Lunchbox Ideas For 18mo Going Into Daycare

[jolenje]

Hi, my 18mo DD is starting daycare next week and I was hoping for some tips on lunchbox ideas...
She eats mostly finger-food that she self-feeds and is occasionaly fork-fed foods, very rarely is spoon-fed as she likes to do it herself and it ends up on the floor...
I am hoping for some healthy and convenient ideas as to what to send in her lunchbox...
Thanks in advance!

[DALLASMUM]

What about things like she would eat at home?

just pack what she would usually eat

i find fruit always is a good thing, cracker and cheese, chicken drum sticks, mountain bread pin wheels, things like that that she can eat on her own

[MummaBear03]

Before mine went to a centre that provided food, she went to one that didn't. That was around 19 months.

I would pack 2 pieces of fruit, a hot meal for lunch, a yoghurt, a sandwich, mini lebanese cucumbers, cut into sticks, carrot, celery sticks, beans, etc. Just the things she'd normally eat at home.

Definately I wanted her to have fruit for morning tea, her hot lunch and yoghurt for lunch, the vege sticks for afternoon tea with half a sandwich, then around 4:30 (because I worked until 5:30 so we got home late) she'd have the other half of her sandwich and the rest of the fruit.

She was only there 2 days a week at that stage so giving her the same things on those 2 days (although it was always different types of fruit, a different flavoured yoghurt, different hot meal, and different sandwich) wasn't like giving her exactly the same thing every day.

On occasion I'd throw in something we've baked, or an arrowroot biscuit or something to make it different but she didn't care. I found they'd just give her the biscuit or baked sweet muffins or something for morning tea, and I didn't like that at all. I'd tell them afternoon would be better, I don't want her having anything sweet in the mornings.

I changed her to a different centre and they provided all meals, catering to different diets including her vego diet

[jolenje]

Thanks girls, some great tips there!
She will breakfast before she gets dropped off, so it's really only morning tea/lunch that I will need to provide.
At home she has lots of fruit, so that ones easy, likes the squeezie yoghurts, and will happily munch cheese cubes, butter beans, ravioli squares, cruskits with vegemite, and occasionally tiny teddies for a treat etc...
Maybe I am on the right track, but I will try some of those suggestions anyway!