Tips for what to include in packed lunch for 1-year-old?

[Anonymous]

Hi there, I have an almost 1yo DS in daycare (they don't provide lunch) and need to up my game a little bit - I've been experimenting with many different foods at home but have kept his lunches pretty simple (until recently was usually just some pureed leftovers, mashed up fruit, etc). But now that he's more onto finger foods I am looking for some suggestions on what others do, especially things that are healthy but pretty easy? I'm a terrible cook, and tend to be overly anxious about choking (I know he's going to be fine but just one of those irrational worries that I can't shake), so this is one of the parts of parenting that's pretty confusing for me! TIA!

[Anonymous]

I used to make baby food in batches on the weekend once or twice a month and then freeze it in little cups for daycare. Somethings my one-year-old liked were chunky mashes of black beans and cooked sweet potato, plain chunks of cooked sweet potato, apples or pears and cauliflower (steamed), avocado chunks, and small pieces of bread. I'd usually also put in some plain yogurt or cottage cheese or soft fruits like banana pieces. I used a tiny bento box with little sections.

[Anonymous]

You can cut fruit in ways that are easy to use as finger food but should pose no chocking risk for even the most anxious parent. For example, most fruit can be cut in a matchstick shape that your son can grasp but couldn't choke on even if he got the whole thing in his throat.

Also, don't underestimate your kids' tastes. There's a decent chance virtually whatever you ate for dinner the night before he'll be willing to try as a leftover. Again, just cut it into slivers so its long enough to grasp but not wide enough to choke on. Its not really any additional work on top of whatever you did to make/obtain dinner.

Some other things my 1 year old likes that take virtually no time and literally no cooking skills:

- PB&J sandwiches, cut into tiny squares (if your daycare allows them);

- Overcooked pasta with tomato sauce; if you're going to obsess about cutting larger pasta into small pieces then just buy small pasta, like elbows, to start with;

- Frozen waffles cut lengthwise into french fry shaped pieces. You don't even need to defrost them; you can cut them frozen and they'll be thawed by lunchtime;

- YoBaby yogurt;

- Dry Cheerios and raisins, mixed together;

- Fruit leather, cut into strips.

[Anonymous]

My 1 yo's lunches are typically:

Boiled egg
Leftovers
Rice and beans (you can get frozen pre-cooked rice and beans in the vegetable section of the frozen foods aisle)
Chicken sausage
Pasta (we get the veggie rotini and I break it in half)
Vegetable (frozen peas or mixed veg are super easy, fresh green beans and broccoli or kale steamed and cut up small are favorites)
Fruit (usually berries cut up small, sometimes grapes also cut up very small)
Shredded cheese
Raisin bread
French toast or pancake pieces
Oatmeal
Applesauce
Pizza cut into pieces

I like bento boxes as well, mostly because our daycare requires us to label every single item each day, so the bento makes this easier. We also send big packs of crackers, Cheerios, yogurt melts, and things like that for snacks.

[Anonymous]

Following this discussion as we'll be there in a few months. PPs, which bento boxes do you have?

[Anonymous]

Goldfish

[Anonymous]

We do a lot of hummus sandwiches to switch it up from PB. Blueberries galore, boiled carrots and peas, sweet potato, plain penne pasta, grapes in half, diced strawberries, yogurt, diced cheese, shredded meat. Tastes seem to change all the time, so don't get discouraged if something doesn't get eaten one day

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the bento PPs. This is the one we have. I liked it because the size was just right for a small toddler's little portions.

http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Go-Feeding-Set-Multicolor/dp/B017TPIVB8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

[Anonymous]

Slice apples and squeeze fresh lemon on it - they will stay fresh all day long.