Bag Lunch Ideas for Picky Eatter

I know where your coming from. My oldest is this way!!! Eat a turkey sandwich? There is NO WAY in heck!!!
The things he does like...Goober sandwiches (peanut butter & jelly mixed together in a jar & it's really CHEAP at Walmart) he'll also eat some Lunchables, applesauce, pudding snackpacks, carrots & ranch, pretzles, sliced apples & carmel sauce, fruit rollups & fruit snacks. I have a hard time finding him a "main course" so we usually go with a sandwich, or a piece of pizza.
Good Luck!!!

Hello M., My name is R. and I think its perfectly normal for your son to be a picky eater. My daughter is facing the same situation at her new school. My suggestion is to go to the local Albertsons and get a few of the make it your self pizza lunchables as well as some of the little dunkers chicken nugget lunchables. Get a few boxes of frechtoast stix with the individual syrup packs and some fruit cups. They also have chocolate covered granola bars and, I would also get some of the other healthier snack foods like corn chips and such. You might even try some cornuts. Then all you need to do is alternate the lunchables with the other items so that he gets as balanced of a diet as possible. If your still concerned about his nutrition their is always those pediasure shakes that you can send along as a beverage to make sure he is getting all his vitamins. I wish you and your sons the best of luck.
Sincerely, R.

That is not an unreasonable list......actually, I would do what the other 2 recommended...variety and asking others what they had and if what the others had that looked yummy, helping shop for lunches is fun as well....Also, while all of this change is going on, I would heat nuggets and chicken and wrap them in aluminum foil....some familiarity will be nice....I actually did the dinosaur chicken tenders from costco.....Good Luck...try not to project the worry....if he is hungry, he will eat just about anything you put in there:)
G.

YOu can pretty much pack what you describe in his lunch box. A slice of leftover cheese pizza packed next to a frozen juice will hold nicely, and an apple that is uncut will also hold up well.

He can eat cold pasta (try tossing spaghetti with corn and peans and whatever sauce he wants) and keep it cold by packing it with a frozen juice cup/box of 100% juice packed in a ziploc baggie. That works like an ice pack. As the day goes on, the juice melts, but keeps the food cold.

Ask him what he wants to take, and have him prepare a "practice one" so he can understand what it will be like.
Good luck!

My daughter was the same way and I just had to make whatever I had in the house and she ate it all. Something about being at school with other kids makes them just eat, even if they won't at home.

I have a friend that has to send those dino shaped chicken nuggets (you know the ones from costco) to school everyday because of this same thing. Silly how he never gets tired of eating the same thing, & kinda wierd to have cold chicken nuggets too. But I guess kids don't care too much about that. Just look at those lunchables with cold hotdogs & pizza. Maybe that might be an idea though, kids love those things.

My 9 year old daughter is a very picky eater too.What I do is I take her to the store with me usually Fred Meyers since I work there she loves going there.I ask her what she would like for her lunch,and usually it is like go-gurts and stuff like that,She will not eat cheap fm yogurt she does not like it.So I showed her that her go-gurts which have more sugar and less in them are just the same as Yoplait yogurt who makes go-gurts.She agreed to try it and she atually likes it.So maybe you can take him with you to the store and try what I did.

I don't know just a thought might work for ya. Good Luck Shan

Just because you think he won't try anything new, doesn't mean that he won't actually try anything new (especially when you're not around)! I worked in a child development center when I was in college, and I was always extremely amused at the things children were able and willing to do that their parents would have sworn on a stack of bibles that their child wouldn't!

I'd recommend sticking at least one new food into each lunch. (Perhaps a half of a sandwich that he would ordinarily refuse to eat. If you have cookie cutters, you can give him a REALLY cool looking sandwich that his friends will be especially interested in!) Then, make sure he has some portions of (healthy) food that he does enjoy so he doesn't go completely hungry.

M., at least your list contains foods that represent a balanced diet, so worst case scenario, I'd give him fish sticks, chicken nuggets, spaghetti or cheese pizza with veggies and fruit every day.

You could ask him every evening what the other kids had in their lunch bags. If he says something like "Bobby had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" You could say, "Oh, that sounds yummy, would you like to try that in your lunch tomorrow?"

Another suggestion, I find that my kids get really excited about food if I let them help me prepare it. So, maybe you could have him help you pack his lunch and do something fun like draw faces on the bread with the peanut butter, then pack the "fun" sandwich that he helped make.

Good luck.

Many kids have to be served a new food 10 - 14 times before they'll even try it. One of my boys is trying to be a very picky eater, but I serve him a small portion of everything the rest of us have. It's a slow and gradual process, but we have really expanded the things that he likes. (And frankly, if all he would eat was chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, etc. I darn sure wouldn't have any of those items in my house. They are not healthy food choices anyway - and if they're in the house there is no incentive to try new things.)

My oldest just started Kindergarten, too. And his bag lunches have been a bit of a challenge because I don't want to give him the same thing every day. I give him a variety and I just make a note of what he brings back home at the end of the day. (Today I learned that a ham sandwich cut with a cookie cutter shaped like an airplane was a HUGE hit!)

Hi M.. You might try this site: http://homecooking.about.com. Type in School Lunches in search box. OR http://www.amazingmoms.com. Type in Bag lunches in search box.
Hope this helps a little.
Warm Regards,
S.

pack something new like a pb and jelly sandwich with things you know he will eat like chips and fruit. If he is hungry he will eat it. And you will find out when he comes home from school if it is still in his lunch bag or he'll tell you. It is a way to make him eat more of a variety of food so he wont be so picky.