This sounds like 'social eating'. Your kid is already getting the nutrition they need from their other meals, so I wouldn't worry about whether they actually eat anything at lunch, other than wanting to keep up the appearance of eating to fit in with peers.

This is a great opportunity for fruit, raw veggies + dip, and other nutritious, low-calorie munchies.

FWIW, I pack my son a lunch with stuff like this and don't care if it comes back largely uneaten. He eats breakfast, a post-school snack, and a big dinner.

Anonymous wrote:This seems pretty obvious, but why are you feeding him so much at breakfast?? Maybe just give him a granola bar at breakfast and then a bunch of healthy snackable items for lunch

This is not helpful advice. For many kids and adults, their appetite is suppressed by their ADHD meds. For my son, that means he feels physically ill at lunch if he tries to eat like a peer who isn't on ADHD meds. It has nothing to do with what he ate or didn't eat at breakfast.

OP, your question is completely reasonable. I'll second and third the advice that a breakfast before meds, some sort of snack (have you tried the Fairlife chocolate protein milks?) for lunch, and then my middle school son eats when he gets home from school and again at dinner (so basically two dinners). He's on the young side, but also just regularly talking about how we are all different...friends at lunch all eat differently, some are vegetarians, some are on meds, some are diabetic and takes meds before they eat...just regular empathy talk. The good news is, by middle school, my son's friends know that he really doesn't eat lunch and they don't care. It's a nothingburger by now.

Good luck with this!

carnation breakfast essentials (blended with milk and ice) in a thermos and some gold fish crackers to snack on.

When mine was in K we sent Pediasure (had it written into the IEP as an accommodation) and also received an accommodation for him to be able to eat lunch whenever he was hungry even if that time was 3. It worked well and continues to be an accommodation though it is less needed now.

^i also put in his backpack chocolate protein drinks instead of the bar for probably at least a year. Whatever he would take.

When my teen was on a stimulant, he wouldn’t get hungry at all in the day. This meant eating breakfast, bringing a protein bar and some other snack thing to school, and then eating a meal when he got home, again at dinner and then a second dinner later at night. Teens are often hungry late anyway so that worked for him. Main point- fill him up when he’s hungry.

Homemade muffins with extra protein powder are a hit.

Op here, thank you for the suggestions! Will try sending chocolate milk

My child eats a hearty breakfast and doesn't eat lunch or snacks at school either. Her medicine tends to wear off around the time I pick her up from school, so she eats the snacks I packed in the car on the way home.The snacks include yogurt, cheese, granola bars, grapes, etc. She then eats a pretty decent supper. On the weekends, we switch to short acting medicine which lasts 3-4 hours. She then eats in between the doses. Best of luck.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe stop feeding him so much before school so he’s hungry at lunch time. You could also wait until he gets to school before giving the meds, ask the doctor.

Omg, no. Their body doesn’t feel hungry because of the medication. Not eating won’t change that and these kids need calories to grow.

Feed big, healthy breakfast. Something small for lunch - we do chocolate milk, pretzels, fruit. Kid usually eats at least one of those. Then big, healthy snack in afternoon (late lunch). And another dinner later in the evening (for us it’s 8ish).

Anonymous wrote:This seems pretty obvious, but why are you feeding him so much at breakfast?? Maybe just give him a granola bar at breakfast and then a bunch of healthy snackable items for lunch

Do you have experience with kids on stimulants? Because this isn’t the solution. Kids on appetite suppressants need to make up the calories somewhere.

My kids eat around their ADHD meds, and they are now big, healthy teens. But I worried a lot when they were little! A few ideas:

- One of mine liked to drink (chocolate milk or even Ensure in a thermos), but not eat.
- I sent that one with only favorite foods at lunch, and let them buy chocolate milk every day. That took time and drew attention away from eating at the table.
- The other one liked big breakfasts and basically supper right after school when the meds wore off.

Honestly, I decided it was ok if they were growing and learning. As long as the teachers weren't complaining about their hunger/behavior, it worked.

OP, as you probably know by now, the answer is NOT to feed him less for breakfast. Stuff him with as much as he will eat. Talk to him about different foods he can eat at lunch to feel like his peers. Can he do a chocolate milk? Or at banana? Sometimes my kid will go with Uncrustables (ugh). Trial and error it and you'll be able to come up with something he can at least nibble on.

My HS kid is never hungry at lunch because of the meds. During lunch he nibbles on snacks, if anythng at all. Pirate Booty, pretzels, cereal bar that sort of thing.
The emotional side I do not understand. Is your child seeing a therapist? That might be helpful.

Anonymous wrote:This seems pretty obvious, but why are you feeding him so much at breakfast?? Maybe just give him a granola bar at breakfast and then a bunch of healthy snackable items for lunch

Seems pretty obvious but to spell it out for you, stimulants suppress appetite. So at the height of stimulants working in your body, which is typically lunch, kids wont eat. It has nothing to do with actual hunger or calorie needs. Thus big breakfasts are required so that your child ger nutrients and calories since they will not at lunch. Feeding a small breakfast would result in them being malnourished.