5 Year Old Who Only Want to Eat Sandwiches

I wouldn't worry, she is getting different food groups but you may want to try Grilled Cheese, or Mac and Cheese-kids love it.
I only ate cereal and hot dogs for a yr-until I discovered steak. Now I eat EVERYTHING! she will be fine.

School puts all kinds of "weird" social pressures, my kids LOVE Tuna...but won't touch the stuff at school. People make comments they say. (my kids are 3rd, 4th and 5th). If "all the kids" have such and such...my kids think they have to have it to.

Keep making what she eats at least its healthy, and try a new item once or twice a week, like PB&j roll-ups (same as the sandwich but on a tortilla) or Turkey roll-ups same thing.

Kids also go through eating phases, some things are "in" some our out. As parents, we just have to keep the score card, and make sure that whatever is "in" is healthy.

My two cents worth.

Tis' the age and phase. It will pass. Don't worry, she won't go malnourished or starve.
Kids this age also like "routine" and their food choices may reflect this. For the time being.
She'll be fine, and then other food hang-ups occurs.

My daughter is now 5 going on 6 years old. She was always such a good eater and would eat anything. But since about 4-5 years old she got pickier. For example, from about 2-4 years old, she LOVED grape tomatoes... ate them like candy, straight from the box. Now however, she acts like it comes from Mars. Refuses to eat them. My girl also went through the phase of only wanting P&B.. but on English muffins. Then that phase passed. I just made sure I had enough on hand, to feed her. Then one day she switched to another "favorite" food.

Try and get this: it's a (Japanese) "bento box" lunch box..REAL fun and you can put all kinds of food in it. You can get it at Amazon.com Just put in the search word "bento box." It might entice her to try different things to eat.

The "bento box" lunch cookbooks are also real great... you can also get them on Amazon.com I have a couple of them, these very same ones. Here in Hawaii, we tend to make things like this. But your daughter might find it real "cool."
The books are:
--Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook: Fun Lunches for Kids (Spiral-bound)by Susan Yuen (Author)
--The Laptop Lunch User's Guide: Fresh Ideas for Making Wholesome, Earth-friendly Lunches Your Kids Will Love (Paperback)
by Amy Hemmert (Author), Tammy Pelstring (Author)
--Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go (Paperback)
by Naomi Kijima (Author), Laura Driussi (Translator)

You can also find the "Bento Boxes" on E-bay.

It might also entice her to try and eat different things because 1) her food would be in a new and fun type box (2) kids this age like to "show" their things to their friends whenever they have something 'new' and 'exciting.' (3) it might also encourage her because it's something you can BOTH "cook" together or like a fun project.

Good luck,
Susan

This is totally normal. My almost 5 year old only ate PB&J sandwiches for months and then one day didn't like them anymore and wouldn't eat them for months. Instead her meal choice was blueberry waffles (I got the whole grain and did not put syrup on it, only butter, or just plain). She will eat the very occasional fruit or veggie, but she seems to just eat one main thing. They won't starve and we give her a daily vitamin. As their taste buds mature, they will venture out. I've read that if you keep putting something on their plate (without forcing them to eat it or making it a battle), they will eventually try it (after the 10th time it's on the plate) so maybe add something to the plate. You're lucky she's eating turkey. Hang in there, it's very normal for this age.

Change it up using tortillas or pita bread. My son loves and would eat a plain PB sandwich every day. Kids are creatures of habit. A predictable lunch may be a securtiy thing for her in her new environment.

Let her eat sandwiches....

My 5 yo's diet consists mainly of pasta. We make them different ways at least. If I make it for dinner, she gets leftovers for lunch. So carbs is her main food group. I do make sure that she has fruit at breakfast and some veggies at dinner. The only time my dd eats a turkey sandwich is when we go to Subway, she absolutely won't eat it at home...go figure. Anyway, sounds like your daughters choices are healthy enough. Maybe you could vary her side dishes. Who knows. Eventually she'll want to try something new. My dd suddenly decided about two weeks ago to try pancakes. She didn't like them before, but now wants them all the time.
Good luck.
M.

I recommend that you consider checking out NutritionWise. This is a office of excellent nutritionist who specialize in the pediatric population. Go to ____@____.com offer a variety of workshops, including 'picky eaters'.

Your very lucky that this is what she wants to eat. I wouldnt change a thing, other then add some carrot or vegetable sticks in her lunch pail. Peanut butter has so much protien so does turkey. Consider yourself lucky, my daughter cant take peanut butter and jelly sanwiches to shcool cause someone in her class has a peanut allergy. Its such a project for me to find an alternative! Good Luck!

Have her eat with other kids who are really good eaters. Eating is such a social thing, if she can see other kids enjoying healthy food, she might be more inclined to give it a try. Can you have play dates with snacks with other kids?? Usually, when we invite kids over to play, there is a snack involved. If she goes over to someone else's house, she will be held captive to what they offer (you can clue the mom in ahead of time if you want).

How about school lunch? Don't know if your school offers something tasty or not, but you might give that a try. In my daughter's school, the majority of the kids eat school lunch, so she wants to eat it too. At her preschool, they served lunch, and everyone ate it or else they ate nothing! That is what changed her picky ways. Good luck

Do you give her a whole sandwich? Maybe you can try giving her only a 1/2 of sandwich and a small quantiy of other foods (veggies/fruit). If she is hungry enough, she'll eat whats there....hopefully.
When you are home with her, then I would offer a different food(veggie/fruit) before you give her a sandwich. Again, if she is hungry enough, she'll eat. I'm sure she'll have a fit too. But, I'm sure she will get over it. Sometimes when I feed my 17 month old new foods, I'll give her a few piece of whatever it is, and nothing else. Most of the time she tries whatever I put in front of her...Yes, I know I am very lucky.
I'll give her more and then whatever else she is going to eat.
Also, I'm sure your daughter will grow out of it eventually. She'll figure out that there are more yummy foods out there.
Do you give her whole grain bread? Since she eats so much it, I hope you are giving her the healthiest.
Good luck!

Hi, E.. I'd let her eat the sandwiches. Her body knows what she needs (or give her a multi-vitamin if you're worried). Pretty soon nothing will sound good to her for lunch and you'll be longing for the sandwich days! :-)
If you do want some great kid recipes, check out Kraft.com. They have an entire section of kid friendly recipes, not to mention all the great dinner and side dishes. (If you sign up, they'll even send you an email with Birthday ideas right before her birthday.)
Good luck!

Hi, don't worry, this too shall pass. In the meantime try cream cheese and jelly sandwiches (kids love 'em), you can buy small pita pockets at Trader Joes and fill them with chicken or turkey and hummus. Try hard boiled eggs or deviled eggs, edamame is fun to eat too. The celery and peanut butter or cream cheese is a good idea too. How about some healthy muffins? Or banana, zuccini or pumpkin bread?
Hope this helps,
K.

Hi. Have you tried maybe putting some peanut butter into a container and cutting up some celery and apples for her? I have to do that with my daughter. He school is very strict on what we can pack for the kids in the lunches. No junk food. So, everyday it is pretty much the same things for us. We do a string cheese, some fruit, a veggie and a sandwhich. My daughters teachers suggested that we let her help make her lunch, or even let her make it herself and then she will be more apt to eat it. She will take ownership of the lunch and be proud of it. It is hard to find stuff that my daughter will eat too. Especially when it has to be healthy not junk. Good luck.

Don't get too hung up on feeding her a variety of foods; that's more a need of ours because adults like a variety - kids just don't care. They also go through phases and it's possible that a few months from now she won't touch peanut butter or turkey!!! Meanwhile -- play up what she likes and add things to it. For example, spread peanut butter on carrot sticks or use it as a dip for baby carrots, banana slices, apples, etc. For the turkey -- possibly add a thin slice of tomato, etc. Also, when the family sits down to eat offer her a small portion of whatever you are eating, but don't insist that she eats it. Leave it up to her, or you will turn food into a complete battleground. Most kids will eventually expand thier food choices. OH, there are also lots of websites you can search that have fun, creative ideas and recipies for kids meals and snacks. Good luck.