Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:52     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I also have a special needs son (he's 10) who has major sensory issues and only eats 5 things. I'd be THRILLED if he'd eat a pb&j. I guess if you don't have major health concerns that you're constantly dealing with and running to specialists 3 times a week, these are the things you worry about.


I find comments like this very irritating. "My special snowflake only eat chocolate pudding. I guess anyone who worries about feeding their child 23 pudding cups every day must just have way too much free time.". Uh, no.

Parents of typically developing kids know that nutrition is one of the ways they can help their kid stay on track. The fact that your kid was born "off-track" is completely unrelated to the parenting choices that are developmentally appropriate for a typical kid. Your attitude isn't doig the SN community any favors. Many Parents of SN kids feel very isolated, and the attitude that Parents of NT kids aren't allowed to discuss normal concerns isn't going to encourage anyone to reach out and bond over the things all parents have in common.



You are a jerk pp. Total jerk. Actually, I am thinking of worse language....
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:41     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is the concern over PB&J sandwiches? I am asking sincerely. Are they considered non-nutritive?


OP here. My concern is about the jelly, and about the lack of variety in her diet.


Trader joe's has a line of organic reduced sugar jams. They don't have any artificial junk in them - they just have less sugar and are less sweet than other jams. I find regular jam much too sweet now!
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:22     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:What is the concern over PB&J sandwiches? I am asking sincerely. Are they considered non-nutritive?


OP here. My concern is about the jelly, and about the lack of variety in her diet.
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:13     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
My kid eats PB every day, sometimes more than once a day. We rarely do jelly though, usually it's honey or just PB.

And it's not always sandwiches. Sometimes it's on a waffle, or english muffin, or crackers, or apples.

He refuses to eat meat, is super active and his growth curve is near the bottom, so I'm all about whatever nuts he wants.
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:12     Subject: Re:peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:Do all your kids stop at 1 sandwhich? my 5 year old can chow through 3. I give him one, make him eat a fruit or veggie before I give him another, then insist on yougrt or cottage cheese before a third.

I'm debating how to handle school - I can't really send three sandwhiches!??!


If he needs to eat that much, I'd let him. Is he getting a decent protein/fat/complex carb based breakfast that fills him up? If not, you might try tweaking that. But I'd definitely send two sandwiches if you feel you need to. Not sure how to pack three of them.

My son is skinny and seems to pick like a bird at food at home, but he's ravenous at school (he's 5 too). I pack one turkey and cheese sandwich on whole grain bread, one cheese stick, one yogurt, a fruit, and some whole wheat honey pretzel sticks. He eats it all. Sometimes I give him a hard boiled egg or two instead of the yogurt. And I pack his snack for aftercare, which again is some sort of protein/fat to hold him.
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 11:07     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:What is the concern over PB&J sandwiches? I am asking sincerely. Are they considered non-nutritive?


I think it's just the jelly people are worried about -- so much sugar -- but I don't lop it on thick or anything.
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 10:49     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
What is the concern over PB&J sandwiches? I am asking sincerely. Are they considered non-nutritive?
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 09:01     Subject: Re:peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:Do all your kids stop at 1 sandwhich? my 5 year old can chow through 3. I give him one, make him eat a fruit or veggie before I give him another, then insist on yougrt or cottage cheese before a third.

I'm debating how to handle school - I can't really send three sandwhiches!??!


My kids only get one (pp here with kids between the ages of 6-12). For the older ones that eat more, I pack 1 sandwich, a yogurt, a fruit, a vegetable, a dessert (usually home made cookies or brownie) and a drink (milk or juice).
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 08:53     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Only one of my kids will eat peanut butter, and even he will sometime only eat half his sandwich. I am thrilled when he is eating peanut butter. I think good fats are really important and obviously protein is too.

My oldest eats a ham (organic, nitrate free) on white bread sandwich every day for lunch. I'm not proud of this, but it's what he wants and at least it isn't totally gross (like a lunchable). He also takes a yogurt and a piece of fruit or individual apple sauce. About once every two weeks (when we are out of ham or bread), I'll give him a hard boiled egg and some crackers instead.

Two of my three kids are insanely skinny looking (although not horribly low on weight charts).

Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 07:40     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
My older brother used to eat 8 PB&J sandwiches in high school every day for lunch. He also had 6 bananas and 3 yogurts. He was very thin.

I am currently eating PB out of a jar for breakfast.
Anonymous
Post 08/14/2012 07:09     Subject: Re:peanut butter and jelly
Do all your kids stop at 1 sandwhich? my 5 year old can chow through 3. I give him one, make him eat a fruit or veggie before I give him another, then insist on yougrt or cottage cheese before a third.

I'm debating how to handle school - I can't really send three sandwhiches!??!
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2012 23:02     Subject: Re:peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:I'm a 35 year old healthy mother of two kids. I eat a varied diet including lots of different vegetables prepared using a variety of methods. I ate PB&J ALL THE TIME when I was a kid and still probably have some variation of it (almond butter on my whole wheat waffle, etc.) 3-4 times per week because I STILL FRICKIN LOVE IT! I normally try to steer clear of making the point "my Mom did it and I turned out fine," but it bears repeating here that you are probably overthinking it.


+1. Although, now that I think about it, I ate PBJs almost everyday throughout my schooling but developed an allergy to peanuts in college. My allergist said it might have been the result of overexposure (I don't eat meat so peanuts were a major protein substitute for me for many years). So maybe there is something to be said for ensuring variety....
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2012 22:50     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
I think PB&J is pretty healthy overall, but it's the jelly that makes it potentially not so healthy. You could try saying she can have it X number of days per week but of that, Y number of days are only PB, and no J. Just a thought.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2012 21:54     Subject: Re:peanut butter and jelly
I'm a 35 year old healthy mother of two kids. I eat a varied diet including lots of different vegetables prepared using a variety of methods. I ate PB&J ALL THE TIME when I was a kid and still probably have some variation of it (almond butter on my whole wheat waffle, etc.) 3-4 times per week because I STILL FRICKIN LOVE IT! I normally try to steer clear of making the point "my Mom did it and I turned out fine," but it bears repeating here that you are probably overthinking it.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2012 21:09     Subject: peanut butter and jelly
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't see a problem with letting your kid have a pb&j every day. If you use wheat bread and a low-sugar jelly then it's not necessarily bad for her. Besides, she's going through a big change (going into kindergarten) and it might be comforting to her to have a consistent and familiar food every day for a while.


+1


Another +1

I like the idea above to limit it to a half sandwich to make room for other sides. That way the PB&J is consistent and makes DC happy, and you can rotate the sides for variety and exposure to new things.