Son not eating lunch

gingin_2

CH27 wrote: »

I'm concerned that anger & frustration seems to scream through your post OP but not concern.

The OP seems concerned to me, why else would she bother to write the thread? I would be angry if I found a weeks worth of sandwiches rotting under a bed. Laura realises that the punishments aren't working, so has come here to ask advice. Isn't that enough?

Laura82_2

melancholly wrote: »

I think it's very harsh to jump to the conclusion that the parents don't give their child attention. It's an option, but I would guess that parents who don't care about their kids don't try to fix it for months and don't come asking for help. This just seems really really harsh......... No need to make this 'you're a bad parent'..... no need at all.

Thankyou so so much, I have been reading these posts wishing I'd never asked for help. Thankyou for saying what I've been feeling aout the majority of comments! Massively appreciated.

peachyprice

Seems you're only replying to posts that say what you want to hear. I'll ask again, perhaps you could answer.

What is he having for breakfast?

Laura82_2

I'm replying to posts as I read them, in between talking to my son, washing up the dinner dishes etc etc. He has a bowl of cereal for breakfast...not enough to affect his appetite at lunchtime, but because he usually pours his own cereal and milk we are going to start doing it for him to make sure he doesn't fill up on it too much

gingin_2

Is he snacking when he gets home?

Does he walk to school by himself, is there no way he is picking up unhealthier food on his way?

Laura82_2

jakes-mum wrote: »

A quick question, does your school have a set amount of time to eat their lunches before they are kicked out for playtime? At DS's school they have 15 mins (I think it is, may be 20) to eat and my DS was not a fast eater and started to bring his lunch home (read that as too busy talking to his mates and running out of time :rotfl:).

I think they get 15-20 minutes for lunch. I was a very slow eater at school, so this was my first thought, but my son is adamant that he just isn't hungry and that if he is hungry he stays behind to finish his lunch. Maybe a combination of reasons, but who knows!!

moreofthegoodstuff

I used to bin all my food at primary school until one day they found it and showed it to the whole class and got us to take our lunch boxes out to match up the food....I felt totally embarrassed and sad (I was about 9 but I will always remember it really well)

I WAS hungry but I just didn't like the food my mum was sending me to school with, she would put the same stuff in day in day out and I'd rather bin it then eat it. After finding out what I was doing she tried to make things more imaginative and things got a little bit better.

Now as an adult I never have packed lunches, I always have something hot everyday so I wonder if that was part of the problem! I also dislike cold buffets!

So maybe try changing the foods, involving your son in the food shopping/preparing...or find out if its generally cold food and he wants hot meals?

Just to add as well, my problem is food being prepared early and then left until lunch time, I do like sandwiches etc but I would have to make them fresh at lunch time (I thought this was really odd but I have noticed quite a lot of people that do this at work) so maybe he does like the food but he doesn't like it being left in his school bag all day? Just a thought!

Laura82_2

gingin wrote: »

Is he snacking when he gets home?

Does he walk to school by himself, is there no way he is picking up unhealthier fod on his way?

He doesn't particularly snack at all, never has, and we don't have things like crisps, biscuits and chocolate in the house. I drop him at the school gates in the morning as I drive past to work, and I pick him up every day, so if he is getting unhealthy food it is from within school. There is a rather busy road between the school and our house, so he doesn't walk either direction alone as it is a very small school with no crossing patrol

Laura82_2

peachyprice wrote: »

Is he still full from breakfast?
Does he not like what you're giving him?
Are his friends all giving him bits of their school dinners?
Does the lunch hall put him off eating?
Is he too busy playing to take time to eat?

We've asked all these questions, calmly. The response is the same...he isn't hungry. I know you think I'm just plain mean to him, but if the answer to one of these questions was yes, I'd understand. The fact is he always eats his lunch at home, he ASKS for sandwiches, because he likes them, so the "not hungry" just doesn't add up.

Laura82_2

heretolearn wrote: »

I have doubts that a 10 year old lad simply is not even a tiny bit hungry after a morning at school. And it will be effecting his concentration/school work if he goes all day without food.

I totally agree with this, plus I KNOW how hungry he usually gets!! We've asked the necessary questions and as far as we can make out there hasn't been any incident (in the lunch hall) preceding this that would explain it. He has lots of friends and they all sit together, so he isn't left on his own feeling lonely at all