Keep it soft, small, and boring.

Packing a lunch for a toddler who just started eating solids is mostly about texture and choking safety, not variety.

Think soft first. Steamed carrot rounds, ripe avocado, shredded chicken, soft pasta, scrambled eggs, yogurt, quartered grapes, mashed beans. If you can smash it between two fingers, it’s the right texture. Cut everything smaller than you think you need to. Round, firm foods like grapes and cherry tomatoes are the real choking risks, not the ones that look scary.

Portions are tiny. A few tablespoons of each thing is a full meal. They’ll eat two bites and mash the rest into their hair. That’s normal, not a failure.

Don’t stress the balance. One protein, one fruit, one veg, one carb, done. If they only eat the carbs, that’s still a win. Skip honey before 12 months and lean on iron-rich stuff — eggs, fortified cereal, meat — because toddlers run low on iron faster than you’d expect.

The bar is lower than you think. Soft, safe, small. That’s the whole job.