kids' Lunch Container help! Any multi compartment that don't leak into each other and aren't too bulky?

Athena

Well-known member
I thought it would be easier for the kids to have multi compartment food containers for their lunches, instead of having to open multiple separate containers and deal with a bunch of containers and lids. Sounds easier, right? So we've tried various containers, but they either don't have tall enough dividers (e.g. lunchblox) to keep the food separate (so the juice from the fruit leaks into the crackers and my daughter has become a little OCD about things like this:(). Or, the few that do (e.g. goodbyn) are a bulkier design and don't leave space for a sack or water bottle in their lunch packs. I'm seriously considering going back to separate containers.

Anyone found anything with truly separate compartments that also has a sleek (no bulkier than it needs to be) design?
Thank you!!!
 
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Phineasmama

New member
We have Yumbox and it is one of the only TRULY leak proof bento type containers I've seen. The Munchkin ones that they sell at ToysRus are okay, but they're very annoying to use on a daily basis IMHO.

The Yumbox was so expensive it took me like 6 months to actually pull the trigger on buying them. Especially because I needed 3, one for each kid. But I have absolutely no regrets, they are great! We have Crocodile Creek lunchboxes (I guess they might run a bit big), and I can fit a milk or juice box along with a pack of crackers or something and still zip the lunch box with no issues.
 

Athena

Well-known member
We have Yumbox and it is one of the only TRULY leak proof bento type containers I've seen. The Munchkin ones that they sell at ToysRus are okay, but they're very annoying to use on a daily basis IMHO.

The Yumbox was so expensive it took me like 6 months to actually pull the trigger on buying them. Especially because I needed 3, one for each kid. But I have absolutely no regrets, they are great! We have Crocodile Creek lunchboxes (I guess they might run a bit big), and I can fit a milk or juice box along with a pack of crackers or something and still zip the lunch box with no issues.

I know what you mean about the Munchkin. If they sliced off the wasted top section of it and changed it to one form fitting single lid over the bottom food sections, I might really like it.

Although I too cringe at the price (*2 here), those yumboxes might be an option. I'll have to measure to be sure, but it might fit okay. However, I can't find anywhere to buy them. Their site is out of stock and I don't see them anywhere else. Where did you buy yours?

Planetbox is what we use. I've also heard good things about the yumbox.

Anything larger than the Shuttle would be too large around too fit and too expensive. :( The shuttle isn't large enough for lunches, right?
 

sirrahn

Active member
What lunch bag are you trying to fit it into?

I really like the ziploc divided containers. We've never had any leakage issues and they're cheap. They don't fit well in our LL bean lunch boxes with a water bottle, but they're perfect in a Pack-it.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Anything larger than the Shuttle would be too large around too fit and too expensive. :( The shuttle isn't large enough for lunches, right?

Where do you need it to fit? The PlanetBox really doesn't waste much space at all so if you find a box that's smaller, it's may not hold enough lunch depending on age/volume of food required. Unless you're looking for something taller and narrower? That would need to have less compartments then since you'd have something with more height. So it may or may not work depending on how many compartments you need.

The Shuttle only has 2 compartments, so again, if you need more separation for a typical lunch, you might not be happy with it. And it would depend on how much your kids eat. It apparently holds 3 cups of food (vs 4.5 for the Rover) so if you had the time to whip up a typical lunch and measure it as best you could, you could see if the Shuttle would work.

My grade twoer takes a Rover and it has enough for her for 2 snacks (morning and afternoon recess) and lunch. So if she didn't eat snacks, she could survive with a Shuttle for lunch but not sure for how long. I assume at some point she won't need to grab something from her box at recess, but it will get eaten at lunch instead as she gets older.
 

Athena

Well-known member
What lunch bag are you trying to fit it into?

I really like the ziploc divided containers. We've never had any leakage issues and they're cheap. They don't fit well in our LL bean lunch boxes with a water bottle, but they're perfect in a Pack-it.

We have the lunch packs from Lands End, the ones called classmate I think.

Where do you need it to fit? The PlanetBox really doesn't waste much space at all so if you find a box that's smaller, it's may not hold enough lunch. Unless you're looking for something taller and narrower? That would need to have less compartments then since you'd have something with more height. So it may or may not work depending on how many compartments you need.

The Shuttle only has 2 compartments, so again, if you need more separation for a typical lunch, you might not be happy with it. And it would depend on how much your kids eat. It apparently holds 3 cups of food (vs 4.5 for the Rover) so if you had the time to whip up a typical lunch and measure it as best you could, you could see if the Shuttle would work.

My grade twoer takes a Rover and packed full it has enough for her for 2 snacks (morning and afternoon recess) and lunch. So if she didn't eat snacks, she could survive with a Shuttle for lunch but not sure for how long. I assume at some point she won't need to grab something from her box at recess, but it will get eaten at lunch instead as she gets older.

It's not really that it's too big, but just the shape of it is too big around, or at least it appears to be based on the measurements. I wish I could see these things IRL. I don't have a problem with fewer compartments and have actually been thinking that fewer foods might work better for a distractible kid, but would prefer more than two and it sounds like the Shuttle might not hold enough food anyway. I would be fine with snack and lunch packed together, but I think at least one of the teachers prefers it to be separated. I don't really care which part they eat for snack or lunch, but maybe some parents do.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
I just checked out the YumBox and it says the 5 compartments hold a 1/2 cup each. So 2.5 cups total. That's less than the Shuttle. And they say it can satisfy kids up to age 10 so I don't see why a Shuttle couldn't work, again depending on age/food volume required. I know we don't have our Rover jam packed, so I'd bet we're not sending 4.5 cups of food.
 

Athena

Well-known member
I just checked out the YumBox and it says the 5 compartments hold a 1/2 cup each. So 2.5 cups total. That's less than the Shuttle. And they say it can satisfy kids up to age 10 so I don't see why a Shuttle couldn't work, again depending on age/food volume required. I know we don't have our Rover jam packed, so I'd bet we're not sending 4.5 cups of food.

Wow, I hadn't noticed that. It doesn't sound like a lot of food, but I don't really measure, so I don't know how much I'm sending. Maybe I should try to do that before ordering anything online that would be difficult to return. Again, so wish I could see these IRL before buying.

And like the yumbox, the planetboxes seal completely between the compartments? Is that right?
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Wow, I hadn't noticed that. It doesn't sound like a lot of food, but I don't really measure, so I don't know how much I'm sending. Maybe I should try to do that before ordering anything online that would be difficult to return. Again, so wish I could see these IRL before buying.

And like the yumbox, the planetboxes seal completely between the compartments? Is that right?

Probably not the same as the YumBox since it doesn't add a silicone seal in the main box (there is a seal in the separate dipper containers). They don't recommend liquidy items in the box, but putting those in the dippers instead. http://planetbox.desk.com/customer/...packing-fruits-that-might-release-some-juice-

It hasn't been an issue for us and for me, the stainless steel factor is more important than the need to carry liquidy stuff inside the box and using a plastic box (I avoid plastic of any type if possible).

In the 2 school years my youngest has been using the PlanetBox, we had run over once. It was raspberries that she ate some of at lunch, then left the rest as they were too overripe for her but she fussed with them enough they are all mashed and juicy. And stayed in her backpack all warm until the next morning...some raspberry juice got into her carry bag. We send watermelon ALL the time and haven't had an issue with it leaking. We typically pack the morning of school though so nothing has sat all night.
 

kaylamom

New member
One thing that I saw on Pintrest: those Zion containers. - in the sandwich part, use silicone cupcake loners as dividers. I have done this and it works! You can put 4 silicone cupcake liners in and further divide the food up.
 

Athena

Well-known member
One thing that I saw on Pintrest: those Zion containers. - in the sandwich part, use silicone cupcake loners as dividers. I have done this and it works! You can put 4 silicone cupcake liners in and further divide the food up.

Ziploc containers..... Auto correct...UGH!

I found these cute lunches on pinterest. So cute, but I do wish they'd say the names of the containers.
http://pinterest.com/sassycake/easy-bento/

Part of me wants to go way over the top with their lunches and I love using shape cutters, but then I feel bad wasting the extra bits. Also, if I made lunches this cute, DD would probably just play with them and forget to eat. :rolleyes:
 

Athena

Well-known member
Another one I've heard is good, but haven't seen IRL and is a bit pricier is the laptop lunches bento box 2.0. However, I've leaned away from it because it seemed a bit big and they'd still have to take off all those separate lids, but it does look like it holds almost 4 cups of food. I really need to try to figure out how many cups we pack now.
 

Phineasmama

New member
The Yumbox is apparently so popular that they can't keep up with demand! Every time I've seen them get a new shipment they sell out in a week or so. They have started using Amazon fulfillment along with their regular website, I got mine on Amazon so I wouldn't have to pay shipping. They said on their FB page that they will have another shipment in October. If you sign up for the email on their website they will notify you, or you can check their fb page because they are pretty active on there as well.

About the small container sizes....I was a little hesitant at first because they did look so small and I wasn't sure if it would be enough food for my kids. Especially DD1 who NO JOKE eats as much as a full grown man. She can out-eat me on pizza night easily :eek: And yet she's skinny as a rail, I have no idea where she puts it. Anyways! I realized that I just had to be creative as to how I pack the Yumbox. It IS enough room as long as you pay attention to what you're putting in there- which I feel like we all probably do since we're obsessing over the containers after all :p
I just make sure one of the compartments has a good protein. Doesn't have to be meat, sometimes I use my protein packed muffins but a lot of times I do put lunch meat in there. One is used for fruit, one for veggies, sometimes I do bread with hummus in the circle or I use that for ranch for the veggies...and then each kid gets a chocolate milk box plus an extra "dessert" which they can have if they eat everything else in their box first. It's usually Annie's bunny cookies or a granola bar. You could also put a banana in there or something.

Last year DD1 usually ate school hot lunch or she got a sandwich with apples or whatever, because I was always totally overwhelmed and stressed out. She was always starving after school! This year I have yet to have her complain about being hungry after school. She usually asks for a snack 10 minutes before dinner and of course I say no lol.


Oh yeah and I've had the Bento boxes in the past, I hated them because of all those dang pieces!! I cannot keep track of that junk, I'm not organized enough. I wanted something that was in one piece, leak proof, wouldn't get lost. This is the only thing that really fits the bill.
Oh yeah and the Munchkin- totally agree with you on the dumb inner lid. Other thing I hated was the fact that you have to put the two smaller containers in exactly the right spot or the top wouldn't close! You couldn't switch them around because they were somehow shaped differently. Ugh!
 

Phineasmama

New member
Oh yeah, and I asked on the FB page if they planned on making a larger version for adults/teens and they said YES!!! :dance: Since DD1 is only 6 I am sure they will make the bigger one before she needs it. And I want one for myself too :)
 

NVMBR02

New member
We also use the Planetboxes and love them. DD2 has a Shuttle and it works for her but I think I might get her something different and use the Shuttle for myself. I just need something big enough for a sandwich and some fruit, or salad fixings, etc.. We do have the dippers, but don't use them all that much. My kids don't really bring a lot of wet foods to school but they do love sandwiches and wraps.

I like the look of the yumbox, but we really need a bigger compartment then what they have. My neighbor has one for her 7 year old that refuses to eat sandwiches and it works great for them.
 

Athena

Well-known member
How easy are these containers to open and close? I had my kids try to open and close the goodbyn because it's on clearance at our Target and they could open it easily, but they were unable to close it so that it sealed. :( It's bulkier than I wanted anyway, but for the price and accessibility, I had thought it might be worth a try. That's not the first one they couldn't operate easily (or at all) and it needs to be easy enough for them or it won't work.
 

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