Hellobee

Charlie has never shown much interest in food.  He’s not only picky, but he also eats very small quantities, and he loves to share his food with anyone who will eat it.  Up until he was 19 months old, he pretty much subsisted on 3 Korean soups (seaweed, turnip, porridge), purees, and blueberries.  I didn’t push him too hard to eat more variety because he had a pretty balanced diet.  And while toddlers are notoriously picky eaters because food is one of the few things they can control, I think Charlie’s pickiness has some underlying causes: 1) genetics — pickiness runs in my family, 2) strong gag reflex – Charlie throws up very easily and regularly, and 3) sensitivity to certain textures — related to his gag reflex and why he ate purees for such a long time.

Once we made the decision to put Charlie in daycare, I knew that he had to become better at feeding himself.  We’ve been able to get him to eat a decent amount of food because we feed him every bite.  But he wasn’t going to get that kind of one on one attention at daycare, so I set out on a mission to increase the amount and variety of finger foods Charlie would eat. That’s how I discovered the wonderful world of bentos. These Japanese style lunchboxes are so visually appealing, I hoped that they would encourage Charlie to eat more.  So far it’s been a pretty great success!  Charlie has increased the variety of food he’ll eat by at least 80% the past couple of months.  Perhaps he outgrew a little of his pickiness on his own, but I largely attribute his increase in solids intake to the bento box and cutting food into long strips (he eats better that way).

These are some of Charlie’s recent bento boxes.  Typically I pack a little more variety, especially with vegetables because we can coax him to eat them, but since he wasn’t eating that well in daycare I packed his favorite foods.

watermelon, yogurt covered raisins, blueberries, cornichons, chicken sausage, pesto pasta

seaweed, cauliflower, blueberry bagel, roast chicken, asian pear, dried blueberries, bananas

rice + seaweed + soy sauce + sesame oil, pickles, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt covered raisins, cheesy pasta

watermelon, cheddar cheese, broccoli, garlic bread, breakfast sausage, olives, pickles

Since I always wonder what other parents feed their picky toddlers, I thought I’d share a master list of all the foods that I pack for Charlie’s lunch.  I actually printed this out and taped it on our refrigerator so that it’s easier for me to plan his meals. Click here to fill out and print a pdf of your own child’s favorite lunches!

It doesn’t take me that long because I have lots of little tupperware containers in the fridge full of these foods.  I prepare everything the night before because mornings are too hectic, and it’s actually kind of fun! I can’t wait until Charlie becomes a better eater (many kids become better eaters at daycare because they’re eating around other kids).  Then I can start using some of the cool bento tools out there!

What types of lunches do you pack for your toddlers?