"Help What Do I Pack My Son for Lunch Everyday

Make your own lunchable, its cheaper, healhier,and will not have too much waste.

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Good Morning - I raised 9 kids - peanut butter & jelly on whole wheat (or equivalent), baloney and cheese, and so forth. Pack some crunchy baby carrots, celery, etc., a couple healthy cookies and fruit. Chances are he will trade if he can get away with it; you will just have to trust that he will eat when he is hungry and he will eat what you give him. Try to avoid processed foods if possible. Try the basics and do not give into whining that everyone else has..... :-) Make roll-ups - fun to eat (and harder to pick apart). As long as you provide healthy meals at home, the lunch issue won't seem so important. Let him help him pack his lunches - participating makes it more "his", and allow him to assist in shopping for his lunch "stuff". Good luck.

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Oh, Lordy! I hated those days..... Lunch boxes!

From what I saw -- you'll not going to find anything wthat a child will eat everything from. We did a lot of lunchables -- if only eats the meat and/or cheese, then I would just buy those separately rather than spending for the "contained" lunch -- fruit cups, NO chocolate (it can make some children hyper) -- so cookies, sometimes puddings, which he adored and provided milk! Go on-line and I'm sure there's abuot a thousand things.

My only suggestions:

Don't buy an expensive lunch bag -- you'll go through several as they tend to get "lost". Thinking back, so did several pairs of eyeglasses!

I would freeze the drinks and then use those as ice packs for the lunch. They would usually be thawed by the time lunch was.

Good luck -- now my son fixes his own lunches and sometimes mine, when he's home! He's much, much older!

Kindergarten -- HOW EXCITING!

M.

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My oldest was SOOO picky! We'd have the deli cut 1 slice of ham about 1/3 inch thick and cut squares, I'd cut cheese squares and add crackers that she liked, and of course she'd eat her weight in grapes and srtawberries.

I'd wash all the fruit, pull off stems, etc. and cut all the cheese and ham (sometimes hard salami or smoked turkey) over the weekend and it'd be ready to just throw into a sectioned container. I'm all about organic or natural, so her crackers were whole grain and the ham was no additives- nitrates/nitrites (which is linked to exacerbating ADHD) It was much healthier than a lunchable, and she got to choose which cheese or meat she wanted that time.

Try baby carrots or grape tomatoes and even celery sticks if he's willing..my second child likes veggies too.

Mine kinda liked their lunch to look like a plate you'd put together at a party, the little stinkers!
Good luck, and you and your son will find your own routine soon enough.
~K.

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I think you'll be surprised what he'll eat. He will be hungry. I am a first grade teacher, and they tend to eat a lot more than mom thinks they will. There are all kinds of pre-packaged,healthy things now. If he will eat grapes or sliced apples, pack those. Most kids will eat things that are dipped in some kind of sauce like ranch dip or ketchup. Good luck!

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Hi. Try cutting up the lunchmeat and cheese that you buy and pack it. It will be cheaper than a lunchable without wasting food. If it likes crackers or a slice of bread pack that. Then, I would do a fruit cup and then maybe a cookie or something for dessert. Does he eat cold pizza? That's always an easy thing for one day a week. When it's cold you can make hot items and put them in a thermos. Good luck!

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I usually asked my son what he wanted....I kept a supply of fruit, veggie sticks, pretzels, and his favorite lunch meat. On special occasions I would pack a snack cake, but I usually tried to avoid too much sugar. Stores now carry the pretzels or crackers with cheese, veggies with dipping sauce, fruits with dipping sauce, etc. if you want to go that route. I also got him the tiny bottles of water to send. You can even send the flavoring packs for water now, if your son doesn't drink plain water.

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How about let him in on the planning. Pick a list of healthy options for him and let him pick something from each category, so he has a protein, vegetable, fruit, etc. Get some small containters or ziplock bags to put things in. Chances are, he'll be more inclined to eat his lunch if he has some say so in it. Some good choices are, carrot sticks,or other vegetable sticks or grape tomatoes, peanut butter/celery, raisins, oranges, pepperoni slices and cheese, mandarin oranges, apples. Also, if you google healthy kids lunch ideas, you will come up with a lot.

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Hi G.

I work in a local school as a cafeteria monitor so I see what kids bring everyday. You could do celery with peanut butter and choc chips on it.
Kids love wraps. You could use chicken or Turkey
Another favorite is leftovers from the evening before.
You could always suprise him and drop in for lunch with him and bring him his favorite. I know we have parents do it and the kids just love it. Just don't forget to send him a note from you in his lunch. They eat that up too.
Thanks
Beth

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My oldest is starting kidnergarden this year as well. I have heard from my teacher freind that the young kids do not eat half their meals most of the time anyway especially if it is packed,lol. So iw ouldnt worry too much about it give him the good eats and let him choose he will eat if he is hungary =)

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Hi G.!

What an exciting time for you! I know I am late responding and you've gotten some great ideas, but I wanted to share a few more tips that have worked for my pickiest child. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought these little four-pack of bowls that are like small Tupperware. I bought eight. They also have the little snap containers which are great. Also, in the camping section in Wal-Mart they have a Coleman thermos that keeps things hot for 6 hours and you can put things like soup or ABCs & 123s in the microwave (you empty the can into the thermos and the whole bottom of the thermos goes into the microwave) before you leave in the morning and it is still hot.
I work full-time, so it works best when we can get organized on the weekend. I try on Sunday night to divide out little bowls of canned fruit or a ziploc of carrots, ranch dressing in the tiny bowls, pickles, whatever fruit or veggies, then some bread items like wraps, crackers, goldfish, chips, etc. I even divide out cheese slices or meat. Then all the cold stuff goes in a drawer in my fridge and the other in a basket on the counter. Each morning she helps me pick some from the groups and throw it into a lunchbox along with a freezer pack. She usually buys choc. milk at school. Our school has snack in the afternoon and we send an extra something for that. She picks when to eat what.
This is, of course, in a perfect world where we are always on time :), but if even part of this can get done ahead of time it is a help.
I wish you all the best. Enjoy these days.

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sit down with your son and write down what he says he likes to eat. keep the list handy and that will help with some ideals for his lunches. cc in okla.

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My daughter is not a picky eater, however to make lunch fun at school this it what I do. The night before we work on putting her lunch together. She loves ham, sweet pickles, and cheese. We cut up all of the items into chunks. For bread I let her pick out a cookie cutter and then cut the bread to that shape. Then I add a tooth pick or a fork to use to eat with. She likes to have the tooth picks the most. Its as if she is eating a fancy meal. There are times she will take peanut butter and jelly for lunch. We also cut them up in small shapes also. She like my very small flower and star shapes the best. I also pack cottage cheese and fruit. I put those in the same bowl one on each side. As for the fruit cups I open those at home and put them in another container. They are very messing when opening them at school. Have fun, and I hope this helps you.

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My daughter took her lunch everyday in pre-k and kindergarten. If it is a private school and the teacher has access to a microwave you might pack the single serve mac & cheese or ravioli's...things like that. My daughter also loved chicken strips, chips, cheese, crackers, carrot sticks w/dip, fruit, juice or milk in a thermos, pb&j...Just ask him what he would like. You can give him different choices and then be fairly certain that he will eat it all when he makes the choice.
G.

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You just need to make sure you pack something that he likes to eat and also just to let you know that he will either start to eat everything in the lunchable or either he will see what his friends are eating and let you now what he would like you to start putting in his lunch box. Trust me because i went through that last year with my daughter when she was in the kindergarted and now i have another one starting kindergarten this year and another starting next year. My oldest daughter did me that same way and now she knows wha tto tell me that she wants and how much of it to put in there because she knows what she wants to eat and how much of it she wants so that it will last her until she gets home from school, but i should warn you when he gets home from school no matter what he eats at school he may be hungry enough to eat an sdult sized meal because they run and play off everything that they eat at school especially if he decides to eat the school lunches because they give kids only a certain amount of food because of waht studys show what kids their age should eat and how much they shuld have of it. They never give kids enough food because they say that their little stomachs can only hold a certain amount of food but that is wrong because my daughter is 6 now and will be 7 in september and she eats almost as much as i do and she is not over weight or under weoght she is just right for her age and i was told that by her doctor because i had her checked because she eats so much but they said that is because she is a growing girl and she is tall so she has a lot of room for food and she will tell me if she doesn't want anymore because she is old enough to know when she is full enough to stop eating. She is very slim but eats like a teenager that is in sports and they said that is fine as long as she doesn't start to gain weight very fast which she doesn't. So don't worry i think he will let you know because he is not a baby anymore and he can tell you what suits hm perfectly especially when it comes to the fruit cups and things like that, i would suggest you keep asking him too and also ask him is someone asking him for his food at school if you think that he is wanting to take more than you think he is really eating because some kids parents can't afford the things that your son may take everyday and the kids of those parents tend to ask others that do have it if they an have some if their food and some bully kids will just take it without asking and your son may just be asking for more so that he can get to eat something too. Good luck!!!

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