What kind of drink do you pack your child for lunch?

[essnce629]

I just send water in his stainless steel water bottle.

[Tondi G]

my kids either take water or a juice box (we've bought trader joes apple juice, it's from Chile)... if they buy lunch at school then it's milk.

[Tanya]

My 2nd grader always buys milk at the cafeteria, whether she packs or buys her lunch. She used to only get the chocolate milk, but I pointed out the amount of sugar and she started getting the white milk. I told her the other day, she *could* choose one day a week or something and buy chocolate milk if she wanted to. Anyway, after I pointed out the sugar, she even came home the next day and told me the amount of sugar in each. Anyway, the milk at school isn't expensive. I don't like sending juice. Plus, she loves buying the milk.
At home, she drinks organic milk. My kids rarely get juice and will usually choose milk over juice anyway.
Oh, and if we're out and about and I pack a cooler, my 2nd grader wants water. My almost 4 year old wants the organic chocolate milk box. I used to use the funtainer thermoses and put milk in those, but I got lazy (hated washing by hand too) and just grab bottled water or milk boxes most of the time. For soccer or softball, I fill a water bottle with ice and water.

[alien_host]

For preschool I sent juice or water. DD drinks milk for breakfast and dinner so I felt she could go without at lunch...especially since she usually had cheese or yogurt in her lunch.

For K, she might get a kick out of buying milk. I'm going to wait and see. I don't have a problem with juice a few times a week at school as she almost never drinks it at home.

[egoldber]

The problem we would have with her buying a milk at school is that the line to buy can be very very long. They already have so little time to eat that it could seriously cut unto her eating time. I prefer to just send a beverage so she doesn't have to wait in line.

[o_mom]

Water in a litterless juice box here. I don't want them spending half their lunch buying milk or giving them the option of getting chocolate or strawberry milk. They don't seem to be missing the calories, but Ds1 has started actually eating the entire lunch so I may have to give him milk if he starts to seem hungry. I have sent a 100% juice box on field trips, though as field trip lunches have to be completely disposable (no containers, lunchboxes, or thermoses).

[alien_host]

The problem we would have with her buying a milk at school is that the line to buy can be very very long. They already have so little time to eat that it could seriously cut unto her eating time. I prefer to just send a beverage so she doesn't have to wait in line.

Good point! I hadn't thought about that at all. I think I'll send water/juice in the lunchbox as DD is a slow eater as is. Thanks for the tip.

ETA: HA, I think that this was just my 3,000th post!

[DrSally]

I send water in a frogo or contigo mug for DS's MDO program.

[mom_hanna]

I send chocolate Silk soy milk in the shelf stable single serving size for dd, and ds is provided milk at daycare. I send a juice if we have run out of the soy milk, and dd keeps a water bottle on the table where she sits in her classroom (all the kids do).

[hellokitty]

Thanks everyone! I too don't want my son to have to stand in line to buy milk, b/c he is an extremely slow eater, I am really afraid he won't even eat 1/4 of his lunch, b/c he is so distracted. I'm just going to use the rubbermaid drink box. However, I have old ones and wonder if they are, 'safe' plastic or not. I've just been having a really hard time finding any new ones at our B&M stores, which I would never imagined would have been an issue. I know our funtainers leak (old style), so won't be able to send that.