It’s that time of year again…
The holidays feel long gone, the January slog is over, but there’s no end to lunchbox packing in sight. Enter: the lunchbox rut. If you’re feeling like you’re out of inspiration for packing that lunchbox, you are not alone. Here are some tips to getting over that hump and sailing through the end of the school year. If you find it helpful, share these ideas with others and tag me on Instagram when you post your lunchboxes using these ideas!

Don’t panic
Lunchboxes don’t have to be new and exciting every day. Are there a handful of foods that your child loves? Do they eat those foods reliably and happily? There is absolutely nothing wrong with packing the same lunchbox ideas over and over. I think that parents get bored with the foods in their children’s lunchboxes faster than kids do. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel every day. Remember: a fed kid is most important.
Switch it up
Adding things like lollipop sticks or food picks to the lunchbox can breathe new life into old foods. I buy lollipop sticks in bulk and use them for loads of foods in the lunchbox. When foods become kebabs, there’s renewed excitement! You can find the lollipop sticks that I buy here on my Amazon Shop. Some examples include:

3. Use Leftovers

Does your child have a favorite dinner? Pack it up for lunch! I often hear from parents that they don’t pack foods because they’re worried that their kids won’t eat them cold or room temperature. It’s a normal, understandable concern. Here’s how I handled that here: I serve dinner at room temperature from time to time. It sounds crazy, but hear me out… eating a meal at a different temperature at home made my kids much more open minded to eating it that way outside of my home. Bonus: this really comes in handy on those days when I need to make dinner in advance and then tend to a million things before actually serving dinner. Try this with your kids’ favorite foods first. Did my kids complain initially? Not really. They were happy to eat their favorite foods. The best examples of this strategy used in a lunchbox is with pasta and meatballs, or cold pizza. My kids now eat these dishes room temp or cold!

4. Involve your kids in lunchbox planning

I am all about this tip. My kids are actively involved in the decisions around what’s for lunch. They use the LaLa Lunchbox app (free to download for iOS here) to plan their meals in advance. There are no surprises when they open the lunchbox, and they love that. They decide what to eat and how much, but I decide what to make available for them, so I am always in control.

Have more questions about beating the lunchbox rut? Drop me an email or send me a direct message on Instagram. I’m happy to assist where I can!

When I was a kid, my mom sent us off to school with lunch packed in brown bags. Between the weight of the apple and the constant shuffling of stuff against the bag in my backpack, sandwiches never stood a chance. It was a good day when the cookie wasn't crumbled. The earth shifted on the day that my mom decided to pack tortellini for me in a plastic container.

Today's kids are so much luckier. There's no shortage of amazing lunchbox options out there and thankfully, they don't necessarily involve smushed sandwiches or bruised fruit.

We have six lunchboxes that we have been happily relying on for the last several years (PlanetBox, Yumbox, Lunch Buddy Official, Omiebox, Monbento and Lunchbots)

Each option has pros and cons. I love that the PlanetBox is stainless steel with perfectly sized compartments and a small area for a treat (available in the Rover). We have the carrying bag that has a perfect space for a bus snack and a water bottle. The PlanetBox is expensive, but we've been using ours for over 5 years without any issues so I view it as an investment. There are also stainless steel containers that fit inside so you can pack liquids or things like yogurt and not worry about leakage. We have the Shuttle, the Rover, and the Launch which all fit a great amount of food for lunch. The Launch fits a ton of food - it's great for growth spurts!

We have two versions of the Yumbox – one with three compartments and one with five. Both are easy to open, a great size and leakproof so I can pack things like hummus without concern that it'll be all over the apple slices. I wish it were easier to clean the skinny grooves on the underside of the tray, but these boxes have been in our arsenal for years and are still going strong.

Thanks to our friends at Kivanta, we now have a great new Lunch Buddy Official lunchbox. It has been a wonderful new addition to our lunchbox collection!

This is a stainless steel 3-in-1 two tiered box (second tier not shown here). You don't need to use both levels every time, so it's got built in flexibility for lunch packers. It's easy to clean and I love the simple design, but if you're outside of the EU (like I am), this might be pricey to ship.

The Omiebox has a neat design that makes it possible to pack both hot and cold foods for school. Score! Here's a tip to keep hot foods hot: fill the thermos part with boiling water and let it sit for one minute. Pour out the water and fill with hot food. That'll extend the amount of time that hot food stays hot. Similarly, pop the thermos into the freezer for a few minutes before filling it with cold food (like yogurt). This box is heavier than other lunchboxes and the top of the thermos is sometimes a challenge for my kids to open, but their teachers have been helpful in those situations.

The Monbento is my oldest child's favorite box. She likes that it has two tiers, and says that it feels like a lunchbox designed for older kids. I like that it makes her happy! The box is plastic and comes in many colors. You can pack just one layer or two, and I like having that flexibility. This box also fits in a wide range of insulated lunch bags. I use silicone cupcake liners to separate items in this box. My favorite part about this Monbento is that it is super easy to clean. Really, you can't go wrong with that. p.s. here's the link to that cute panda salad dressing container.

The Lunchbots container is great because it's compact and fits into a variety of lunch bags. It's also super easy to clean and fits a surprisingly large amount of food. I wish that it were leakproof and I wish that the top had a sturdy clasp to stay put, but we have had no problem keeping it closed with a rubber band.

Lunch quantity sometimes is a difficult thing... there are days that my kids are super hungry and days that they seem to exist on fumes. It's comforting to know that some of these boxes have room to accommodate an extra large lunch, for those days when the lunches that my kids pick in advance are on the large side.

While there's never a shortage of information out there about what to pack, it's also fun to think about where to pack lunch. Check out more of our favorite lunch accessories here. For lunch packing ideas and inspiration, be sure to check out our Instagram where we post daily pics.

* note: This page contains affiliate links. While I am not paid to provide these reviews, I will receive a tiny commission if you make purchases from here. These purchases will help to keep this blog going, so thank you in advance!

Beating the Lunchbox Rut

Don’t panic

Switch it up

3. Use Leftovers

4. Involve your kids in lunchbox planning

Our Favorite Lunchboxes