School dinners

[LucyRo]

My son started in Reception this September, & has been full time for 2 weeks now. As he's a chatterbox & does talk to me about his day, I've been aware that he is being 'fussy' about school dinners - on the days where the choices are unfamiliar or not favourites, he is selective about what parts of the meal he eats. Yesterday, he came home having eaten only potatoes & pudding, as he didn't like the protein & veg that day (ironically, one of the other options was something he would have liked...). His teacher suggested that he ask me to send packed lunches instead. I'm reluctant to do this, as I would prefer him to have a hot meal at lunchtime & I'm aware that at his nursery it took him a while to get used to the food (although there he was 'encouraged' to eat his meal & I appreciate that there isn't resource to do this). At the same time, I want him to eat properly! Anyone else had a similar dilemna & has it resolved itself in time?

I suspect that once he starts to realise he's hungry in the afternoon he may start to eat more.

As long as he's getting a balanced diet at home I wouldn't worry too much and just see how things go.

Obviously if he's still not eating properly after a while you may want to change his lunchtime arrangements, but I'd give it a bit longer.

My son started a state school last September and we opted for school dinners, after 1 week the teacher approached me and said because my son was a slow eater could i bring in pack lunch for him as they had to get 3 sittings through the dinner hall at luch time. I wasn't keen on this, and had really wanted him to have a hot lunch.

Shortly after this we moved our son to a small private school (not just because of dinners!) we again opted for school dinners. He is now in Yr 1 and still has school dinners, the dining staff are great and really encourage the children.

We get a menu from the school, and each day i ask my son what he would like from the options, and then i write a "lunch ticket" just a piece of paper with his lunch choice on and put it in his blazer pocket.

This works for us and him.

Thanks for the encouragement. I am inclined to give it a bit of time, today he really liked the lunch & ate fine. I like the idea of getting hold of the menu & talking him through the choices.

It took dd nearly the whole of reception to eat a proper school dinner and still have some play time left! The dinner lady did say they had wondered if I would persevere - but I knew she would do it eventually as she does like her food and does not like to go hungry. And it has broadened her food range -we have a few new and suprising items she would not have tried otherwise.

At dd's school, they have to put up their hand to get permission to move on to pudding - the assistant checks what they've they've eaten first.

I agree that they adapt over time, and gradually start trying new things. They might even find that they enjoy them! I'd leave it a while and see how it goes. :)

No, it doesn't get better, with boys it gets much much worse! By Yr5 they will barely drink a small carton of juice or scoff a chocolate bar before they run back out to the playground. They will end the school day in a black funk because of lack of food. It drives me crazy, but is standard behaviour for school boys to skip lunch altogether. (They will lie to the dinner ladies or their parents in some cases, too).

Our school dinners are "supervised" and those children who eat well are given an ink stamp on their hand or sticker. It really does help to encourage the children to eat. We also have good choice for the children and have a menu at home, so I can talk to my girls and they know what to expect and can choose. I think a lot of it comes down to the quality of the food though - some may not be as nice as we are lucky to have.

Lucy,
Many schools operate a 2 week cycle of menus, so if you ask nicely I am sure that they could let you have a copy. At my primary the menu is also on all the notice boards etc.

I would be wary of what he tells you he's actually eating. My dd who also is a chatterbox and tells me everything and also is a bit of a picky eater has, for the last 2 weeks, told me she's eaten biscuits and sweetcorn! I questioned the teacher and she said that my dd tries to get away with eating only biscuits and 1 veg but she always eats the protein when given a bit of encouragment and someone chops it up for her. So it might be that it needs chopping up or the teacher just needs to give him a bit of encouragment to eat it or you might find he's eating it all anyway.

Thanks, all. The teacher has confirmed that he is picky, & it doesn't sound as if there is much encouragement. We have got hold of the 3-week menus now & are steering him towards what to choose each day. Like ragged's post - guess I need to prepare myself for future developments!