son not eating lunch while at school-X post in nutrition

[memory maker]

my ds has just started kindergarden in public school. I pack his lunch every day because he is a picky eater and would not touch school lunches (but I dont know if I would want him to) Anyway, he will maybe take 2 bites out of his whole lunch and then he is done. This along with the fact that it is like pulling teeth to get him to eat breakfast every morning (today he had 2 bites of apple for breakfast) I am so worried about him being hungry during the day and not being able to learn and about him getting sick because he is not eating. I know he needs more food than this by what he would eat for breakfast and lunch and snacks when he was at home. Every day I try and pack a lot of different things that he would like, for example todays lunch was pasta with tomato sauce, orange pepper slices, strawberries, peanuts and a juice box. He ate 2 strawberries and that was it. I know that right after lunch the kids get to go out for recess, so I am wondering if that is why he is hurrying, so that he can go play. He wont tell me because he doesnt want to talk about it. Any ideas on how I can get him to eat at least one meal (breakfast or lunch) so I dont have to worry as much about him. thanks

[lauren]

Maybe give less variety until he gets into the habit of eating? If he is new in k-garten, there is probably a lot of overwhelming stuff to get used to. This could be squelching his appetite but he also could be overstimulated at lunchtime by the noise and sights etc. Add to that the fact that they usuallyl don't have much time to eat, and he is likely grabbing the "easiest" thing to eat and leaving it at that. Why not try packing one item--something with some dense protein, and a drink and see if this changes what happens. In the morning could you give him a protein shake with his two bites of apple? I'm sure some more good ideas will appear here!

[1xmom]

:

My dd just started K as well and she is just now starting to eat more at lunch. She only has 25 minutes to eat and is a very slow eater. Like your child, breakfast can be a battle. I learned to give her whatever she wanted even if it wasn't the traditional breakfast. Yeah, she may only take a few bites, but it was something. She did buy lunch today, however (they had pizza).

Generally for her lunch she gets her peanut butter sandwich (still can't get her to get a little variety in there), carrots, grapes and she buys milk in school (she was so excited about buying her own choc. milk). The first week of school she NEVER ate her whole lunch, but now it is getting better.

[velochic]

I had this same EXACT, almost verbatim, question a week ago here... here's a link to the thread with some good ideas.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=336484