Daycare - Food ?

Daisy622

Hi - My LO will be 9 MO old in a couple of weeks; she is in Daycare and I currently make and bring food and bottle in.  Anyway, our daycare offers a menu that include breakfast, snack, lunch, snack.  I am debating on starting her on some of these menu items - it will be easier to get out of the house.  That being said, I am not sure about some of them - mac & cheese, sloppy joes, hash browns etc.  I want to make sure she eats healthy food but at the same time tries new things.  For those with similar situations, when did you start the daycare menu?  Did you vary what you did based on what they were feeding - i.e. if i don't want her to have chilly mac I would pack a different lunch.

cedenton

Do our kids go to the same DC? LOL

I basically have been doing the same thing and when he starts in the next room (this will happen in 2 weeks) they don't like for us to bring in food unless there is an allergy.

I don't love the menu, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I mean I know kids eat hot dogs, but if I made them at home they'd be Applegate All Natural. God knows what they buy there.

I should probably start him on DC menu for the next couple of weeks because the few times I've been lazy and not brought it in, they've said he didn't like what they had. Sigh...we'll see what happens, I guess.

izziebee

My kids eat the food at daycare. I realize that some items are not the healthiest however they don't serve anything that I wouldn't serve. I dealt with packing a lunch/snacks for DS1 from the time he started on table food until he was 2 and it was such a pain. I am SO grateful for the fact that our daycare provides b/s/l/s everyday!  We are not overly cautious about what our kids eat however, as long as they don't get soda or candy or a ton of sugary juice then I am okay. If however you are uncomfortable with what they serve, then pack your own. If they don't object and it works for you then go for it.

hullmanr

DS didn't start eating the DC lunches until last week (he is 11 months). The DC had me take a menu home and highlight the foods he can have. The only things that I didn't want him to have were bologna and lunchmeat because of all the preservatives and sodium. DS was slow getting into solids though, so I sent him with purees for a long time. I still pack him fruit& yogurt for breakfast.

Daisy622

Good to know, thanks for responding!  My hubby and I are on two ends of the spectrum on this, he is more hesitant I am ready to go for it (but I am the one that packs all of her stuff up to go!)

beccalee721

Daisy622 said:

Good to know, thanks for responding!  My hubby and I are on two ends of the spectrum on this, he is more hesitant I am ready to go for it (but I am the one that packs all of her stuff up to go!)

It's amazing how you and your DH can have completely different opinions because of your daily responsibilities. (I'm in the same boat on that one!) I think of this just as one PP, as long as they aren't giving my LO sugary stuff like juice and candy I'm ok with hot dogs etc. Idk about lunch meats because of the sodium content, but if it's a rare occasion then it's ok I guess. I try to think about stuff like that as if my LO was like 4-5 years old. Am I going to feed her a hot dog for lunch? If the answer is yes, then why can't she have it at 11 months when she can start eating those types of solids. Obviously she needs to have a balance of veggies and fruits, but that's just my opinion and rationalization on it. But, if you aren't happy with the quality you can always make it yourself

melody921

I'm generally not a fan of the daycare foods. When DS was at a center that provided lunch and snacks, I still packed all his food bc, like you said, I wanted him to eat healthy options, and chicken nuggets, french fries and mac and cheese weren't cutting it. Our center now only provides snacks. I let DS have them, but I'm packing for DD when she transitions to the next room because I think she's too young for a lot of the crunchy or sweet stuff they offer.

Clovesjellybeans

Our daycare (in a few months..she's still at home with me now) serves home made meals similar to what I would make her at home...so, I'm comfortable with her eating that. 

If mac and cheese, hashbrowns, etc were on the menu, i don't know that I would let her have it.  It's not bad once in a while, as a treat, but I don't think it's healthy if it's an every day occurrence.  Healthy eating habits need to be established early.  Also, I like to save the "treat meals" for weekends.  that's usually when I have time to make something a little more time consuming and a little more of an indulgence...so, if she's eating that stuff during the week, and then I make treats on the weekend, it's a recipe for disaster.

Daisy622

So we started the daycare menu - only fruits and veggies.  The fruits are fresh and the veggies are steamed - I am going to hold off on the "other" stuff until she gets a little older