I don’t know about you and yours but the Lost and Tired family really struggles with feeding our boys. It’s not that we don’t have food, it’s that my kids are very sensory oriented and don’t tolerate many foods.
There’s almost a zero percent chance of the boys eating cafeteria food on any given day. They would rather go hungry.
The only solution is to pack their lunch.
Having said that, it’s far from a perfect solution because finding something that’s even remotely healthy and they’ll eat, is damn near impossible.
Some of the things we’ve tried probably makes us look like terrible parents. In truth, it’s not that we’re terrible parents, we’re desperate parents. We’re parents that are willing to think outside the box, in order to ensure that our kids eat something at lunch time.
We’ve been known to try things like marshmallow fluff sandwiches, dry Ramon Noodles and most recently, dry cereal.
The boys were eating pepperoni sandwiches for a sort while but then decided that they no longer like them.
Not only are we contending with Autism and SPD but also serious food allergies as well. These things really, really put limitations on what we can offer or what they will eat.
Feeding the boys at home can be challenging enough. Feeding them at school is sometimes impossible or at least damn near close to impossible.
Can anyone relate to this? What kinds of things do you pack your kids for lunch? Have you have to think outside the box? Please share in the comments below.
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Thomas turns 6 nxt month..he used to eat potatoes,veg,beans,meat up until he was 3 y o..then got really fussy,only eats frozen foods, waffles,pizza, wil sometimes eat pork sausages n rarely beef burgers, used to eat strawberry jam sandwiches fr school lunch, lately only eats yogurts n chocolate bicuits.his fave dinner is chips, so i make them with potatoes so he gets some sort of veg! Thomas is chocolate, jelly,biscuit,ice cream n cake mad! 🙂
Alison Moorcroft thank you. Yes it is quite challenging.
Although it isn’t one of the challenges we face with my son thankfully, I have friends who face this daily challenge of what there kids will eat, must be so hard.
Nice to know we aren’t alone. 🙂
Yes we are
Cody has eaten the same lunch everyday since pre school Peanut butter sandwich pringles chips Jucy Jucie drink box and a gogert dinner is either chicken nuggets and fries or smoked turkey legs or fried chicken the other day he did try a pork chop said it was ok but didnt want to try it again
I’m pretty much a stickler about the healthy food thing, or at least the healthier processed food options. As much as his fickleness frustrates me sometimes, I can’t imagine being in the situation that some have with their kids. We all do the best we can and sometimes, that means that your kids are eating something that is not great for them because it is all they will eat. I wouldn’t judge well meaning people who worry about your kids food choices and I wouldn’t worry about those who judge what you feed your kids. Just keeping going on, doing the best you can. The people who know you, know how much you love your kids. If you could get them to eat mostly veggies and fruits you would. What some people don’t understand is that your kids won’t eat when they are hungry if the only option is something that makes them want to throw up, they would rather starve. It is hard to explain sensory issues. I have a hard time understanding my sons sensory issues and he is my kid!
I hear ya! And, my son loves dry Ramen Noodles! I pack a lunch every day, too – usually some noodle pack, some cookie, usually nothing healthy but at least my son is eating! And, I hear ya Stephanie Roberts – let the teachers buy his food!
My sons eating habits are currently horrible. I could care less right now what others are thinking…. Including his teachers. He drinks nothing but vanilla pediasure… Around 5 cans a day on my own dime. As far as solids are concerned, he will only eat chicken strips from Chick Fil A. We go there on average about 3 times a week. I would take him every day if the budget allowed. The owner of the Chick Fil A we go to even raised money and had 18 employees show up to walk on my sons team . I had t shirts made for the walk, and enough wanted to support us that the owner asked if he could get the logo on the back of the shirts so his employees could opt to wear the t shirt rather than their uniform for the month of April. He even paid the extra charges for adding the logo onto his employees shirts.We have spent hundreds of dollars every month trying new foods. At this point, if he wants to sit down and eat.a handful of lard, guzzle a Mountain Dew and finish it off with
I can relate. Before I gave up on public school and began homeschooling I would have my son pick out what he wanted or thought he wanted, for lunch the night before. Sometimes it was just a cut up hotdog and a slice of cheese. Other times it might be some pepperoni slices and an applesauce. It was whatever worked for that moment in time. Even still, nine times out of ten the lunch came back home untouched, not because of disliking his own lunch but because the crap that the other kids were eating, a.k.a. the school lunch, made him nauseous to watch them eat . No one ever dared to question my sons lunch. Did I feel guilty? Nope because we had reached appoint where my son was losing weight so rapidly that we fed him anything he was willing to eat.
I have the dry cereal thing and fortunately it's worked in the past. Now he's eating honey roasted turkey on wheat bread with a bottle of water and a propel packet, and some chips. I'm also stuck in the 'what will he eat vs what's good for him' as well. If his teachers feel he's not eating well enough, then they can buy his food.
My son will eat a PB sandwich or a pizza lunchable. I send a bag of mini-chips or gold fish crackers, water and a granola bar every single day. 🙂
I was sending my son with Yogurt for a while, then, he suddenly decided it was disgusting. Next cereal is disgusting. And my son is a much better eater than most kids actually but, my frustration comes when he suddenly rejects a food.
Do your kids like soup? Even soup that is maybe blended so it is smooth. I have done a couple of soups the last week and it is working well – just at home, not school lunch. It is cool because up until last year, he didn’t like hot liquids, so no soup or tea. He drank his first cup of tea yesterday – YEAH! Anyway, with soup, it is pretty easy to sub out ingredients that are not tolerated well and put in ingredients that they would normally reject.
anything with calories so he doesnt lose any more weight
Every day, I send Jack to school with a bottle of water, a can of PediaSure, a Rice Krispies Treat, and some baked BBQ potato chips. Level of guilt–0. Because I would LOVE to see how much better ANYONE could parent my child than I already am! At this very moment, both Jack and I have sinus infections. When he gets this sick, I increase his sinus rinses to at least 3 times per day. (Yep, have to perform sinus rinses on a 7 year-old child who is testing at 21-months old, mentally.) He gets physician-prescribed Sudafed around the clock. Delsym? Check! And still, he's too sick to go to school. And I'm too sick to properly care for him. SO DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT YOUR BOYS' FOOD AVERSIONS!!! Just tell the school: "Hey, welcome to the World of Autism!" and feel NO GUILT!!!