A Nibble Tray Experiment
I feel like all I do when discussing what Hooper eats is complain about what he didn’t eat or how long it took. So I’ve reached out to Sarah (Sarah Dyer, not our dog silly), whom I mentioned before, and suggested that we do a post swap and pay a little visit to one another’s blogs. So, you know, you can hear someone else with a horrible eater complain. Sarah writes about the frustration of feeding her little Stanley in much the same way I write about Hooper. Only when I see her posts of what Mr. Stanley is eating, I’m jealous. He seems to eat pretty well. But I know all to well that it’s all about what happens in between the before and after photo. I’m talking about the struggle people. You can’t photograph the struggle. It’s like taking a picture of someone before running a marathon and after. Yeah, they did it, but can you feel the burn in their legs or the deflation in their lungs. No soiree. So despite my jealousy over what Stanley appears to eat, I have nothing but sympathy for the struggle in between. So with no further adieu, here is the lovely and talented (check out her illustrations) Sarah who bravely did her own nibble tray experiment…
Hello!
My name is Sarah and Ashley suggested I popped over from my blog ‘Sarah Illustrator‘ to say “Hi” and to give my take on the whole feeding a picky little eater. I found such a love for this blog because Ashley writes so honestly and with such humour. There are a lot of blogs out there that have no real substance, but this one definitely isn’t that kind. Anyway I digress. The main reason I’m here is that Ashley and I seem to have bonded in the internet world over our troublesome eaters. I started these posts a while back on my blog but quickly realised I was trying to fool myself (and maybe my readers) with a perfect idea of what my little boy Stanley ate. The real truth was most mealtimes are a battle. If he does want to eat I mainly have to spoon feed him and at almost 21 months I think he should be able to do that himself. He is generally fussy about things and always wants to get down after about 10 seconds of being in his high chair. I then spend the time like Ashley running around the house shovelling more mouthfuls of food in his gob, or letting him play with his cars at the table to distract him into more mouthfuls.
Since starting these more honest food posts I’ve received some great advice. One of the best bits was to look at what he was eating over a whole week not just a day. In recording a before & after shot of his food I’ve also realised his eating has improved and really isn’t that bad. In fact I think I’m beginning to make real progress with him. He is trying more and more things and getting quite adventurous with his tastes. It makes for a happy Mummy to see this. Recently Ashley did a ‘nibble tray experiment‘ and so I decided to do my own. I like the idea behind this feeding attitude and think it makes a lot of sense. I think I will try to do this type of relaxed feeding at lunchtimes, letting Stanley pick at what he fancies and then do a more ‘proper’ meal for his evening dinner.
This is what our nibble tray looked like. I used a paint palette to get the little sections.
I, like Ashley, included things I was pretty sure he liked and a few foods he’s only had occasionally to test him out. He was pretty excited when I put the tray in front of him, and there was no instant request for a toy to play with. Good start I thought. He straight away went for the cashew nuts which is a food I don’t think he’s EVER eaten before….I’d already put money on the egg or cucumber going first. I was soon to find out that these would be the last thing he’d eat. This boy does like to keep me on my toes 😉
I did have to try one of everything on his tray. I don’t mind doing this though. I never put food on his plate I wouldn’t eat, and he is good sharer which I think is important to encourage.
We were doing pretty well. Every now and then I had to ask which one he was going to try next, and he would say “that one” and then go ahead and eat it. If there was a slight lull again then I would ask him again what he fancied next and list the food on his plate. He’s quite a parrot with his speech so he enjoys listening and then saying the word he wants to eat next. “Owive”. This continued well, only a slight distraction in standing up for a bit and a light attempt at escaping over the highchair and onto the table.
Amazingly though he ate it. ALL of it! As you can maybe tell from the photos it did get DARK towards the end of the meal it had taken that long! I should have been clever and done a before and after of our clock like Ashley to show you. We started around 5pm (I tried it for his dinner that day) and he finished just before 6pm! I was happy enough though – I’d been sensible and made a cup of tea to sit down with before we began. In all though for us a major success. No distractions needed other that chatting about his next mouthful. No cars, no TV no silly music and me dancing like a loon. No begging, no pleading, no dashing round the lounge after him.
I’m sure I worry more than is necessary. My mother thinks I’m mad and says he eats very well. Perhaps sometimes just the tedious nature of doing it 3 times a day is what gets me down. He is my first child, I have a few friends to compare myself to, but perhaps like a lot of things with motherhood we all expect the best and then beat ourselves up when we don’t get it right – or it doesn’t quite go how ‘the books’ say it will.
Thanks to Ashley for letting me do a guest post on her beautiful blog. Hopefully I’ll be back here if this incident hasn’t ruined our new friendship!
You can pop over to Sarah’s blog to see my “Honest Food” post.
Hooper Eats.
I’ve started a campaign to transform Hooper into an independent eater. I no longer have the time, or patience, to be following him around shoving food in his mouth. Truth be told, I’m sick of it. Feeding him can be so frustrating and time consuming and it’s time for something to change. So today, I’m looking at the man in the mirror. I’m talking about ME people. I’m going to make a change… because I recognize my role in his dependency.
After Hooper was born, a friend of mine gave me some books including The Baby Book by Dr. Sears (Thanks Kris). Lo and behold there is a chapter about picky toddler eaters. Who knew it was a phenomenon? Okay, we all do. I digress. Anyway, I read about the nibble tray and thought it sounded like a great idea. Not only does it promote the trying of new foods, but it also caters to independent eating. Two birds, one stone? I practically jumped into the nibble tray pool with my clothes off I was so excited.
Here’s the tray I assembled:
I included a few things I know he likes to eliminate the intimation factor. To my surprise, he tried everything. And he did a good job of staying in his highchair and feeding himself… for a while at least. I have to confess that I did resort to our norm of feeding on the run once he grew tired of his highchair, but it’s a transition, right?
Have you tried the nibble tray before? Have any ideas for other foods to try in the tray? Other ideas for feeding a picky eater?
Side Note: For those of you also dealing with a picky eater, stop over and say hello to Sarah & Stanley. Sarah does an awesome series she calls “Honest Food”. The two of us have a grand ol’ time sharing frustrations and stories and it feels oh so good to know I’m not alone.
Hooper Eats.
The title of this post is debatable, but only if you want to hear me complain about how difficult it is to feed Hooper. Na, me neither. That’s why today I’m going to stick with picture proof and let you draw your own frustrating conclusions. The other day Hooper and I took a little trip over to Ikea to get some shelves for his new room. We grabbed food while we were there and this is what ensued:
Here we have proof that a few bites did actually enter the sanctuary known as Hooper’s chompers. That’s macaroni on his face and it’s always a good sign. See, it started well. 
Then he ditched the food for the straw wrapper. My hopes are still high, if only I could get that wrapper out of his mouth.
Then he started playing with his straw. He loves taking it out of the hole and putting it back in. I know, typical man, right? Get your mind out of the gutter, would you?
Ah-Ha! The fork is going in the right direction! Hip hip hoorays are starting to build in my throat.
Um, but that’s not a hopeful face. What is he doing? He loves mac n’ cheese.
Stall out move. Yes, he often licks his food when he’s unsure whether he wants to eat it. Hope is still bubbling, but impatience is also brewing. Eat Hooper, Eat!
Same bite remains on the fork. He’s thinking about it.
But instead, the fork makes a detour and the back end goes in. Hope begins to fizzle. My encouragement is going totally ignored. 
“Look Mom, no hands”. Look who thinks he’s so cool now. Yup, it’s the same little booger who won’t eat his god damn food.
Oh no he didn’t. Oldest trick in the book and he’s already figured it out at 18 months? The good ol’ hide your carrots in the napkin trick. Come on Hooper, I used to do that. You’re goin’ oldschool on me now.
And now the attention is turned to the napkin. He decides to cover his juice with it.
Then he eats the napkin. Seriously Hooper, you won’t eat your mac n’ cheese but you’ll eat the napkin. For goodness f’n sakes, you’re toying with me now aren’t you? 
He proceeds to rip his napkin into pieces. At this point I’ve given up all hope and am trying to find peace in the fact he is still sitting in his highchair past the usual 5 minutes. 
We leave to find his shelves. The food remains. And there lies cold hard evidence of an impossible child to feed. I have to conclude by saying that Ikea rocks. Hooper may have hardly touched his food, but kids eat free until 4pm, so three bucks stayed in my pocket. Score. Bummer it was wasted anyways.
Hooper Eats.
I’ve made no secret of the fact my child is a picky eater. I’m a picky eater too, so I hold myself responsible. That’s probably why my patience takes longer to run out than Willy’s. In any case, the food has to be the right temperature, the right consistency, familiar, and there needs to be a balance between too much distraction and not enough distraction. It can’t be a distraction that draws his attention away from the food, rather it has to entertain him while we shovel food into his mouth. Sitting for long periods in the highchair doesn’t fair too well these days. We have about a five minute window whether he likes the food or not. After that window of time closes, he’s off to the races and we’re left chasing him around with his next bite of food. Which he’ll eat, by the way, it’s just he’s more interested in playing than eating. What’s that you say? Typical toddler behavior? Typical shympical, feeding this boy is d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t.
I’m always looking for new things for him to try and I’m always planning his meals to be sure he’s eating a balanced diet. And while I think I do a good job of having him eat well from each food group, I think I fail in the variety category. Which leads me back to the always looking for new things for him to try mantra. In any case, here are some meals I’ve made him as of late and proof of the highchair struggle.
See how sweet he looks in the picture above. This photo was taken within that five minute window I was talking about. Nonetheless, he’s wasting value time within that window because he’s obviously not paying any attention to his food. I made him pretty tasty french toast too. Anyway, here’s what happens when the five minutes are up:
Note Willy’s arm holding him down. It’s of no use, really. I’m not sure why he even attempts to stop the inevitable.
This last picture is really the one that tells the whole story:
Note Willy with his head turned toward the TV. He’s watching golf or basketball, I assure you. Note the food on the fork: mac n’ cheese with peas. This is one of Hooper’s favorites. Note Hooper with his head thrown back and an already been chewed pea and some slobber on his chin. Yes folks, this is what I deal with. I often feel like the naughty school master with a ruler in my hand, one foot perched on the chair, yelling at Willy to concentrate and at Hooper to eat.
Polly Wanna Cracker? Part II
I started a cracker experiment a while back. You can read the first post here. This is an update. Here’s what Hooper has tried on a cracker:
Not all were successful. The olive, cheese, tomato mix was a second chance for this recipe that failed the first time. It failed again. He also did not like the cottage cheese or tuna. He did, however, take to the avocado, hummus, and peanut butter (not pictured). I may have exhausted my cracker trick, but if anyone has anything further to recommend on a cracker, I’m all ears.
A Story
Hooper is a finicky eater. I say finicky instead of picky because usually we can get him to eat good, but it takes a whole lot of patience, perseverance, distraction, inventiveness, and some more patience. Other times he can be flat out picky. Not sure if it has to do with the color or the texture or the smell, but sometimes he won’t even try things. I’m determined to have him eat good and expand his horizons. I’m determined to, well, not let him turn out like me… Picky at 30.
So we went to the store the other day to pick out some new foods to try.
Please take a moment to notice the one shoe off. This seems to be a favorite shopping cart activity.
I cut up some grape tomatoes, black olives, and mozzarella cheese (one of his favorites). I also sauteed some shallots.
To be honest, I thought I had outdone myself. There’s no chance in hell I’d ever touch the puree mixes I feed him, but this little combo looked good, smelled good, it had success sprinkled all over it. I topped it off with a little balsamic vinegar dressing and voila:
And the result:
Do you see that scared look on his face? See that tension in his little hands and he attempts to push the table away? Oh no, I don’t think this is going to work out.
See the intensity in those eyes? At least I know someone will eat it.
Anyway, as suspected, it was a bust. So I made a second attempt. I pureed it.
…And it was still a bust.
We put it on garlic bread and this mama and papa savoured the goodness. And boy was it good.