Uneaten lunch - new reception pupil!

[ilovedaddypig]

DS1 started school last week and all seems to be going well. The last two days though virtually all of his packed lunch has come home untouched. Is it nerves/ excitement/ impatience to get out and play? and will it resolve itself? I have purposely packed stuff he likes, stuff that is easy to pick at so I'm just a bit worried. He eats like a hound when he gets home so maybe I should just relax about it?

Can he definitely get into the lunchbox, open the packaging to eat unaided?

Does the school have a rule eg sandwich first? I know DD's friend didn't eat one day in year R as she had no sandwich so thought she couldn't eat anything else (mum had sent pasta or something)

I'd mention it to teacher/TA if he hasn't eaten a bite and see if they can see what the issue is.

Does he give any reason why its not been eaten?

Can he open everything himself?

He can definitely open it all and did eat most of his lunch for the first few days. He just tells me he wasn't hungry. Normally he is a pretty good eater - and I've deliberately let him pick what sandwiches I make and some of the snacks I've put in. Even stuff he normally LOVES - strawberries, Frubes, olives - has gone untouched the last two days

DS just wants to play out instead.

They seem to police school dinners more robustly but who knows?

If you are worried, I would have him help to pack it and give him a minimum/ order to eat.

My ds ate very little the first few weeks. school were great- tried every trick incuding getting his big sister to sit next to him. Nothing worked really then one day he just ate it all and has done ever since. Try not to worry too much.

Dd3 took an hour to eat her lunch for the first few days - and even then she didn't eat all of it. She goes to after school club three days so I made sure they knew and would give her a snack when she came in and I put less in her lunchbox so it wasn't so overwhelming. She soon speeded up. I think she found the dinner hall very overwhelming at first and ate slowly so that she could JUST concentrate on that and didn't have to deal with anything else. Once she learnt the quicker she ate the more playtime she could have, she soon speeded up!

Another thought what are they giving for snacks?

DD's school used to have a selection of fruit provided mid morning and breadsticks/crumpets etc mid afternoon. She used to eat very little for lunch but didn't need to with the snacks they were giving. She ate more yr 1 when no snacks were provided.

Thanks all - had a quiet word with lovely teacher who actually approached me to say DS was doing fine but has got upset at lunchtimes the last couple of days. I am pretty sure he finds the dining hall setting overwhelming, and is in a rush to get out, therefore hasn't been eating much. Hopefully he will get used to things bless him, and teacher promised to keep an eye out. Thanks for taking the trouble to respond!