how often do you feed your child pb&j for lunch?

MayDayGirl · January 2011

We recently discovered almond butter (ds is extremely allergic to peanuts) and he loves it. I put bananas on it (which he normally won't eat) and he goes to town. Sometimes I add honey or jelly. It's on whole wheat bread and the almond butter is organic with no added sugar. So it's probably pretty healthy? Though I'm not always good at knowing what is healthy and what is not.

So I am wondering how often is too often for him to eat it?

I use to always have to make meals for him for lunch, but honestly he never loves anything like he loves these sandwiches. Should I feel guilty if he eats them 5x a week?

I'm just not sure what is too much.

mrsolsenk12 · January 2011

I would say that Hayden eats PB&J....once to maybe twice a week. He would eat it every day if I let him...he loves it. However I remember this advice his pedi gave me. He said that with toddlers they will eat what they like. Try to make it as healthy as possible but if they want to eat one specific thing for one meal every day, then let them. Make up any missing "nutrients" in the other 2 meals that day.

schmoodle · January 2011

I only give Toodle lunch 3 days/week (other 4 he is at daycare) but I would say 1 of those 3 is PBJ. I'm not a huge no sugar/organic person anyways though, so I'm probably not the best judge of "heathy".

alchris · January 2011

We love almond butter here too. More accurately, Kira loves almond butter a ton. She has almond butter sandwiches maybe once or twice a week on average, but I'm sure there's been a week or two over the months when she's had it 5 times! I personally would have no problems with is as long as there were veggies as part of the meal too, perhaps even a side of additional protein, and hopefully it's on healthy bread. We have healthy bread, and I don't freak if she occasionally goes with just almond butter and bread, but if she were going to have it more often for lunch I'd insist on "supplementing" her sandwiches more. During the week her breakfasts are so carb-y, which is why I hate for bread to be a main ingredient of her lunch too often. So, I think you're totally fine, at least it would be totally fine in my house!

sommerrayne · January 2011

Another "trick" would be to serve a small serving (like half of what you'd normally ask him to eat) of chicken bits, fish, or whatever other sort of protien your household normally eats and then have a 1/4 of a sammie for him. Tell him once he eats ___ bites of chicken, he may have the sammie. Yes, "bribery" but its also varying his diet and getting nutrients he won't get just from whole wheat bread and almond butter.

MyColonyNJ · January 2011

Lil J eats it every day at school. On weekends I will usually make grilled cheese, mac/cheese or some kind of leftovers.

Cora eats it probably 3-4 times a week for lunch

dana316 · January 2011

We don't do PB&J for lunch...I'm much more of a PB for breakfast kind of girl.

We do PB on toast with a banana for breakfast about twice a week.

5 days a week is too much, IMO...I wouldn't feed anything 5 days a week. I try to cover a broad spectrum in her diet, so that we include all the nutrients she needs.

crystalgirl · January 2011

DS has almond butter and jelly maybe once a week, but I wouldn't have any problem with him having it more often. (He also might have almond butter on a whole wheat mini-bagel for breakfast once a week.) I do try to get him to have different things each day, but 3x a week for a favorite item would be fine with me. I would worry that he'd tire if it if he had it more often than that...plus a diverse diet is preferable, of course.

My DS would have chicken nuggets 7 days a week if I let him...argh!

LisaMarisa · January 2011

DS was eating PB&J every day for lunch but he ended up getting sick of it and now wont eat it at all. I did mention it to our pedi to make sure that it was ok that he was eating it every day - he said that he is getting protien from the PB, we were using the low sugar jelly and he was getting the other things he needed from the rest of his diet.

So if you're going to give it to him every day, change it up a little bit like you mentioned - bananas, honey, jelly, etc. But I think it sounds fine.

Magoy · January 2011

Audrey has a peanut allergy, too, although I'm not sure how severe. So we haven't tried any nut butters. How did you know it was ok to try the almond butter? We have some and I'd love to try it with her, but I'm scared. She has terrible reactions to eggs and I'd hate to put her though that again.

We're also in an eating funk. Lately she hasn't wanted to eat much of anything I offer her... even her old favs like grilled cheese or mac & cheese or green beans.

SS091506 · January 2011

R- gets pb&j about twice a week. Other staples that are not super duper healthy but she gets at least once week include quesadilla, pizza, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. My point is almond butter on whole wheat bread five days a week is probably much healthier then the variety of the things my LO eats for lunch.

MayDayGirl · January 2011

Magoy:
Audrey has a peanut allergy, too, although I'm not sure how severe. So we haven't tried any nut butters. How did you know it was ok to try the almond butter? We have some and I'd love to try it with her, but I'm scared. She has terrible reactions to eggs and I'd hate to put her though that again.
We're also in an eating funk. Lately she hasn't wanted to eat much of anything I offer her... even her old favs like grilled cheese or mac & cheese or green beans.

we knew he wasn't allergic to other nuts besides peanuts, but we also tried it on his skin before letting him ingest it.

choco_lab · January 2011

Probably PB&J 2x a week but he'll have PB on toast maybe 1-2x a week, too.

dundasgirl · January 2011

I used to baby-sit some kids who LOVED pb&j...I would spice it up a little by making a face on the peanut butter with apple slices, round pieces of carrot, a bean whatever...make a smiley face! or add teeth with corn, etc.

cjsbdl · January 2011

H has it twice a week when he goes to MDO. I don't like the idea of him being hungry there, and this is one of the few things I know he will reliably eat.

I try not to feed it to him otherwise, but occasionally I will give it to him when we're in a hurry to get out the door (because he chows down on it rather than picking at it, like he does many meals) or if my MIL or someone else is watching him and I don't want them to have to battle him to eat.

somethingchangd · January 2011

We don't do PB&J, but Ollie has dry pancakes (from scratch with added bran, wheat germ, applesauce & extra eggs) 5-7 days a week, so I'm not opposed to keeping 1 meal the same every day. Hell, my DH eats a turkey sandwich for lunch 5 days a week!

I would definitely try to get a side of veggies in there, though.

skoorbnibor · January 2011

I give E peanut butter with something (cheese, banana, jelly, honey, apples) at least 2x a week. I do try to mix it up with other proteins and veggies and to keep his diet colorful. I feel like that way I will be sure that he is getting all he needs

MayDayGirl · January 2011

I would like to add that obviously i am feeding him other fruits and veggies.

laura1 · January 2011

My DS doesn't like it (what kid doesn't like PB and J???). I would love it if he would eat it - it would give me another option. He went through a stage where he would eat a banana and yogurt every day...then he stopped eating both - probably got sick of them. He still won't eat banana (and it has been a LONG time), but he has gotten back into yogurt. I only give it to him 2-3 times a week now so he won't overdose on it again! So as long as he is not getting sick of it, I say go for it! As a pp said, it sounds much healthier than almost anything I can get my DS to eat.