Lunch Box Dilemas- what do you do?

[RinkyDinkyPinky]

DD1 is going to nursery in Sept and I'll be making a packed lunch for her.

I'm wondering what to put her lunch in- paper bag? horrid plastic lunch box thing? insulated back pack? Bog standard tupperware box? I'm slightly overwhelmed by all the stuff that is marketed at us with matching "night-garden" character drinks bottles. And I'm really just concerned with keeping her food nice and fresh.

Do nurseries usually have a fridge to store stuff in or do you just go with a box/ bag and it warms up to room temp ?

Also what do you put in the average lunch pack ?

God! I may be overthinking this but would welcome some feedback. Esp as DD1 isn't a great fruit eater so may need to be more creative in other areas...

dd has a sandwich or roll in a plastic tub which is then put into an insulated lunch bag (her new one has tinkerbell on it). I also have a thin ice pack which I bought in tesco and that helps to keep the food cool for a couple of hours. She also has a yoghurt type thing (either a frube type thing or a spoonable one although you run the risk of the spoon going missing!). I also put in a small bag of fruit e.g. grapes, strawberries, satsuma (peeled for ease of eating), etc. I sometimes put in a small biscuit as a treat e.g. custard cream, a mini pack of jammie dodgers, etc

I use an insulated lunch bag for DS. The type that zips open around 3 sides and is quite shallow when open is easiest for little ones. If she's old enough to put the straw into a juice carton then you can freeze them to use as cool packs otherwise I use flat flexible ice mats that I got from Lakeland.

These are brilliant for sandwiches.

Thank you both. I'll look for the insulated zip bags and ice packs. I'm sure nursery will provide spoons but will ask.

bran- I am soooo excited about that link! Am off to start a thread about it- I want the world to know!!!

There are threads about the wraps every now and then. I found out about them on here.

(I'm trying to refrain from suggesting that if you are that excited about a lunchbox accessory you should probably get out more. Oops, just suggested it. )

Bran, you are totally and utterly correct in your assumption taht I need to get out more. Someone on the other thread just told me that they made their own!! I'm in ruptures