I got L's daily report yesterday, and maybe I've seen it before and just never clued in, but it said this:
Lunch - All - Pasta, tomato sauce, veggie with tomato sauce, cucumber, grapes and oranges.
That seems pretty healthy, and good, and delicious, right?
Except, when I make it at home, my kid REFUSES to eat it. He refuses all forms of pasta, every single kind. Occasionally I can get him to eat a few bites of KD but it's a real struggle.
What the heck am I doing differently than day care?!?!
coconut / 8472 posts
Kids always eat better around other kids. There are certain pouches I make sure to save for daycare because DS doesn't love them, but I know he'll eat them around the other kids.
squash / 13208 posts
My kids eat better at school too - I put stuff in their lunch they would NEVER eat at home and they eat it all! 
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Kids totally eat better around other kids. They also eat worse around other kids but that's usually when the parents are around.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
We have the same problem! She ate the crap out of some meatloaf and mashed potatoes at daycare. Would not eat mashed potatoes for us the other night. Peer pressure, I guess! They're such little punks.
watermelon / 14467 posts
This happens all the time for us too! I get so sad at dinner time when she refuses everything except for the bread.
honeydew / 7504 posts
Yup, D eats much better at daycare than at home. I think it's the first form of peer pressure, ha ha.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Yeah R eats way better at day care. She might even eat a couple veggies there. Peer pressure!
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@.twist.: sadly my kid eats more veggies at daycare and won't touch them at home. I even try to cut them to look like "chips" but she's caught on. I'm just happy she's getting them somewhere. I will also throw sauce on top and call it pasta (green beans, ect.) and that sometimes works.
nectarine / 2530 posts
E just points at the pantry cabinet when we feed her at home, because she knows that's where all the good stuff is (even though she doesn't get much of it!).
I know at daycare she doesn't have a huge store of food right in her face, so she eats everything given to her ;).
pineapple / 12802 posts
haha ok you guys. You're making me feel MUCH better. I'm glad I'm not the only one because I was shocked!!!
I was starting to think he wasn't mine because he hates pasta (apparently NOT) and I'm a carb fiend!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
I have heard the same thing as PPs. Kids eat better around other kids.
@.twist.: is your LO is still big enough to help in the kitchen? I have heard and experienced this a bit with my own younger bro and cousins that kiddie kitchen helpers are more adventurous eaters and will actually eat what they make. Worth a try.
apricot / 452 posts
Oh my gosh, we're totally the opposite. C will eat just about anything at home, but routinely refuses what we send with him (that he'll happily eat for dinner if I offer it to him in the exact same container from his lunch box).
I think our problem is that our daycare provider keeps giving him her own food when he refuses ours. And she gives him crap! I've asked her to stop several times, but she says he cries and it's the only way to get him to eat.
I can't wait until he's potty trained so we can get him into preschool! He will be 3 next week, so come on potty training!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Totally normal!
The only thing I found was daycare would get her to eat green beans because they were from a can. Forget fresh or frozen kinds at home, we just started giving her canned ones. Better than nothing!
pomegranate / 3113 posts
Yep, my DD eats way more at school, too. A couple times, I've peeked into the classroom during mealtimes and watched her stuff her face (without her knowing I was there). At home, she'll take three bites and sign "all done" unless it's yogurt, blueberries, or bananas.
I read somewhere that kids like to front-load their calories, so as long as they've gotten enough food earlier in the day, it's normal for them to not eat much at dinner. That makes sense, except DD doesn't eat all that much during the day on weekends, either. Who knows.
grapefruit / 4823 posts
Yup, G always finishes his fruits and veggies at school and it's like pulling teeth to even put it on his plate at home. Kids are crazy
apricot / 288 posts
When I'm dropping my daughter off in the mornings while the class is eating breakfast, I find the kids like to mimic each other. For instance, one learned that he could turn over his sip cup and it would leak into the cereal bowl and he could then drink the milk from the bowl rather than the cup. I have since seen 3 or 4 of the kids do it. I think it's definitely a peer pressure thing when it comes to eating.
However, I'd also be interested to know how much of the pasta your son actually ate. I know my daughter's reports are photocopied in the morning with the day's meals prewritten on them. I don't know that I've ever seen a note on her report indicating that she refused a food item (although she's a great eater, so I don't know that she would refuse food anyway).
pineapple / 12802 posts
@reyorra: Our daycare usually makes a note about his eating habits for each meal. Sometimes it will day "wouldn't eat lunch" or "ate very little" . So the fact that they put that he ate all of it makes me believe it! Sometimes he even asks them for seconds which is such a rare thing at our house!!!
pear / 1879 posts
With us, too! LO eats very, very well at daycare (usually) but I am lucky to get him to eat even a few bites at home. For a long time I was insulted, thinking that his caregiver (we use an in-home caregiver) was just a better cook than I am (she probably is, though!), but I don't worry too much about that any more.
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
I can't get my LO to eat regular white potatoes to save my life. She spends the night at my moms and downs a ton of mashed potatoes no problem. I think we're being played 
kiwi / 637 posts
DD is the exact same. She's an eating machine at daycare! Thank goodness, because it gives me peace of mind when she doesn't eat a good supper at home!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
Same here - C eats better at school than at home. To the point the teachers say they have to feed him every 30 minutes or that if he skips dinner it's okay bc he ate so dang much at school!
Occassionally, he'll eat great at home, but it's really the luck of the draw.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
I definitely think it's positive peer pressure. DS eats way more things at day care. Spaghetti is one of them! And he naps there every day too! Crazy!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
haha J goes to an in-home - so it's like being at home, and he eats TONS there, and doesn't eat dinner here either! His favorite meal is breakfast, so we load him up then lol
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
I have to pack DDs lunches for daycare so she usually get leftovers from the night before. She always DEVOURS it completely at daycare, even if she didn't touch it at home for dinner 
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