Laptop Lunch too small??

[4Marmalade]

My ds will be entering Grade 1 this fall. For junior kindergarten we used the laptop lunch and were very happy with it. Last year for senior kindergarten we used it again but we needed to add a smaller flat container in the mesh pocket inside to hold an extra food item because ds was hungry. By the end of the year there were many days when ds would eat everything and say he was still hungry.

At school they have two "nutrition breaks" rather than a lunchtime. The first is around 10:30am and the next at about 1pm. He gets on the bus at 8am and gets home at 3:45pm so he's gone roughly 8 hours. He eats a lot at home and I'm struggling finding enough room to pack the food he wants/needs.

Is anyone else finding the laptop lunch not holding enough food? I love the idea and the box but am thinking we might need to come up with another system this year. We have a small thermos that I would love to incorporate into his lunch but that would mean bringing two lunch "bags". Maybe I could find a lunch bag that would hold everything but I like how the laptop lunch bag keeps the box nice and snug.

[JessicaTX]

If you bought a second set of the containers would they all fit in a regular size lunch box?

[Mallori]

I was back and forth on buying a Laptop, but i'd heard they are small, and I have big eaters. We ended up going with the LLBean Flip-top lunch box, which arrived yesterday. I am very pleased with them, but they haven't seen actual use yet (our schools start the 28th). A fit n' fresh container fits perfectly inside, with a little extra room on the side, and a thermos in the top part. It's quite a big bag, without being too big. Plus with the design of the fit n fresh, the ice pack is in there to keep their stuff cold.

[34me]

I think it really depends on what you pack. I use them for myself as well as my kids who are older. We haven't had a problem with the size but we pack a sandwhich, usually a veggie, something like nut/rice cracker mix and a cookie.

[SAHMinHawaii]

Do you happen to have any pics of lunches you have packed? I use a laptop for my 6 year old and for my dh and there is plenty of food for a grown man. I think it depends on what and how you pack it.

[LoveOhm]

Yes I agree it is what and how you pack the lunch box. Add more dense foods... or a soup in addition to the food.

[alima]

I've been looking at these boxes from Lunch Sense. My ds is a big teen, so I'm looking for a large box for him, but the medium size looks good for me, too.

[4Marmalade]

I thought I was doing pretty well at packing it but maybe not. The large covered container usually holds yogurt with fruit (ds's constant). The other large container usually holds a sandwich, wraps, french toast strips, cheese and crackers, pasta salad, etc.. The other small containers are used to hold cut up fruit or veggies, hard-boiled egg, applesauce, etc..

I wish there was a way to send whole fruit without it getting squished.

Maybe my ds eats more than average?? I just know at home he eats quite a bit in that 8 hour period. I can see the amount of food being perfect for lunch but it's pretty much all day that he is gone.

I am going to start making a list of new things to try in his lunch this year so maybe we'll come up with some more filling combinations. I think we'll stick with the laptop lunch for now and see how it goes.

[tuffykenwell]

I am in Ontario too and we have a "balanced day" here as well and I found the LLB held plenty of food for DS last year. I was similar in that the container with lid held yogurt with fruit (or applesauce), the other large held sandwhich (if I packed a whole sandwich I just cut it in half and put it cut side up and the whole sandwich still fit...but I found that he really didn't eat the whole sandwich so started packing 1/2 sandwiches or wraps). The two side containers held veggies usually and occasionally as a treat I would throw a cheesestring or yogurt tube (assuming he had gotten applesauce not yogurt in the big container)...if I thought his lunch was a bit "light" for the day.

I have 2 LLB for each of my school kids this year because we love them so much.


Steph