Full-day K moms

[mrsg123]

If your child is at school all day, Is your child eating his/her lunch? My dd is just too distracted and is not eating her lunch while at school. Any suggestions are welcome.

[mmmomof2]

We're not in full day, but I'm in the same boat with Dd's snack. She doesn't get home until 1:30 so it's important she eats enough snack. Someone mentioned possibly asking the teacher to talk to the aides monitoring the lunch tables, but I haven't yet. I've also cutback the carby snacks in her lunch so she'll get some of the protein.

[savan]

DD is not eating lunch either. She is kid #2 and I remember DS not eating lunch at first. Some days he'll still come home with a full lunch box. For DD, I try to make sure to pack things that are easy to open and eat. She does not yet have the courage to ask for help. I also make sure she is well fed in the morning before school and have a full snack ready at pick up. It's just going to take time.

[mollybrown]

No. I expected him to eat the fruit/snacks and leave the entree regularly, but surprisingly, he's not even eating the stuff i know he loves. He's come home with some of his favorites such as apple sauce pouches and cheddar bunnies. They have a morning and afternoon snack, so I don't worry about it. He's eating enough to get him through the day. He does sometimes get to the car and polish off whatever is left in his lunch box after school.

[stealthmom]

I honestly never worried about this. As long as he ate something at lunch I would be happy.

For sure though my kid eats a lot after school.

[jena]

DD did this in kinder and first. Heck, she does it sometimes in 2nd. Offer a big breakfast, big after school snack. If they get a snack in school, try skipping morning snack. Some foods take longer to eat either because they take longer to chew or because the kid plays with it (or maybe that's just my kid?) So no fruit snacks as a treat because they take a long time to chew. When it was really bad I had to stop sending lunchables (homemade or boxed) because she would take forever arranging things. I also worked on convincing her and her BFF that they can eat while the other is talking, so that way they both eat something!

[8675309]

Both my 4 1/2 yr old and 2 1/2 yr old are in full day preschool. The school serves their own food for lunch and snacks which is awesome. Then I get a daily report of how much (if any) they ate. Usually my DD eats 1/2 her portion but my DS eats double. They put a X2 by the box where lunch is marked and I crack up everyday.

[Marmee]

She eats most of it but we don't pack much.

[zeewifeandmama]

She eats all of her snack ( usually apples & yogurt or zucchini bread & apples) but about half of her lunch ( usually sandwich and cookies or sandwich and almonds) I'm fine with it, she snacks when she comes home. For her it's a combo of being a Chatty Cathy and not quite having enough time to eat.

[penguingrrl]

The first week or so she was eating increasingly less. The first day she ate a decent amount, the second day she ate less, the third day she barely ate at all. So I told her she had to eat before she could talk to her friends and she hasn't brought much food home since. So either she's throwing it all out (which I doubt, she's not that sneaky) or she's eating her lunch like she's supposed to.

[meltoine]

ds1 is in full day preK. He eats breakfast at 7, they give a snack at 9:30, and he gets lunch at 10:45. He is usually not hungry at lunch and most of his food comes back home. I have started giving him lighter lunches and then giving hima substantial snack when he gets home.

[mainelyfoolish]

DD is in first, but she did this last year in K, too. The teacher even called me one day because I sent so little food to school with her for snack and lunch. I told her it was because DD wasn't eating it and I was tired of having food get ruined and wasted being carried back and forth from school every day. So far in first grade, DD has been eating a peanut butter sandwich. She eats half for snack and the other half at lunch (with milk from the cafeteria). Anything else I send comes home. What can I do? Nothing. If she gets hungry enough, she'll figure out how to stop talking and eat at lunch.

[Deleted]

My BFF is having this issue with her son. He is eating some this week but the first couple of weeks he basically ate nothing. I think they just need time to adjust to everything.

[mrslisa]

DD2 is scarfing down her entire lunch during snack lol. I have to pack her a lot of food! My older two were not as good about eating lunch as she is. I think part of it was being distracted and part of it was that I wasn't there to tell them they had to eat their sandwich/fruit. I started packing foods that weren't as healthy but I knew they would eat and their eating improved.

[6fsn]

He's hit and miss. When he gets home from school he goes straight from the bus to play so he must be getting enough.

[Deleted]

I spend a lot of time with Kindergartners and rest assured it's entirely normal. 1 in 10 kids actually finishes (or even really starts) their lunch.

Most eat snack like crazy though.

They are fine all day if it makes you feel better.

[imojoebunny]

Can you send or have him buy milk at school? It is a quick way to get protein and fat to keep him going. My son has a hard time in his short, chaotic lunch period eating enough, but he can suck down the milk.

My DD eats in her class room, which is 100% calmer, and she does much better.

[zacksbride]

mine must be the odd ball. he pretty much eats all of it. but he's there from 8:30-5:30, so if he didn't he'd starve! he's also been in daycare from 6:30-6P before this for years, so he's pretty used to the boxed lunch, eat at school deal.

[elocrates]

IME, this gets better. I still don't pack as much as he would normally eat at home and I don't pack anything that might take longer to eat in general (things that require a lot of chewing or a lot of utensil use). DS1 (now in 1st grade) eats breakfast right when he wakes up in the morning. I always pack him a fruit to eat right before school starts (he goes to before school care).

Today he had 1/2 PB&J (one piece of bread), peas, and a pear. He ate everything except for 1/4 of the pear. I always cut his fruit up as it takes him much longer to eat a whole fruit/ around the core or pit.

[mrsg123]

Thanks, all! It will hopefully get better! They get snacks in class so hopefully that helps her have something at least.