My 3yo has been at Bright Horizons for 2 months and they say he barely touches lunch. Then I pick him up and he's asking for snacks within 5 minutes. I'm paying $2100/month for this place and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth it if he's not eating there. Has anyone dealt with this? Does it eventually click for them?
Have you tried having the daycare send photos of what he's eating? Bright Horizons has that feature I think. Might help you figure out if it's a picky phase or if something else is going on. Could be the food temperature or even the utensils they're using.
Same issue here with my 2yo at the same daycare chain. Turns out the teacher told us he gets distracted by other kids during lunch and eats better in a quieter setting. We started packing foods he loves and asking them to seat him a bit away from the chaos. Made a huge difference.
Have you asked the daycare staff what he's actually eating? My kid was the same way but it turned out he was filling up on snacks during the day and wasn't hungry for the main meals. Once we reduced the morning snack situation it got way better.
This is totally normal at that age honestly. Kids eat way less at school because they're stimulated by everything going on. At home he's comfortable and bored so he focuses on food. I wouldn't stress about it too much if the daycare says he's not losing weight.
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My 3yo went through this exact thing around month 3 of daycare. Turns out he just needed more time to adjust. By month 4 he was eating like normal. Some kids take longer to feel comfortable eating in front of new people I guess.