Before the start of the school year, every forum and every mommy group that I was part of had one major discussion: lunchboxes for kids. It's been so many years, yet thousands of moms are still looking for the most useful lunchbox for their children and asking recommendations, especially for one that keeps food warm.
Most of my lunchboxes are from India. Especially the stainless steel lunch boxes in India are very good quality and very reasonably priced. There are stainless steel lunch boxes on Amazon, for example the very popular Planetbox but its price point of $50 and above doesn't suit everyone's needs. That's why bringing lunch containers from India was always worth it for me, and there are so many excellent brands there like Milton, Cello, etc that have good insulated containers to keep the food warm..
But as my kids grew up and are in 1st grade now, my criteria for lunchboxes has changed. The small lunch boxes are not enough any more, and there are other requirements I have too. For example:
□ Stainless steel lunch box or BPA-free plastic box with compartments
□ Easy to clean, regardless of being dishwasher-safe or washing by hand
□ Simple compartments (bento box) without me having to cut food to fit in the curves
□ Leak-proof, neither the contents mixing in the sections nor mess outside
□ If plastic, then shouldn't stain
□ Lightweight and not too many individual parts inside to deal with
□ Easy to open and close for my 6.5 year olds
□ Not too many lids, neither 2 or 3 tiers
□ Not expensive (not over $30-40 for one lunchbox)
When I started my search, I looked at Bentgo, Bentgo Stainless Steel, Omie box, Planetbox, Yumbox, Thermos, Lunchbots, and few others.
But at the time of my search, most of the lunchboxes were out of stock because of the high demand! Then I found one that was available, and in my 10 years in the US, I bought a lunchbox here for the first time that matches all my criteria - Kinsho.
It came as a set of 2 with a lunch and a snack box. The lunch box with 4 sections is 378 gm (13.3 oz) and the snack box with 3 sections is 216 gm (7.7 oz). The silicone lining inside keeps each compartment almost airtight and the contents don't mix with each other. The lunch box is very spacious and actually would work better for ages 7+ or kids with a bigger appetite. The snack box apparently is sufficient as a lunch box for my children, because that is how little they eat!
Overall, it's been over a month and I am happy with my purchase, but check back with me in a few months :D I only wish they had a little tab coming out from one side of the lid so that it would be easier to hold and open the box. But otherwise, this Kinsho lunchbox fits the bill.
Similarly, I had a certain kind of lunch bag in mind. I wanted something:
□ lightweight
□ has some pockets
□ is insulated
□ not black or grey neither gaudy colors
□ not expensive
□ easy to clean inside and outside
□ most importantly, something that could be carried both horizontally and vertically
This Bentgo lunch bag matched my criteria. It is a very good quality bag, has 3 handles to hold the bag, has a zip pocket outside and a mesh one inside, and I like how it has a pocket on the side to keep water bottle as well.
And being the very picky person I am, I wanted a water bottle and I had several conditions for that too. I was looking for something:
□ absolutely without straw
□ wide mouthed
□ easy to clean inside and outside
□ easy to open and close (with or without a button didn't matter)
□ whether the lid is attached to the bottle or not - I wanted an easy to clean lid without too many grooves
□ stainless steel or insulated bottle that doesn't make water have a metallic taste, if not then BPA-free plastic bottle
□ a bottle that looks good and has a simple shape
□ easy to carry
□ reasonably priced but if something could last well I wouldn't mind splurging
□ more than 14 oz that my kids had been using so far so they can drink more water without refilling at school
This Hydro Flask water bottle matched all my criteria. The 18oz water is sufficient for my kids to last all day at school, and I love how this bottle looks classy. Something that an adult could carry too without any childish prints, and I told my children that they can decorate their bottle with some tumbler stickers that match their personality.
So far, we're happy with our lunch box, lunch bag, and water bottle, and hope you found my post useful to make your choices too.
xoxo,
Nisha
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
