Packing lunches for toddler daycare

KayteeGee · November 2013

I have to switch daycares (my office is moving - I cannot do the roundtrip to stay at the current center). I'm sad about this, but toured two places today that seem lovely. The one I prefer requires kids bring their own lunch.

And that is my stumbling block.

What do you send for lunch for a 2 YO?

DS will be 3 at the end of Feb. He apparently "eats anything" at his current daycare (where lunch is provided). At home he is SIGNIFICANTLY more picky.

Here's the thing. I can't cook. For dinner at our house it's something grilled (DH) or something reheated from frozen or a grocery store "ready to make" meal. We don't get home until 6:30 and I've (honestly) never learned to cook. We don't eat out but I wouldn't call what we do "homemade" Some days DS will eat his veggies, fish fillets etc... but most days it's pasta (tortellini with meat inside), meatloaf (he loves it), fish/chicken nuggets (whole foods but still, I know that's not good). Lunches at home on weekends are usually mac & cheese and hot dogs (with sides, of course, but still... not good, I know). I've never been able to get the kid to eat a sandwich!

My concerns are two-fold:
1. What on earth do you pack for a 2 yo?
2. I already have a TON of food guilt. By packing him lunches of "the same old stuff I know he likes" am I taking away the one opportunity he has (and uses!) to try new things?? Even if it doesn't translate to him trying them at home??

Help?? I really do prefer this daycare over the other...

SunAndRain · November 2013

My daughter loves munching on garbanzo beans. Straight from the can. Very healthy. No muss, no fuss!
I heat a small sweet potato in microwave for 3 minutes ( prick with fork first), chop on to bite size pieces and add butter. She loves it.
When DH grills I'll ask him to make extra and I send chopped grilled chicken.
As for veggies, I'll send peas but DD often doesn't eat them, or leaves a lot over.
I found a small container on amazon that keeps food warm for four or so hours. Otherwise an ice pack in a lunch cooler!
Hope that helps!

KayteeGee · November 2013

This is SO helpful.
DS loves garbanzo beans as well.
I wish I could get him to eat grilled chicken.

Ugh, the food guilt is THE WORST. I could never be a SAHM because I SUCK at all things domestic (really, I'm not kidding).

shannm · November 2013

Make extra of dinner and send that. Also, we do grilled cheese, banana and sunbutter wraps sliced into wheels, veggie pancakes made with chickpeas or beans and carrots and sweet potato, diced turkey breast and cheese, pasta with pesto (make a big batch of spincach or kale pesto, freeze one use cubes), steamed veggies, fruit, yogurt, string cheese..... Don't sweat it. You don't have to cook to send healthy and balanced lunches.

iverske9 · November 2013

We do a banana, apple slices, string cheese, organic apple sauce, sometimes crackers, goldfish, or other fruit. For lunch we switch it up from pb &Js, regular sandwiches, leftover dinner, etc. Go on pinterest they have tons of ideas.

Iblamethebeer · November 2013

The great thing about toddlers is that they like simple foods, so you can let them try a lot of stuff without doing a lot of "cooking."

If this is overwhelming for you, I would stay away from pinterest and any kind of recipe because that's just going to complicate things.

try:

- yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, different kinds of cheese cubes, babybel cheese, tiny mozzarella balls.

- baby carrots, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, snow peas or raw green beans with hummus, herb cheese spread, or cream cheese (or celery sticks in peanut butter, which they even sell in single serve containers now).

- frozen peas, carrots, corn, green beans, lima beans, or edamame. baby carrots or broccoli steamed in the microwave with a little bit of butter. My kids LOVE frozen vegetables, served right out of the freezer. I don't get it, but most of their friends/cousins seem to dig it as well.

- any kind of cut fruit, frozen fruit balls, frozen berries/cherries, little cups of fruit packed in 100% juice, natural applesauce packs, raisins, dried apricots, dried apples, dried whatever-else-you-can-find-without-added-sugar.

- any kind of whole grain cracker, whole grain cereal, whole grain waffle, whole wheat bagel, sandwich on whole wheat bread, etc.

Also, when I first started packing lunches I gave myself "Frozen Fridays" as a little bit of a break. Every Friday the kids got an Earth's Best frozen kids meal with a piece of fruit (and also a yogurt and a second fruit, since I was packing for snacks as well).

KayteeGee · November 2013

Thanks.

This is actually REALLY overwhelming for me.
What if he won't EAT this? I mean, really - the kid won't eat a sandwich...

And, man alive I am the worst mother in the world for this to be so daunting, aren't I?

Sadly, the center won't heat anything so even if I wanted to (and I wouldn't) I couldn't just send him with the earth's best frozen Elmo pasta (which he loves and is the babysitter go-to).

I honestly don't know how anyone has time for this.

Annd... this is why I can't have more kids. I actually can't do this stuff. sigh.

Iblamethebeer · November 2013

No re-heating is rough.

I don't think you're bad at this stuff, I think picky eaters are really hard.

I thought I was awesome at food because my daughter would eat anything. Then I did all the same stuff with my son and he's super picky.

What I do with him is send one thing every day that I know he will eat (for him that's PBJ or cheerio/raisin/peanut trail mix). After that I improvise with different fruits/vegetables/proteins. A lot of things come back home uneaten, but we keep trying and he does warm to new foods. The key is keeping him not-hungry-but-not-full. Old daycare would worry that he was hungry so give him goldfish or graham crackers every time he didn't eat his lunch. So.... he never ate his lunch. When presented with fewer choices, the carrots and cucumbers started getting little nibbles. Similarly, I've learned that if I want him to eat dinner I need to cut off all snacks except vegetables by 5 pm.

dizzycooks · November 2013

I send similar things to what I take for lunch. Today she had slices of turkey, steamed broccoli, carrots, diced cheese, and whole grain pretzels. I don't often send sandwiches, I think they are boring, but I send the fixings and she can pick apart what she wants. I try to send a grain, two veggies and a protein for lunch every day. My favorite 'easy' meals include potstickers from trader joes. Edamame might be a hit for you since he likes garbanzo beans. Both are an excellent sources of iron and protein so you just need something for him to dip in them. DD loves pita bread so I send that a lot with a spread of hummus or sunbutter. Daycare won't reheat so stuff needs to be ok cold or goes in a thermos.

emberlee3 · November 2013

I wouldn't stress about it too much. Will the DCP heat it up? I used to pack lunch for DD (age 1). I sent grilled chicken, rice, pasta with sauce, black beans and rice, veggies, leftovers, etc. If you are worried about variety, try sending one new thing, along with a couple of favorites. Do the best you can.

Annabelle81 · November 2013

My two year old will eat almost anything wrapped up in a wheat tortilla: turkey or rotisserie chicken and cheese, black beans and veggies, cream cheese and strawberries, peanut butter and banana. Once in a while I make some kind of pasta bake on Sundays and use leftovers for lunches for the week.

ccam · November 2013

I would also still try to introduce new things that he won't eat at home when you pack his lunch. I'm surprised how much DS will eat at DC, maybe it's just because all the other kids are eating?? So do a few things you know he will eat and then add a little of something new. He might surprise you.

litzo27 · November 2013

I do cook a lot at home but I don't send home-cooked stuff for lunches - I save that for dinners

I send my 2yo and 5yo with the same lunch to their schools. Generally I do the same 5 dishes every week (1 per day):
- frozen organic chicken nuggets
- frozen organic fish sticks
- pasta (with cheese for older, without for younger since he doesn't eat it)
- PBJ sandwich (or almond butter or sunflower butter instead of PB. That's the only sandwich they'll eat)
- scrambled eggs
In addition to the main dish they always get 1 fruit (cut up apples, pears, plums, grapes, pretty much anything), 1 veggie (raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber spears, steamed peas, green beans, veggie pouches) and sometimes yogurt or cheese in their lunchbag.

rubber_chicken · November 2013

We send lunch and 2 snacks for my 17 month old - they don't do reheating at her center either. We have a packit freezable lunch bag (built in ice packs) for the stuff that needs to be kept cold, and a large wide mouth food thermos for foods that need to be kept hot.

In the packit, we send the same thing every day:

1 veggie pouch
1 fruit pouch
1/2 individual container yogurt (actually coconut milk yogurt)
1 tupperware of cheerios
1 tupperware of cut up fruit

Obviously we mix up the pouch flavors, yogurt flavors, type of fruit we send etc. They use this for her two snacks and the side for her lunch.

For her warm lunch, we either heat up some of last nights leftovers in the microwave before putting it in the thermos, or we cook something easy in the morning. Our frequent go-tos are:

pasta with meat sauce
pasta with veggies and meat
rice with veggies and meat

For veggies, we will roast some squash or root vegetables with olive oil, or steam some frozen broccoli. mixed veggies etc. For meat, we'll bake a frozen chicken cutlet, or cut up some deli ham, or heat up some fish sticks.

ETA: I should have mentioned, she doesn't eat everything we send! If we're lucky, she'll eat half the hot meal, one of the pouches, a few cheerios, and all the yogurt (always all the yogurt). Most days she lives on air, but at least once a week she has a hungry day where she eats EVERYTHING, so we always pack for a hungry day.

lujain · November 2013

My kid is picky and won't eat a sandwich either. I pack 3 or 4 things so she has some options. If she decides not to eat her lunch, our center offers healthy snacks throughout the day so she won't starve.

DD's lunches include things like:

shredded cheese

sliced apples, pears, grapes, or strawberries

whole bananas

raisins or dried cranberries

dried fruit strips

whole grain crackers

rolls

whole wheat pretzels

shredded rotisserie chicken

chicken nuggets

leftover beef

corn (from a can)

baby carrots

No mom wants her kid to go hungry. My kid was growth-restricted (undernourished) in utero, so I always make sure to have something she usually eats. Even if she doesn't eat her lunch one day, she'll be okay. Unless your kid is failure to thrive or has some over medical condition, it won't be the end of the world if he chooses not to eat one meal.

Mustardseed2007 · November 2013

DS's DC has a microwave in the classroom, but everything I send him can be eaten cold or they can also be heated up if the teacher chooses.

My low cook entrees, all using the microwave or toaster:

Chicken nuggets-I cook them so they aren't frozen in the microwave (applegate farms has hormone/anti biotic and gluten free chicken nuggets)

Cheese & bean dip quesadillas (fold a tortilla in half and melt cheese in the microwave)

Turkey dog (you have to quarter this, I buy the applegate farms brand that's nitrate free.

hummus with veggie chips ( I buy premade hummus and a bag of veggie chips)

Veggie paddies (I cook in the microwave and cut them into triangles)

Toasted wheat round or English muffin with pizza sauce and melted cheese (toast the bread in the toaster and then microwaved to melt the cheese).

Also just deli meat rolled up with a slice of cheese to go with it.

Also veggie chips with guacamole. You can buy guacamole premade, but I do make this with lemon juice, salt and cut up tomatoes.

--------------------

For sides I often do canned or defrosted (microwave) vegetables like peas, carrots, green beans or corn (yeah I know, not a veggie).

I also do cut up fresh fruit like strawberries, grapes (I quarter them), blue berries (not cut up), or just a whole banana.

If the entre doesn't have cheese in it sometimes I put in a thing of cottage cheese or yogurt.

For the chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and veggie paddies I also put in dipping sauce like ketchup or bbq sauce or mustard. You can use prepackaged ones from fast food restaurants or I have a small container that I put the organic ketchup and mustard in (so you don't have that high fructose corn syrup).

preggersin2011 · November 2013

There are tons of other replies but I used to send LO with lunch every day. 3 of 5 days were 'frozen' made ahead meals that i heated up in the microwave and packed in a thermos.(gotta preheat the thermos with hot water for 5 mins and make sure it is a thermos brand). The meals in the freezer are chili, mac & cheese, chowder, pasta. I found it easier to shop once a month cook everything up and then freeze it in ziplock bags. i put cauliflower, squash, and ground chickpeas in the mac & cheese- carrots/sweet potato/celery/cod in the chowder- beans/meat/tons of veggies in the chili- broccoli/zuc/carrots/peppers/etc in the pasta with red sauce and cheeses.
The other two days I would send in a cold lunch of yogurt/fruit or fruit/beans/cheese stick and the other day i do fruit/ sunbutter & jelly sandwich, left overs like cold pizza.
LO's day care isn't allowed to microwave any of their food.

kanga1622Wed220857 · November 2013

The main dish items we send cold for DS1 are:
Cheese and crackers
Cubed ham
Diced pork loin with BBQ sauce
Sliced chicken that was either poached or grilled
Quesadilla
Pasta with pesto, Parmesan, or Italian dressing
Leftover homemade pizza
Quinoa with corn and ham or chicken

Main dish items we send hot in a thermos:
Tator tot casserole
Spaghetti
Sloppy joes
Homemade veggie soup
Homemade chili with shredded cheese

kanga1622Wed220857 · November 2013

We use a PlanetBox lunch box so DS1 also gets fruit, veggies, and cucumbers with green peppers every day. Then we fill the main dish portion with something from the list above or lettuce for salad if we need to use up lettuce.

tbmadeamistake · November 2013

I send leftovers all the time. Pasta, I'll make extra chicken nuggets/fries, whatever veggie we had, chicken, pulled pork, potatoes...really whatever we had at home. Some days if there aren't leftovers I'll send in a PB&J. She also always gets fruits, both fresh and the juice packed fruit cups. She eats way more stuff at daycare than she'll eat at home, but it doesn't matter that I send it in. You may find the same with your LO. If I want her to try something new, I send it to daycare first. She does awesome there.

mrsshawnavanb · November 2013

DD's daycare requires parents pack lunches and I love it! I'm lucky and she's not a super picky eater but here are some of my go-to items:

MAIN--

PBJ

Turkey or ham slices rolled with cheese (likes it better this way than as a sandwich)

Pasta either with butter or sauce

Cheese Quesadilla

Leftovers from dinner

SIDES:

Cottage Cheese

Cut up fresh fruit

Green beans with parmesan

Sweet Peas

Corn

Fruit cups (pineapple, applesauce, mandarin oranges, etc)

veggie straws

graham crackers

String Cheese

skibunny59 · November 2013

KayteeGee said:

This is SO helpful.
DS loves garbanzo beans as well.
I wish I could get him to eat grilled chicken.

Ugh, the food guilt is THE WORST. I could never be a SAHM because I SUCK at all things domestic (really, I'm not kidding).

Hey. Don't beat yourself up. I know plenty of SAHM who don't cook. Sorry, I just hate the assumption that all SAHM cook these wonderful meals for their kids and working moms feed their kids easy, frozen or already prepared food. Some SAHM cook and some don't. Just like some working moms cook and some don't.

I really like weelicious.com for recipes.

Also DD loves quesadillas. The wonderful thing about quesadiilas is you can sneak just about anything inside. She also loves just a baked sweet potato in the oven.

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Packing lunches for toddler daycare

Re: Packing lunches for toddler daycare

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