Packed Lunch for a 1 Year Old / Salt / Peanut Butter

[bunyanvillas]

What do people bring out for a 1 year old for lunch - any ideas? Up until now I have given jars or sandwiches when we are out and about but always feel really guilty when I give dd a jar! Am looking for some inspiration here.

Can I also ask if it is ok to give DD peanut butter at this point and salt (in the form of a stock cube or part of a stock cube used in cooking, but not too often!)

IMO - don't feel gulty about giving jars. they are still nutritious meals much more so than years ago. However, if you feel that you want to take out more homemade meals then avoid peanuts as they should not really have them until they are a bit older.
could you make some pasta salad or something like cheese chunks/cucumber sticks etc?

if there is no family history of allergic diseases e.g. asthma, exzema, food allergy, etc than smooth peanut butter is ok to give from 6 months (only give a small amount at first and watch carefully for any reaction).

sandwiches sound ok to me as you can vary the bread and the fillings to make them different. You could also take things like bananas, grapes, breadsticks, cheese biscuits, yoghurts, etc

A little bit of salt should be ok every once in a while and if you give gravy, etc you could always water it down more than it should be to lower the salt content further

If you're providing a packed lunch for your child at nursery or childminder's they may well have a nut-free policy. And if they don't, they probably should have.

Children have been known to snitch each other's sandwiches, and if another toddler does have a nut allergy this could be catastrophic.

I dont think bunyanvillas said it was for at nursery/childminder - she was looking for ideas for when she is out and about herself.

I agree that it wouldnt be something that you would take places where there were other children about that could get access to them.

Sorry - misinterpreted that.

Dh has a nut allergy, and had a bad reaction on Friday night at a Chinese restaurant; so I guess I'm a bit on edge about it and was a bit too quick to jump off the mark!

How about different breads like pitta bread or tortilla wraps with fillings, or savoury biscuits with cheese (avoiding the really salty biscuits like Tuc ). DS also likes a pot of things like cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, raisins, carrot etc (not all at the same time though!). Also breadsticks, rice cakes, BabyOrganix gingerbread men.
Fruit and yoghurt/fromage frais are the only puds I normally give unless I've made a rice pud or something.

My dd is 15 months. Depending on the time of day when out and about I take with me:

A jar of Hipp Organic Veg Lasagne - quite chunky and dd will eat it cold - so no pressure to find somewhere to heat it up.

Sandwiches - cheese or dairylea.

Always have a supply of ricecakes and breadsticks with me - and little boxes of raisins. Also bananas and satsumas and perhaps wrapped chunks of cheese.

I know she will eat all of these - therefore no pressure. HTH

Re peanut butter - dd has smooth (had some for tea - just licks it off and chucks the toast - nice!)

If there is no history of family allergy then you should be O.K. - dd does have a bit of eczema - but peanut butter doesn't make any difference.

My understanding is that children should not have whole nuts until 5 because of the risk of choking - think this is the reason that smooth peanut butter is recommended rather than chunky.

Ohh, thank you everybody, for your tips! I'm doing a lot of these things already and it's reassuring to know that other people are doing the same! I haven't given DD raisins yet because of the fear of choking - can you tell I'm a first-time mum - but I will buy some in Tesco tonight and see how it goes!

1 in 70 children now has a nut allergy and if yours becomes one of them you will regret giving peanut butter at 1. Even with no family history of allergy you might want to wait until their immune system is a bit better developed, possibly until 3. That also has the advantage that they can tell you if they feel odd. breadsticks, chjeese, fromage frais, bananas, grapes. Nothing wrong with jars as part of the diet.