Reception age child won't eat his free meal

[feral]

My 4yo ds started reception and has been coming home starving but telling me he likes his lunch.

Teacher now telling me he's refusing to try anything he doesn't like the look of and hardly eating anything. Therefore they want me to give him a packed lunch.

I plan to talk to him and I'm giving him the rest of this week -

• does anyone have any.l suggestions on how to get an already fussy vegetarian child to try what's on offer when I'm not even present to encourage?

And please don't say 'let him eat meat' because he knows he can try it if he wants to but even if he wasn't saying he didn't want to eat meat he wouldn't try it as it's new.

I'm at a loss!

Threenme - first honest lunch box I've seen on MN in a long while !

Mine are veggie because I am and I told dh if we had kids I was raising them veggie until they could make an informed choice.

So far, 18 year old is veggie but doesn't care about gelatine or colorants.

14 year old strict veggie - reads labels, looks up ingredients

12 and 10 - not interested in meat, eat what they are given, check sweets etc for 'v' sign.

Noeuf I wanted to go veggie for years but to many drunken nights at the burger van outside nightclubs and a all round lack of self control stopped it! I went veggie about 10 years ago but made me think I should let kids choose themselves! Dh also view it as "a load of hippy s**t" along with dgf who is still referring to it as a phase, so would be completely on one if I didn't give them meat! I think ds will in the end though he's obsessed with animals!

Nutty I think op said money want a factor, if I've read correctly it's the universal free meals he is entitled to.

I'm quite funny about making sure mine like their dinner because I really look forward to mine when I'm at work. I frequently take soup and end up fetching lovely sandwiches because I just fancy something nice so I suppose kids are same! Worth saying we're all normal weight! We aren't a family of gluttons but I do think it's nice to enjoy what you eat.

I was looking forward to not making packed lunch everyday but the veggie options were not nutritious enough by my standard - using some kind of simple carb like pasta with cheese. Macaroni cheese, cheesy pasta, pasta bake with cheese sauce, jacket potato and cheese.... a different spin on cheesy pasta a lot...

I much prefer DS to take a packed luncj with fresh berries and veggies. Plus I know what he's eaten.

Only downside for DS (year 2) is that 90% of his year have hot dinners so he doesnt get to sit with his friends which he used to get upset about in reception but he never mentions it now!

Nutyynoo, all key stage 1 children get free school meals, it's got nothing to do with income. I would just give packed lunch filled with food you know your child enjoys. Some battles are just not worth it.

It's the free universal meal I'm talking about.

We wouldn't t qualify for free as pupil premium (?) and I don't mind if I do have to pay to provide his food, this universal meal thing is just a bonus if he'll eat it.

Looked at menu with him this morning and there's a pasta bake on which he promised he'd eat so will see. I'm heading to Aldi later to get some of these lunch box snacks you've told me about

Give him time to get used to it. I don't see what's wrong with jacket potato, cheese and beans, pasta bakes, veggie sausages. Young children need plenty of calories.
Can you send a substantial snack for playtime to help him through the day?
I don't think the posters suggesting a rather plain packed lunch are mean, I think that's sensible. And cheese sandwich, apple, drink of water, is a healthy lunch too, very similar nutritionally to the seemingly derided pasta bakes etc.

I think one problem with veggie school lunches is there is often no choice. I know this differs a little from school to school but often meat eaters get the choice of a meat, fish or veggie option whereas veggies just have one option.
For some children food is a worry. I personally think if they've given it a shot and it's. To working take a break and try again later, it must be horrible to fear lunchtime each day.
For veggie lunch box options
Falafel in pitas or with toasted pita fingers.
Houmous, breadsticks and crudités
Cheese and crackers
Houmous and grated carrot wrap
Cold slices of fritata
Cous cous with chickpeas, peppers and kidney beans
Pasta with peas and pesto

Going through the menu with my ds definately helped - I could say choose this and eat just the rice etc...also our school always has baked potatoes as an option - we worked on him eating and choosing them

What if...I'm just thinking, could your DS have the school meal main dish or dessert , and have a packed lunch opposite, of savoury or dessert.
Then there would always be something you know he'll eat, and he'd also get used to the queuing at the hatch and getting his tray etc like the others.

Nice idea Marcipex but I really can't see the school going for it. Imagine if you had multiple 5 year olds mixing and matching. It would get pretty admin heavy. So although I know it happens a lot at secondary, buy pizza and chips take homemade cake and fruit, at infant I just can't see it.

DS ate all his lunch yesterday but it was a pasta dish that he would like.

I verified this with the teacher and asked if we can mix and match with packed lunch on days the menu is lacking but she said it's all or nothing which is annoying.

I'll make a decision on Friday after seeing how he does the rest of the week.

Done good suggestions on here so thanks 🙂

I never get why people say you can't have two 'sandwich type' meals a day, yes it might be boring but so long as there is plenty of fruit, cut up salad/veg, protein and carbs does it matter?

Mumsnet is obsessed with the idea that 'hot meals' are nutritionally better for you. .

Hot meals do make you feel fuller/more satisfied. Hence you are less likely to eat lots of empty calories from pudding/snack a lot.

drspouse - has that been scientifically proved?

Rag I doubt it had but it's true! Something's don't really need scientifically testing. Pie chips and peas or pasta and garlic bread for eg will undeniably fill you up more than a sandwich, I thought a sandwich choice for tea was strange tbh.

Sorry to keep on about this but I think some people esp on Mumsnet seem to think that hot meal has some sort of filling power that a cold meal doesn't.

I get that 'emotionally' a hot meal might feel more comforting/enjoyable but a decent cold meal (not just a meagre sandwich) which involves fruit, salad, yogurt, piece of cake etc is just as nutritionally good for you as a 'hot meal' and yet for the last 17 years I have been reading threads on mumsnet about how children need a 'hot dinner' at least once a day

You're right of course rag, I reckon we all know it deep down too! But I still think kids need a hot meal a day!🙈

People think they do which as "feeling full" is a fairly subjective concept, probably means that they do.

I know 3 DC in my immediate circle where school have told them to go to pack lunch as child is not eating any of the free dinners.
Our dinners are ace - tons of choice, hot and cold and sandwiches available as we are a huge school with on site canteen and yet by autumn1/2 term some were forced to make pack lunches.
Their kids refused point blank to eat school food !!!

DS ate fine at nursery, started school refused to eat.....

Put him on packed lunches and he would scoff the lot....

Lasted about 12-18 months and he asked to go back on dinners....

Pretty much eats what he's given at school now but refuses to eat any of the same foods at home.....

They can be funny little human beans 😊