Packed lunch ideas for 3 year old with no appetite!

[Dysgu]

DD1 (aged 3.2 yo) has never been a great eater since we weaned her. She has a limited range of food that she will eat and does not fill up on sweets etc.

Today the pre-school manager and her key worker at the pre-school where she has been going since June both'had words' with me about the fact that DD1 is eating hardly any lunch.

They have suggested that we put in just one quarter of a sandwich as they try to encourage the children to eat their sandwiches before anything else.

She generally has, in her lunch box, a cheese spread sandwich (cut into triangles with the crusts removed - else she won't even consider eating it!), a fromage frais pot, a pot of fruit puree, a banana and a few raisins. Sometimes she will also have a mini spicy sausage thing - which she loves! She also as a smmothie-type drink - again, which she loves.

This 'word' follows the few notes I have had in her lunch box telling me how little DD1 is eating at lunch time or how much encouragement she needs to eat anything.

So I am after suggestions for what I can do.

At home she eats a limited number of things and I know it is our fault that she has been allowed to do this! Right now she is about to eat a tea of fishcake, fish fingers and smiley faces! She will eat all of this quite happily.

At least 4 nights a week we eat as a family at the table and she gets the same as the rest of us - DD2 is 11 mo and eats EVERYTHING! However, if we have pasta DD1 insists that it has no sauce on and we are lucky if she will eat 2 pieces. She will not eat chips, mashed potato, jacket potato either and getting vegetables into her is very hard (unless I put them in a risotto and then she will sometimes eat them!)

She will eat, almost always, the toddler meal of risotto which we have used in the past when travelling but we try not to use them at home.

So, what suggestions does anyone have for packed lunches that she might eat - I am willing to make things and to try them out over the next week as she is not at pre-school until next Wednesday now.

Have to head off for tea but will check back later.

Thanks in advance!

bump

what about a wee sandwich but made like a swiss roll instead to be more enticing? So for example spread the bread then cut off crusts and roll up and slice?

what about things with dips?

Would she eat a pasta salad?

Or cous cous?

cold pizza?

tortilla wraps or pitta breads with some kind of filling. ds is very fussy and usually has quorn, have you tried that?

erm..........

These help when I DD doesn't want to eat she likes the little shapes

Home made flap jacks with extra fruit go down well with my poor eater. Plus they are filling, high in calories and a good source of energy, They are not unhealthy either. I put dried fruit and ground nuts in mine for extra vitatims and protien.

Mine was also bad, but improved vastly.
Apple, Cheese & Raisins (all cut into cubes & in an airtight box)
Sausage rolls / mini scotch eggs
Tortilla wraps filled with ham, grated cheese etc. Very important that they are skewered with a cocktail stick (at least it is with DD)
Tuna Pasta Salad
Plain bread & butter, with ham or cheese on the side.

Thank you all for suggestions.

There are ideas here that I have tried in the past but guess maybe I thought she was eating okay and started to get 'lazy' with regards to the creativity aspect of her lunch!

DP packed her lunch for her this morning so maybe...

I really like the skewer idea and will try that although she 'doesn't like' so much fruit and veg - but I will persevere.

The Swiss roll sandwiches and wraps are things we have tried in the past so maybe we should try them again.

DD1 doesn't like dips or butter/marg! She never has. Not sure about the pasta either as she rarely eats much but I might try some of the tricolour small stuff! She might like the pretty colours.

I will also try the cutting everything up into small pieces as that might help.

And the idea about the lunch box is an interesting one - she uses one of those trilock ones that is sectioned off so nothing touches anything else but has been using the same one for years since she started at the childminders. Perhaps we need to get a new one.

She did choose her own lunch bag though - a Peppa Pig that has a flipflop on it so she can identify it. She loves that.

I will certainly work through all the ideas and see what she seems to like.

Thanks