments of mandarin in his lunchbox today and he ate 2 - result!)

Summer- all my 4 babies were weaned on to a good range of healthy food (with unhealthy food making the odd rare appearance) and they all eat really well. Yes there will sometimes be healthy eaters who are picky eaters but their palette will centre around healthy foods. The slippery slope starts when parents become unessesarily concerned about weight/calorie intake and start giving their child more and more unhealthy processed foods.

Well I agree with everything you said there violetta. I think I am a bit miffed that I have a picky eater and don't like to think I to blame for it. I always think could I have done more / could I do more to improve his diet. Its so frustrating to keep throwing everything away but I reset the goal posts long ago. Now I just have to be happy I put healthy food in front of him, and not that he actually eats it. Hopefully he will get there!

You mustn't worry too much, as long as you are eating well (leading by example) and offering your kids a good range of good foods/few duff foods without fuss, I'm sure with time things will improve.