5 year old will not eat at school

[Madders]

She has always been a VERY picky eater.

Her teacher called today and wants to have a meeting because she refuses to eat at school. She will not eat the school lunch, or the lunch I send. (I try to send all of her favorites).

There is no way to force her to eat. I do not have the option of picking her up from school at lunch time to come home and eat.

Her teacher was extremely rude about the whole thing (she left a message). I'm not sure what to do about this situation.

(She eats fine at home)

[ssh]

If the teacher was rude to you, she may be intimidating your DD and making the issue worse. If this is the case your DD may need a new teacher.

[elizawill]

i can understand the teacher being concerned and calling you, but her giving you an attitude and being rude is totally unnecessary. i mean, we're talking about a 5 year old here....why would she be rude over something like that? that makes me a little

[nannymom]

My niece is not eating her lunch in Kindergarten even though my sister sends her all of her favs too. She has had a rough time adjusting to school and I think not eating may be a control thing or she just may not be hungry yet as the little ones here eat really early (11 ish).

I don't see how it is any concern of the teacher-beyond making you aware of the situation- unless she feels that it is impacting your Lo's day. Is it somehow disrupting her class at lunch? If you fill her with a healthy breakfast and send her with a snack what's the big deal? I would call the teacher back and let her know your feelings on this subject and that she eats fine at home.

[Drummer's Wife]

how stressful!

I would just offer her a lot of healthy foods in the AM and once she gets home. Hopefully she'll start eating at school, and/or you will figure out why she is refusing to.

[LauraLoo]

Putting the teacher's attitude aside (not sure what that is about) - we also faced this with ds. He ate very, very little at school - if anything. I became concerned about this when he was consistently bringing full lunch boxes home, and eating his lunch mid-afternoon after I picked him up. His teacher suggested letting him go to lunch 5 min. early with another little boy that needed some extra time to eat -- and it worked. Lunch rooms can be overstimulating envirnoments, and apparently that was enough to keep ds from even trying to eat his lunch. Giving him 5 min. head start before the rush made all the difference.

[mom2ponygirl]

Wow, I'd be steamed about the attitude. Of course, I was a picky, non-school eater also, so maybe I'm biased. I would just say that you don't want to make this a big deal for your daughter and add to her stress of adjusting to school. Thank her for letting you know - and check out other teachers. Pack her something very small that you know she likes. The going early would help - it would have helped me.

The no eating thing wore off later in elementary. Except of course when the school lunch was truly heinous. :-)

[babeak]

Most kids these days are not starving. :-) She will eat if she is hungry. On the flip-side, I guess my only concern was if something was bothering her and made her feel like not eating as a kind of reaction to the teacher, school, etc. Seems to me that just explaining that you are not worried should suffice and that the teacher should respect your way of handling the situation and not put any pressure on DD.