Feeding Your Toddler: Nontoxic Mealtime Favorites

As hard as I’m trying to hang on to summer, Labor Day weekend is upon us and my kids go back to school next week. It’s always so bittersweet, especially since Carson is in Transitional Kindergarten this year and for the first time will go to school 5 days a week. As I scramble around trying to gather up everything they need for school next week, I’m struck by all of plastic and vinyl products in the store aisles for kids’ lunch boxes. Everything from ice packs, to the bento boxes, to the thermos’s. In fact, this issue crosses over into just about all feeding products for toddlers and preschoolers. Despite all the reports of nasties like BPA and Phthalates in plastic products, and recent reports that what they replaced the BPA with is even worse for us than BPA, we are still inundating our kids with plastic products daily. I get it- small kids aren’t the most gentle, so you need something durable, but there are so many great options that aren’t plastic!

I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite mealtime products for the kids, but first I have to admit we are not 100% plastic free in our house. I’d be lying if I said when grandma shows up with a Princess Anna cup, that Annabelle doesn’t request it at every. single. mealtime. We do try our best though, and to help make any plastic you have on hand a little less toxic, avoid heating or storing their food in plastic containers. Just try to use it for quick mealtimes. So, on to the nontoxic products..

Drinks:

One of my favorite brands for when we’re on the go is Foogo. It’s all stainless steel and silicone. Only the internal straw (not the one they put their mouth on) is plastic, which I don’t love, but it’s a great cup besides that. They have a sippy cup version and a straw cup version and the tops are interchangeable. They even have Princess Anna cups :).

For kids transitioning to cups without lids, this Green Sprouts silicone cup is great.

Straws are pretty much unavoidable at this age. We eat out a lot and they always bring my kids disposable cups with a lid and a straw. While I’d love to skip the disposable cup all together (and often do with my son, although some people still bring disposable when I request glass for him), at least we can bring our stainless steel straws. We use these ALL the time. You can throw them in the dishwasher (just be sure to use the included brush to sweep inside them every so often).

Eating:

You can find a million plastic divided plates for kids, but did you know, there are also a ton of silicone, stainless steel and even bamboo options? My favorites are this silicone one above and also this stainless steel one.

For snacking on the go we love to grab snack cups. They’re so American, I know. Allowing your little one to wander around while devouring animal crackers is convenient, if not a little boorish. However, they make errands or shopping trips much more bearable for everyone involved. We love this stainless steel one and this silicone one.

Food Storage:

We LOVE these Bumkin snack and sandwich bags! They are pretty water proof (something really liquidy may soak through) and they have tons of fun prints and characters. We have everything from fire trucks to Dr. Suess on ours. They’re perfect for snacks or throwing in their lunch boxes.

Foogo for the win again with these hot/cold food storage containers that are completely leak proof. They are a pretty good size and does a great job of keeping food at the right temperature.

Ditch the plastic wrap and go for the reusable beeswax wrap instead. It molds itself to anything, is easy to wash, and best of all, it doesn’t contain any Polyvinyl Chloride.

In the lunchbox:

Ditch the plastic divided bento boxes and pick up one of these silicone ones instead. They collapse for easy storage and they’re leak-proof. I’ve found some stainless steel version that have zero plastic, but unfortunately they’re not leak-proof, so they don’t work for our needs right now and after many trials, this was one of the few that my son didn’t need help opening on his own, as he’s required to do this year.

Honest Co. just came out with these adorable ice packs that are free from any vinyl or plastic, unlike most ice packs. This may be an after thought for some people but why have something up close and personal with the kid’s food that isn’t safe? And these are much cuter than other’s I’ve seen.

Have you swapped out any of your plastic items? What are some of your favorites?