packed lunch/meal planning, at wits end with fussy eater

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DS is a very fussy eater, I am lucky in that he enjoys veg but getting protein into him is a bigger struggle. I really worry about him eating processed meat but he really wont eat anything else- no fish, no eggs (even in french toast or omlette) and no "plain" meat like chunks of chicken or beef. He wont eat lentils or beans either and wont touch potato or sweet potato.

Basically he will have sausages, square sausage or breaded chicken. I've even tried breading my own chicken in the hope that would be healthier but he wont touch it.

This is my meal plan for him for the week, its not very exciting but he should eat it. Does anyone have any thoughts? He is such an active wee thing but really struggles with concentrating and focus and i want to try and help this by improving his diet.

Breakfast is always a choice of cereal- I try to keep this to plain rice krispies as he likes them and they are not full of sugar, wholemeal toast with butter, jam or chocolate spread (doesnt like peanut butter), fruit and milk to drink. We generally dont have time for cooked breakfast in the week.

Morning snack at school is packet of breadsticks, piece of fruit or pack of those yoghurt covered dried fruit "sweets" or he gets 30p for the snack shop where he usually chooses a cup of cheerios with milk.

Lunch
Pasta with a homemade tomato sauce, chopped raw pepper
Breadsticks, cheese, cucumber
Cold breaded chicken nuggets, chopped peppers

FFS posted too early.

Lunch cont...
Sausages, cucumber sticks

Always has yoghurt and fruit along with lunch.

Dinners are

Tinned Spaghetti and toast
Breaded chicken, green veg, wrap/bread and butter/plain pasta
Sausage or high quality beefburger with corn on the cob

He only likes plain and separate food, wont eat pizza but would eat wrap, cheese and veg all separate for example. Not keen on dips eg. Soft cheese or hummous. Has agrred to try carrot sticks in lunchbox this week.

Any advice would really really be appreciated, he is hungry all the time because he is so active and I want to feed him healthy stuff that will keep his energy and concentration up.

I'm having the same issue with my 8 year old. He's had eating issues since 17 months when he refused to eat solids and me being the naive 19 year old thought it was great when he finally began eating toast, chicken dippers, croquettes and carrot sticks. Unfortunately though he's since ditched the veg and will only eat the junk parts. He's had blood tests, been assessed for phobias and we've tried the no choice method but he ended up in A&E after 3 days of refusing food and drink so we slipped back into feeding whatever he wants but I worry about his health.

Generally a day consists of:-

Breakfast - Cereal, milk and banana

Snack - Cereal bar

Lunch - Jam/butter/lemon curd wholemeal sandwich, grapes and Frube

Dinner - Chicken dippers/fish fingers and fries. French toast or Cheese on toast.

Desert - Biscuit/Jelly/yogurt

Sorry just wittered on about us instead of actually trying to be helpful I'm just glad to find we're not alone on this as people are so judgemental about it in my experience

Has he had phobia assessment, allergy testing etc? We had to ask to be referred to the Dietician for any of this to take place and although it hasn't helped in anyway its at least put my mind at rest that maybe at some point he will just change.

Sorry to hear you're going through the same thing, its hard work and I end up feeling guilty that I'm not feeding him properly, but if I give him anything else he wont eat it and goes hungry which is worse.

DS ate just about anything until he got a tummy bug about 2 years old and completely lost his appetite, like you I was delighted when he started eating again but we never managed to get him back onto stew or mince and tatties or anything again.

He hasn't had any assesments or anything, he is 5 so maybe I should look into it.

He is generally with a bit of bribery good at trying things, but 9 times out of 10 doesn't like them. The last thing we tried was mashed turnip because it was burns night, he scoffed it that night but now refuses to touch it again.

don't worry too much about the proteins. many veg contain quite a bit, esp cabbages, caulifour, broccoli.
bread also contains protein.

Thanks mous, feel a bit better now as we both love veg.

Generally we have peas, green beans, brocolli and corn as well as some salad veg like cucumber and pepper.

Anyone else?

He sounds way better than my 5 year old who won't touch veg!

If he eats breaded chicken, would he eat breaded fish for variety? I really don't like fish but fish fingers or breaded cod don't really taste fishy.

Rice Krispies are basically puffs of air and really not filling at all. Could you switch to something more filling like shreddies if he's hungry?

I don't see him liking chickpeas much... But I will give them and the quinoa a go... maybe with the same sauce I use for his pasta?

I like the idea of spices but he turns his nose up at anything with a strong smell- wont even entertain a bit of garlic in the sauce.

I did wonder about quorn products, would they be healthier than the meat versions that he's eating now, quite happy to try and swap over to them if so. I do make an effort to buy good quality, high meat content sausages, burgers etc. Rather than cheaper ones with more crap in, but I still feel there is alot added and he wont eat homemade.

He wont touch fish at all, breaded or not. I even let him pick his own from the fish counter and we cooked it together, he tried it but spat it out.

I go with rice krispies because he is happy to eat them plain, have admittedly never tried with shreddies or anything- will give them a try next time I do a shop. Im reluctant to add anything to his cereal- i fear he gets alot of sugar as it is between yoghurts and fruit.

Ground almonds stirred into yogurt give a good protein boost. You can sneak loads more in if it's a textured fruity yogurt than into, say, Greek yogurt. Nakd (think that's the spelling) bars are great - high protein, no sugars/preservatives available in gluten free area of most supermarkets & also Holland & Barrett. Infact, have a general mooch in H&B I've found loads of great snack stuff in there for the fussy eater! Good luck.

I would say don't make a big deal out of it, feed him what he likes, occassionally put donething new on his plate. Involve him in cooking.

My super fussy DS now eats most things. It was a lkng way requiring lots of patience, but you'll get there.

I would really try not to stress, just reduce any sugaryfood do when he does eat, it is something vaguely nutritious.

At 5/6 my DS had ham sandwich, cridps and juice for every lunch. Sometimes salami. For 2-3 years.

He us fine. Your son will be fine.

Worth trying almond butter for protein?

He sounds a little like my son but mine won't eat pasta either.
We have sausage dinners, so sausage, broccoli, carrots, peas,Yorkshire puddings and gravy. I'm lucky that he likes gravy and isn't freaked out by foods touching.
Mushroom/veg or cheese risotto is another favourite.
Have you tried quorn style chicken nuggets? We love those.
For breakfast we have weetabix, rice crispies or porridge. Crunchy nut cornflakes at weekends because he won't have milk on and sits and eats one by one which takes ages.
He is on packed lunches and his standard sandwich is marmite. If I pack roast chicken up I sprinkle a tiny about of salt over and he eats it, but if I leave the salt out it comes back untouched.
We make a rule of trying new foods twice a month and he gets praised for just having a bite. No fuss is made if he leaves it and supper is always a favourite so he isn't hungry at bedtime.

I'm quite chilled out though. Food is just food here, we don't stress over it, if you're hungry you eat, if you're not you don't. There's a fruit bowl and cheese for snacks, mini biscuit packs and a bag of crisps are once a day treats, normally with lunch.

Thanks all, will definitely try some ground almonds and some almond butter, I don't think he would notice these at all.

Miles away from Holland and Barrat but will have a mooch next week when I'm in the town and can stock up if I see anything good.

I try to put something new on his plate about once or twice a week, I encourage him to try but never force him and he gets lots of praise if he tries, if he doesn't I don't make a fuss.

Thankyou for the reassurance Nimpy, I guess I'm just worrying that I'm failing him. He is such a clever and bright boy but everything he does suffers because he cannot or will not focus and I do think.its partially down to his diet.

I was a terrible eater when younger, only ate cold ham and chips for years, then went the reverse and became overweight because I was in the habit of eating crap to fill me up around meals and continued so as I started eating properly. I want to teach him good habits now

but its hard when he's still hungry after meals.

He constantly wants to eat all day, even straight after a meal or snack he is asking for more and I don't know how much he would keep eating if I didn't stop him.

X-post purple!

I try not to stress too much over it, I certainly don't make a fuss to DS and don't force him to eat everything on his plate or anything, if its something he likes he generally scoffs it anyway and if not he usually genuinely isnt hungry.

Packed lunch constantly coming back barely touched either but he will open it up as soon as he is home or at afterschool club because he is hungry.

You don't have a very fussy eater, OP. You don't even have a fussy eater.

Just get him used to sticking to meal times.

You do kids no favour by giving constant snacks.

Really, ragged? So its normal to eat the same 3/4 things on rotation for every meal?

I know I'm lucky he eats veg, but other than that his entire diet consists of sausages, chicken nuggets and pasta.

I don't give him constant snacks, he gets a snack for morning break at school and sometimes a piece of fruit or something when he gets in from school because he hasnt touched lunch and is starving. He constantly asks for stuff but I dont constantly give in.

My mother in law chooses to eat that way (3-4 rotation) I mean. It's also how DH was raised. She tried rice & didn't like it, doesn't cook pasta because she doesn't know how.

I believe that you also mentioned that your son eats yogurt, fruit, wraps, cheese, a variety of cereals (presumably milk, too), bread, jam, butter, breadsticks, dried fruit, cucumber.

May I presume that ice cream, biscuits, sweets & cake are not a problem?

I accept it's a problem to you & there's always room in any diet to eat more healthily; but fussy that child ain't. Some of us would weep to achieve that much variety.

Your MIL is an adult, responsible her own health and eating habits, I presume?

Since he's only 5, I'm the one who looks after my son's health, and I can't help feeling worried that he's not getting everything he needs from his diet.

I understand, and have said more than once that I know I'm lucky he eats veg, but relying on crappy, processed meat for the bulk of his protein intake isn't ideal.

Bread (or variants of bread, eg breadsticks and wraps), jam, fruit and yoghurt are not the most nutritious things in the world, though I accept they do contribute some good to his diet.

Everything is relative, I know there are people with fussier eaters, but it doesn't render my concerns invalid.

Just had a quick read, have you tried
peanut butter
couscous
soup - blend it to make it smooth
and a bit weird but marmite/bovril ( hate these myself !)