Kid not eating his lunch!

[janetta]

Yes!
Using a cookie cutter to cut shapes out of sandwiches is awesome. I still do it sometimes..lol I'm 24.
You can eat the left over bits as a snack or breakfast too.

[fedricfort]

First of all know the choice of your child and make that kind of food for lunch. And give him guidance that lunch is necessary. Instruct the teachers that they will motivate the child for sharing lunch. It will make their friendship and eating lunch habit good.

[Zonny]

Hi all!

Originally I posted because my DS was bringing home his sandwiches, etc. Thanks to folks on this thread, I got some ideas, we send just snacks, and that's working fine.

My problem now is, many other kids get Lunch Mates or similar things for lunch - nothing personal if that's what you send to school, but with the processed meats, cheeses, etc., we just don't eat that kind of thing and I don't want to feed it to my DS. I bought some recently when they went on sale at Superstore 3/$5, you'd think I'd brought him home a pony he was so excited. But it's not something I will buy again.

What I'd love to find is a container for his lunch bag that is divided into sections like that, that I can put real food into instead of processed. I do put those things in his lunch now - cheddar cut into shapes, crackers, pieces of chicken or beef cut into shapes, etc., but they're all in separate containers. He eats these things now, but since he's gotten those darned Lunch Mates, I think if it looked more like the junk that his schoolmates get, he'd be happier with it.

Anyone know of a company that's caught on to this and makes a similar container? I don't want to pay $25 and I won't buy it at the dollar store. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[iggysbabysitter]

Zonny, look in odd places for those little sectioned boxes... Craft sections or stores will carry flat sectioned boxes meant for buttons, beads and such... Those may ot be air/water tight. Fishing section will have little boxes for fishing tackle... I found an old tupperware craft box, about 14 inches long, and 10 inches wide, and it carries 2 levels of 20 small sections. I offered this little prize to my sushi loving sister, perfect for a get together or road trip with her friends. Just make sure the item you buy is sturdy.

[slayer_glade]

I'd try Walmart first. I had these as a kid so they're definitely not new to me lol. Usually back then it was a large section for a sandwich (in your case, small foods) and then two small sections on the sides. Whatever is supposed to be a snack goes in another container (so its easy to pull at recess or in class) and lunch goes in the main one.

I don't doubt that there's a bunch of different kinds now with different size sections. Mine is just old school it was made by Rubbermaid if it helps.

[Chantel]

Sometimes it's not the actual food that's the appeal of lunchables, it's the idea. I remember the "just got a pony" feeling with those too as a kid, it was awesome.

I'd suggest not sending sandwiches ever again, they get soggy and nasty, and I agree with avoiding tuna or egg. Even if he likes them, peer pressure might make him rethink that. No kid wants to be 'that kid' with the 'stinky tuna sandwich'.

I'd propose that lunchables or similar could be a once-a-month or once-biweekly treat, provided he eats his lunches other days to an acceptable standard. They are kinda unhealthy, yeah, but he WILL look back fondly on that as an adult, and remember how hard he had to "work" to get that treat, and the anticipation of it. My mom did that with McDonalds, if I was good all week for 2 weeks at daycare when I was 3-4, every other Friday we'd get McDonalds. I tried SO HARD to be good, and sometimes cut it a bit close, but that is a fond memory for me, as are the occasional lunchables that I got.

[poppleton]

Have you looked into Bento boxes? I think they are become more popular, and if you Google you can probably find lots of ideas!

[blessedmommy]

My DS is like that! So I decided to pack him a snack lunch box. I normally include a banana, Cheerios, fruit twist when it was on sale, air popped pop corn tossed in evoo, bear paws. Sometimes a cookie as a treat. Sometimes a jam sandwich which he normally eats. I sometimes include a lecture of how it is not good to waste food, its like throwing money way...lol.

[Brynhilde]

Going through this right now and my son is four!! He used to bring his sandwiches home a month ago and it was frustrating (I hate wasting food). I find that snacks vs big meal works better, as well as making shapes of things he likes. I include lots of healthy snacks now instead of sandwiches with snacks. Thankfully, DS doesn't like Lunchables as my Father tried bringing those over but its good to get children accustomed to eating healthy food at home and school.

[abc]

heres a idea
tell him that if he eats hes lunchs every school day Mon-Thurs that he could have a lunch mate or some kind of snack on firday to keep him eating his lunchs through out the week....but be careful they might just throw it out at the school to get that one lunch

[Zonny]

Yes, I've used that bribe abc. In fact, I'm using it today just so that he'll bring his lunch dishes home from the last week! I have a strong suspicion that Monday's egg salad sandwich is going to be coming home on Thursday!

[KMammy]

Tupperware will have what you're looking for.
http://order.tupperware.ca/pls/htpro...r=P10068318000

My youngest will only eat peanut butter sandwiches, so finding a product called Wow Butter has saved me. It's peanut free toasted soy that tastes EXACTLY like peanut butter and is high in omega 3s. (The site is totally cheesy)
http://www.soybutter.com/index.html

[MeMew]

Invest in a good quality sectional lunch box BPA free. I saw some reasonably priced ones at Home Outfitters. Locks and Locks now also have that kind of bento lunch box and you can find them at WM, Zellers, etc. Amazon.ca also offers a lot of choice for nice lunch boxes. Try to find a lunch bag that holds the lunch box upright instead of sides to keep foods neat and tidy. Use lots of colours and shapes (cookie cutters are your best friend): grape tomato with shredded lectucce, cucumber, enoki mushroom, quail egg, etc for example. I also use egg molds from Japan to mold the boiled chicken egg into shapes of cars, hearts, stars. Do not limit his lunch to sandwich, crackers only. If they do not have microwave at school, it would be a good idea to invest in a lunch jar made by Tiger/Zorijitsu which can keep food hot/warm and send in soup, noodle, etc for him - great for winter lunches and he can still use them for higher grades.
I learn that my kid eats with her eyes and if her lunch contains lots of colours and cool shapes, she is very proud to show her friends and eat them all.

[Jasminenicole]

You can definitely find bento boxes at Walmart, in the section where they house all the lunch stuff (tupperware, water bottles ext.)

I was never given lunchables at school as a kid, instead my mom would always include a treat (small chocolate bar, or something like that) and we had a little tupperware container with dividers that everything was put in.. and boy all the kids were jealous of my homemade "lunchable'! It tasted so much better, than the fake stuff and your son is just in the process of learning that for himself.