Bentgo Kids 5-Compartment Lunch Box - Glitter Design for School, Ideal for Ages 3-7, Leak-Proof, Drop-Proof, Dishwasher Safe, & Made with PFAS & BPA-Free Materials (Glitter Edition - Silver)

If you're on the fence about which bento box to order for your child (BENTGO KIDS or YUMBOX), I will compare the two brands in this review. My family has used both kinds for about a month. **BENTGO KIDS** My 5 year-old kindergartner takes this box for his lunch, and it is truly the better choice for YOUNGER CHILDREN in my opinion. It has a more juvenile color scheme, five small food compartments, DURABLE RUBBER TRIM on the top and bottom, and overall exudes a higher quality product that will withstand more abuse than the Yumbox. The latches are more HEAVY-DUTY than the Yumbox, and although it can be a bit difficult for kids to close at first (it's a tight seal around the inner tray), my son got the hang of it after a couple tries. The Bentgo Kids trays come in three different colors and seem more durable than the Yumbox trays. The Bentgo Kids box doesn't hold a LOT of food, but it is plenty for my son, and I imagine it will provide ample food until he's in second or third grade (probably a good box for 3-8 year-olds?). The largest compartment will fit a half sandwich unless your bread is huge, but then you can just cut it in quarters. The Bentgo Kids shell is a bit larger than the Yumbox, so it's a tight squeeze into my son's soft-sided LL Bean box, but we manage to fit the Bentgo and a Lifefactory water bottle into the LL Bean box. *UPDATE* - We recently purchased an LL Bean Discovery lunch box, and this easily fits either the Bentgo or Yumbox as well as a water bottle and extras. The Bentgo also fits in a Lands' End ClassMate soft sided lunch box with a Goodbyn water bottle (see photo). Does the Bentgo Kids leak? Nope. The rubber gasket on the lid is impressive, and ranch dressing has stayed neatly in the center dip compartment. The gasket on the Yumbox doesn't seem to be as good, so this is another reason why I like the Bentgo Kids better for younger children. It's pretty much foolproof. To clean, simply remove the inner tray and put it in the dishwasher. I always hand wash the outer shell or at least give it a wipe-down each day. **YUMBOX PANINO** I purchased this Yumbox Panino for my 9 year-old third grader. I like the Yumbox Panino colors and design better for OLDER CHILDREN (maybe 7-12 year-olds?). It's less juvenile than the Bentgo Kids box, and the Panino version has room for a larger sandwich. Since its tray has thin dividers, it will HOLD A BIT MORE FOOD too. The Yumbox has a slightly SMALLER FOOTPRINT than the Bentgo Kids, and it fits snugly in my son's LL Bean lunch box, but his water bottle does make his lunch box lid bulge out - not a big deal. We have since upgraded to the LL Bean Discovery lunch box, which is much deeper and has plenty of room. If you only have room for a small, narrow water bottle, the Goodbyn bottle is a great option (found on Amazon). We have packed ranch dressing in the center, and as long as I press down tightly while latching the lid, it doesn't leak. The inner tray has printed text underneath (they are not removable stickers), but it does have a more grown-up look to it than the whimsical designs on other Yumbox trays. Yumbox sells plain trays on their website. The tray easily snaps out for washing in the dishwasher, but we always wash the outer shell by hand. FOUR compartments or SIX? Yes, Yumbox offers two different versions - same size, but the trays have either more or less compartments. I debated greatly over which to buy, but ultimately I decided that the Panino (4 compartment) style would grown with my son better than the 6-compartment Yumbox, and on days when he doesn't pack a large sandwich, I simply use silicone baking cups as dividers. Links to the cupcake liners and leaf-shaped food picks shown in my photo are at the end of this review. SUMMARY: Both boxes have different features, so the box to choose really depends on your child's needs. The YUMBOX PANINO is my favorite for OLDER CHILREN or those who eat larger lunches because of the tray design and color combinations. The BENTGO KIDS is terrific for younger kids as it seems MORE DURABLE yet holds plenty of food for little ones. I do wish the Bentgo Kids box came in more colors, but perhaps this is in the works. For now, my son enjoys using his different-colored trays to switch things up a bit. Links to other products shown in my photo: Silicone Cupcake Liners (this set has red, which my sons had to have): http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Cupcake-Kitchen-Buddies-Included/dp/B00LR84HXA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1425867226&sr=1-1 Leaf Food Picks: http://www.amazon.com/Tornado-P-2759-Leaf-pick-10P/dp/B0019XLGLE/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1426438596&sr=1-1&keywords=leaf+food+picks Goodbyn Bottle: http://www.amazon.com/Goodbyn-20064BT-Bottle-Blue/dp/B0050O92PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442187692&sr=8-1&keywords=goodbyn+bottle February, 2017 UPDATE: My second grader is still using his Bentgo Kids nearly every day, as it holds more than enough food for his appetite. The rubber trim began to peel off a bit on the outer container (though I always hand wash it), and Bentgo sent me a replacement! What a wonderful product and equally great customer service!

I will begin using the two Bentgo Kids that I bought daily next week to send lunch with my 1-year-old and not-quite-3-year-old to daycare. They have not stood the test of going to daycare with them yet, but so far I really like the Bentgo Kids. They seem to be good quality and durable. The latches are easy enough that my older child is able to open them on her own (once she was shown how), but secure enough that I'm not worried about them coming accidentally unlatched. She did have a little difficulty closing the box on her own though since simply closing the lid doesn't really close it... you have to kind of pull it out/toward you when you close it in order for it to close all of the way to latch. But she will have her teacher(s) available to help her, as will my younger child. I felt that the outer shell was easy to wash. The inner tray was also easy to clean, but the deep recesses on the bottom were difficult to clean while hand washing; some of them are pretty narrow to be able to fit a dish cloth or brush up there. Of course, these areas shouldn't get too dirty either. I did a quick test to see how leakproof the box is by filling a couple of compartments about halfway with water and sloshing it around a bit. I shook it a little, rocked it back and forth, turned it upside down, etc. The water stayed in place. There were a couple of drops (literally drops) in a neighboring compartment, but I'm pretty sure it is from dripping from the lid when I opened the box. Based on this, I doubt it will be a problem to include foods such as yogurt, applesauce, or cottage cheese. The leakproof seal was actually the predominant reason why I ultimately decided on the Bentgo Kids... so I could send the foods I just listed and not worry about other foods, such as crackers, getting soggy. I am very excited to start using these boxes every day. I love that the sizes of the compartments seem perfect for kid-sized portions, and that the number of compartments gives me the ability to send a variety of foods every day so my picky toddlers will hopefully at least eat something. Also, the overall size of the box is perfect for little hands. Both of my kids are able to carry it around easily. Overall, I would rate the Bentgo Kids at a 5... I'm rounding up a bit because I love the product so far, but it is a little hard to reach some areas of the underside of the tray when washing.

Our toddler loves this. Works well and the lid closure is great. So far no spills! Love that we can give different portions of fruits and veggies etc.

Perfect for Toddlers & Parents Alike! This is my second year purchasing Bentgo Kids lunch boxes, and I absolutely love them. The 5 compartments are the perfect portion size for my toddler, making it easy to pack a variety of foods without waste. The quality is excellent, sturdy, durable, and still looks great after plenty of use. I also love that it’s dishwasher safe, which makes cleanup quick and easy. Stylish, practical, and built to last, definitely worth it!

We usually love these but I took away a star because they can be hard for kids to close.

This has been the best lunchbox for my child to bring to school. It’s held up well after 2 years in pre-k and is heading off to Kindergarten looking practically new. The compartments are great for packing a variety of things while keeping them separate. If you have a picky eater this is great because you can give them 4-5 things knowing they’ll eat at least one of them. I would caution that the large compartment only fits a half sandwich which is perfect for us but may not be for others whose kids may eat full size sandwiches. We have also put yogurt, cut fruit, cheesecake and crackers in all the different compartments and it seals perfect with no leaks/seeping at all. Cannot recommend enough.

We have had the kids bentgo plastic lunch boxes for a long time now & we absolutely ADORE these lunch boxes!!! Seriously, I will never use another brand of lunch boxes again! Never. Ever. When first shopping for kids lunch boxes years ago, I was cheap and decided to go with the generic various cartoon character lunch boxes and used glad and various other Tupperware we had laying around the house to pack the lunch inside, along with plastic zip lock bags. I had such a hard time keeping track of the 3-4 different Tupperware plastic food containers and 3-4 lids per lunchbox, not to mention cleaning them all every single day!!!! Also, we were wasting so many plastic bags- which not only end up filling up landfills but also costs us money to replace constantly! After seeing a suggested ad for bentgo kids lunchboxes, we decided to upgrade and get the kids actual bentgo kids Lunch boxes to try out. We started by just buying one bentgo lunch box for each child to see if it was something that would work for our busy family. We are so glad we did!!! All we could think was, why in the world did we not do this before!?! It was totally worth the investment! The plastic bentgo lunch boxes were just the right size for our kids! The portion sections of the boxes were great and we love how the lunchbox comes in just two simple pieces! No more washing 3-4 containers and 3-4 lids from each lunch box every day per kid! We went from washing a total of more than 10+ containers and an additional 10+ lids a day (3 school kids) to only washing three!!! The best part is that they rinse off so easy! They are even dishwasher safe! They are so easy to wash that our kids wash their own lunch boxes and we check them. I’m all about products that make parent life easier/more effective and this lunch box does both of those things!!! We love them so much that we tell all our parent friends about bentgo because they make sending a healthy school lunch for your child actually easy! Plus- no leaks! BPA free Fast shipping Update: it’s April 2025 and these lunch boxes are still in good shape and they held up nicely. These lunch boxes have been thrown around by my kids and through the dish washer more times than I can count. Still holding up! Kids are older now and we upgraded them to the adult size Bentgo boxes. Now these lunch boxes are getting passed down to cousins. Now that’s quality!

UPDATE: I emailed Bentgo to let them know about the latch issue, and received a same-day reply (a few hours after I sent my email--the person replied at 9PM!). Though our bento box was no longer under warranty, the customer service rep offered to replace our bento box anyway, free of charge. She asked that I send her proof of purchase plus a photo of the breakage; as soon as I did that, they sent out a replacement bento box, which I received within a few days. I'm really impressed with the level of responsiveness and their commitment to customer service, so I'm changing my review to five stars. I'm more than happy to support companies that stand by their products like this! And our new bento box is back in rotation, as easy and functional as ever! ORIGINAL REVIEW: We love this bento box and it's great for school lunches, except after about a year of use, one of the two latches broke off. It held up okay with only one latch for about six more months, and then the second latch broke. So now I have to keep it closed with a rubber band--still usable but kind of a pain. We didn't overstuff it or otherwise misuse it, so the latches really should have lasted longer. Until the latches broke, the bento box was my favorite thing to pack lunches in. The compartments allow for a lot of variety, and it sealed really well. I wouldn't put soup in it, but thicker liquids like ketchup, ranch dressing, etc., were all fine in the bento box and always stayed in their compartments without leaking. It's not really insulated but it does keep things fairly cool, and if I need something to stay cold I'll pack it in a lunchbox with an ice pak. It cleans up easily, too. Just a bummer about the latches, and makes me hesitate to buy again.