Need Lunch Ideas for a Very Picky Eater

hi there K., ahh im so sorry but glad to here im not the only one.! my son is 6 and in 1st grade. you might try to let him help youdo the grocery shopping, so he can see whats out there, and also prepare his lunches. careful letting him buy his lunch, i let my son buy his lunch last year for convenience, (i was preg and didnt have much ambition)lol) however, come to find out the luches werent very nutritional, yeah they cover every food group but its not like we eat at home, i try to feed whole grain and lots of fresh produce and im a label reader, no msg or cornsyrup(its in EVERYTHING!) anyway he never used tobe picky and now he is maybe an age thing but none the less i try to feed my kids the best i can. best of luck! also try googling kids lunch ideas, another tip, kids love dips, i save little packs of ketchup,ranch, honey, duck sauce(i know cornsyrup,.. they cant eat right all the time and dips are minor:) ... when we eat out,theyr easy and fit in his lunch pail and cost nothing! happy shopping!

My son won't eat pb and j anymore, so the days that he doesn't buy lunch at school (luckily they have good food and a ton that my son likes), I make him pasta salad. Sometimes, I add carrots, cucumbers, but if your son liked it, you could add, cheese, meat, or whatever else he likes. Also, what about yogurts, or pb crackers or cheese and crackers. I find it a struggle to give my son a variety in his lunch, but he seems to want the same things over and and over, so if they don't care, i guess we shouldn't either.

I WISH my son would have stayed on his PB&J kick! Now he's on an oatmeal kick. What a pain in the neck! He also was on a ham and cheese kick for awhile. I don't know why he doesn't like a little variety. I have read that cheese and crackers is a good thing to try. Or maybe mac and cheese in a thermos, or chicken nuggets. i don't know if it would stay hot enough but it's worth a shot. Good luck!

I agree with all the moms who suggest a Thermos. When I learned my PBJ-loving son's school does not allow peanut butter (the horror!) I bought a wide mouth, short Thermos at Walgreens and now I pack all sorts of things in there: soup, pasta, meatballs, chicken fried rice, even chicken nuggets. It all stays pretty warm. Good luck!

Does he like any hot meals you make at home? Thermos brand thermos's actually stay hot until lunch time. If he likes anything that you make as a hot lunch at home, maybe he could have that at school. My kids like cheese and crackers with cut veggies and then a treat. It doesn't sound like enough to eat to me, but then I realized they talk half of lunch and don't eat all they bring anyways. You are lucky your school allows PB, ours won't due to allergy concerns.

Ha! I'm sorry to laugh, but I used to teach a couple of these guys. They've all survived, despite their devotion (obsession?) to pb&j. :)

First off, maybe don't ask! Just slip some new stuff in, and let him check it out! How about pb on celery sticks? How about carrot sticks, with a little container of ranch dressing to stick them in? (It's hard to resist dipping...) Sliced fruit usually works, as well as a baggie of grapes. Spagettios in a thermos. (Not the healthiest, I know. But it changes things up a bit!) Mini bagel with cream cheese. Chunks of cheese. Trail mix (add in a little chocolate, so he'll eat the fruit and nuts!)

Hope at least one of these works?? Good luck. My 13 month old is terribly picky now too, and I'm hoping he grows out of it......

what we did with my son and the doctor is to introduce no thank you bites to try new things. When he didn't want to do it we would tell him that the doctor says that he had to and reluctantly he would try it and now eats alot more of a varity of foods. good luck and give it time. L.

Both my children are picky eaters and are not fans of the school lunches. At times, my son will bring yogurt with fresh fruit &/o ganola . My daughter will bring chicken strips and french fries, apple slices, cut up fruit, snack size popcorn, cheese strings, apple sauce and twice a week they can buy a snack which are healthy and a treat.
At Target , I found a terrific lunch thermos that heats up in the microwave and they report it is still warm enough by lunch to eat.
Good luck, S.

I grew up eating only PB sandwiches too! My daughter won't eat any sandwiches. She will eat salami & ham sometimes, just plain in a baggie. I use small cookie cutters to cut them into cute shapes & she usually eats them. I think the small pieces are easier to eat. You can also cut sandwiches up with cookie cutters. She also likes go-gurts that I freeze & then they thaw by lunch time. We also do the soft frozen pretzels, they thaw by snack time. I have tried leftover pizza as well. I figure cold pizza will prepare her for the college years. Good luck. Let us know if you come up with some other ideas.

Will he eat leftovers? My son's PT suggested a Thermos container (buy Thermos, they are better and stand up to the rigors of buses...) and heat leftovers in the morning and put them in. I will be in the same boat next year - my DS likes pasta for lunch (leftovers, or Chef Boyardee) and I'm not sure how that will work next year when he needs to pack a lunch for school. The other thing I've done is pack a sandwich, but in pieces - meat in one baggie, bread (usually a hot dog roll) in another, fruit in a third - because he'll eat a "sandwich" that way...
HTH

Hi K.,
I discovered Laptop Lunches. It's a bento box lunch box & their website has a gallery of thousands of creative ideas. I finally bought my daughter one for Christmas and now she eats pretty much all of her lunch. Check out their website: laptoplunches.com.
Alexis

My older son (3 1/2 years old) is a very picky eater too!! He will eat waffles thought. We buy eggo minis and he loves them. He doesn't mind if they are cold so maybe you could try that. Another thing is the packages of crackers and cheese--I realize this is not a very hearty lunch, but it may be something to try. Yogurt and ceral/fruit bars may work too. Best of luck!

can you make him eat in the lunchroom more often? I found out all kinds of things my daughter would eat if she could get it on a tray and pay for it. Also you could tell him he might not always be allowed to eat pb+j at school. This year no one in my daughter's first grade class can bring anything in with peanut butter. They have a kid with a severe allergy so I have to be very careful what I send in for snacks. One of the third grade classes is like that too. Good luck.

Be grateful he'll eat PBJ! I have one that just eats chips and crackers at school, then has a late lunch of PB toast when he gets home. Nothing else has been eaten when I've sent it! (If you haven't tried it, you might want to send just a half a PBJ sandwich, alongside something new, and see if he eats it. My picky guys will usually say no when asked, but sometimes will eat it when it's just put in front of them.