Picky Picky Experiment

I would like to go on the record and say that I have the pickiest toddler on the planet when it come to eating.  Austin's dinner in our house usually consists of Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets (Tysons), Annie's Macaroni & Cheese, breakfast for dinner, or PB&J.  On the nights we try to give him what we are eating, he refuses and typically eats nothing (I refuse to reinforce that he will get preferred foods after he refuses to try the foods put in front of him.  He gets his stubbornness from me).  Last night is just one of the few examples of parenting fails/frustrations from feeding Austin.  It was an all out battle of wills where Austin was given the ultimatum to try half a piece of cheese tortellini (drenched in butter) or to go to bed.  Needless to say, after an hour, we lost the battle of wills to our two year old son.  He went to bed hungry and we felt like terrible parents.

The sad part is that I know better than to get sucked into this battle.  In all my time working with kids as an occupational therapist (and even providing therapy to kids with feeding difficulties ie sensory, swallowing, behavior) you learn that you should never force kids to eat or turn eating into a negative experience.  If they say no or turn away from the food, you are supposed to let it go and move on.  Its through feeding times and play time that you should allow your child to explore their food (smell, texture, color, taste) but not force them to eat it.  Basically, the opposite of what we did. :-(

The last thing I want is for Austin is to think all meals are negative experiences.  So tonight, I stepped away from my frustration and tried to use my experience as an OT and my love of Pinterest to begin an experiment with Austin.  At 5:30 I made a "nibble tray" for Austin with a variety of bite sized, healthy foods.  On Pinterest, they are usually put in small compartments of muffin tins or ice cube trays.  Since we only have 2 ice cube trays (currently occupied) and 1 mini muffin tin (24 slots), Austin's nibble tray was put on one of his plastic plates.  It was made up of bite sized cheese, grapes, chicken nugget, a small bowl of greek yogurt (1/2 of Chobani Champions, Very Berry), 1 Tortellini cut in half, and a cup of carrot and celery sticks in ranch dressing.  

Before

Most pediatricians/experts recommend putting new foods in front of a child 10-15 times before they will try the food.  Now none of the above foods are technically "new foods".  They have all been presented many times before and Austin being Austin refuses most of them on each occasion.  My hypothesis for this experiment is that Austin would eat the yogurt, grapes, and chicken nuggets.

Results Dinner 1:

Austin ate one bite of chicken, all of the yogurt, and all of the grapes.  He picked up a piece of cheese, held it for a second, then put it back on his plate. When he said he was finished, I let him get down from the table and I placed his plate on his mini table for him to go back to as he felt like it.  10 minutes later, he tried to scoop out any remnants of yogurt in the little cup.

After                                                                                                     

Pediatrician Dr. Sears extraordinaire says that nibble trays are ok to leave out for 1-2 hours.  Then they are to be tossed (ugh, I hate wasted food).  

So my goal for tomorrow is to buy some more ice cube trays so that I can make a real nibble tray for Austin.  We are going to give this 10-15 attempts theory a good testing from my picky eater.  I may add some other foods but I will keep a tally of how many times they have been presented.  I will try to be as consistent as possible on this but if I don't have to cook and we get pizza or go out for dinner, don't expect a nibble tray.  Wish me luck!

Do you have any experience or advice on how to get the pickiest eater alive to eat new foods?