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Ahhhh I am that crazy mom.

Our center does a lot of the same stuff, muffins, waffles, etc for breakfast. Usually once per week they have eggs and grits but thats it. We send her in a banana and yogurt or mini egg muffins that she eats when she gets there and then if she's still hungry she has breakfast. At least I know she's getting protein for breakfast.

For lunch, its a bit better but not much. Pizza and chicken nuggets are frequently on the menu. The sides they offer (fruit and veggies served every day) but they are from a can, never fresh.

Snacks are the worst, graham crackers, etc. We usually send a cheese stick or apple slices to go for snack.

Its really tough and honestly, its one of the big reasons I am looking to switch daycares.

@Mrs. Pen: you're not nuts!
I fully plan on packing my kid's lunch if/when he goes off to daycare. He will be more than a year old if he does, but I really don't care. My kid, my standards!
I've worked at a Montessori, and she didn't provide food because she said parents should be able to pick what their child eats.
I'd send a week's worth and ask if there is fridge space to leave it there? I guess it depends on the size of the daycare.

* I secretly judged the parents who send Hot Cheetos with their 3 year olds, versus the parents who sent pear slices. How could I not?

If you're not happy with what they provide, I see no problem with sending your own food! My son's daycare provides healthy food (rice, fish, veggies, fruit...nothing fried) so I don't have to pack his lunch. But they don't provide organic milk so I provide that myself. I don't see anything wrong with wanting to provide healthy, nutritious meals for your LO. And being "that mom" is awesome!

I don't think you are crazy but it is something to discuss with the daycare when you tour them. When we were looking the ones that provided food didn't allow you to bring your own; we opted for one that you could either buy their lunch or bring your own (breakfast wasn't provided but you could bring it).

@Mrs. Pen: You know I'm not into any diet stuff and eat like crap a lot. That being said, I do care what goes into M's mouth because she's too young to eat like I do (haha!) While she's not eating there yet, she will soon.

My daycare does not have a great menu for the kids but I know it's a cost saving thing. I go to one of the best rated but lowest cost daycares in my area. I'll try to take a picture of their weekly menu tonight and send it to you. I think the biggest thing that bothers me is the sweet cereal for breakfast (like corn pops). I wouldn't mind if she had Cheerios but Pops bug me. So, I plan on taking in Cheerios and a banana or something healthier than Pops on days when they do that. At lunch, they provide a protein, carb and veggie (I'm pretty sure that's every day) so that I can handle.

I know you're looking at price at these daycares and I think it's going to be very difficult to find a reasonably priced daycare where they provide very healthy meals like you do at home. What I can suggest is you offer the best stuff at home and if there are one or two things you're totally opposed to, bring something to replace that that day.

Ew, no. You're not being crazy.

Our home daycare will do all organic and healthy stuff when it's time for her to eat. Thankfully, she feels strongly about this, too, and said that we are more than welcome to send our own foods in, because it's "about what the parents want"

Ours doesn't provide food and none that I know of in the area do, either. I pack a lunch for T every night along w/ bottles.

One of the factors that influenced my decision to send my kids to our current Montessori daycare/preschool was that they did not serve food. The other Montessori I checked out served food and had much nicer facilities. The cost was not much more than our current day care. However, I happened to see what they were serving that day (cheesy mashed potatoes and some other stuff) and it looked so terrible. It was a dealbreaker for me, even though the facilities were so much nicer. If my kids are going to eat junk(admittedly there are days when they go to school with mac n'cheese), I want it to be junk that I packed for them

I would definitely would send in my own lunch, regardless of how "healthy" their options are, a lot of daycares or schools take shortcuts in preparing the food so its nots as fresh or as healthy as I would like. My daycare doesnt provide food only a snack and when my LO is old enough for that I will look at the menu but most probably decline it

@prettylizy: wow they dont allow home made food?

@Mrs. Pen: @Mrsbells: I'm guessing they have a highly allergic kiddo in the school somewhere. Even if you include ingredients they won't allow it. There is no way for them to know you didn't contaminate it with whatever.

We send LO to our friend who has a home run very small (3 kids) daycare. I send breakfast and lunch usually, but she just told me today that she ate a little of the lunch I packed then refused it wanting the mac and cheese the other two were eating. We are kind of on the same page about food, but not completely. I admit I'm not feeding my family as healthy as I'd like but mac and cheese is about as far as I go with processed food.

I would absolutely send food, and I wouldn't care two bits if I was judged for it. You have the choice to send home packed lunches at school, why not daycare?

I would just ask if it's ok to send your own food. Our daycare provides food, and it's healthy enough... although not quite as healthy as what we usually serve at home (plus they don't do any organic from what I can tell). Still, I have exactly zero time to pack lunches and snacks, so I thank my lucky stars that DD's daycare can provide balanced meals for what we pay in daycare tuition. If I had more time I would probably pack food instead...