The Tiny Diner

I got one of these last week on my mom's recommendation.  She saw a young mom with her baby using one in a restaurant and thought I might be interested.  This was after witnessing Lucy's whirlwind of terror at a Chinese buffet restaurant over the fourth of July weekend.  To me, this looked like one of those things that looks cool and useful, but turns out to be a waste of money.  Initally I filed it under "another product the baby industry wants to sell me that is actually totally worthless."  I had been burned by these products before.  The Itzbeen being the most notorious example.

I was totally wrong!  This thing is GREAT!  I bought it after Lucy's case of Coxsackie Virus made me rethink my liberal policies about what goes in her mouth.

 Here's the skinny:

It is made of what the manufacturer called "100% waterproof material".  So I don't actually know specifically what it is made of.  It feels like rubber, but there is no latex, PVC or phthalates.  It is very sturdy feeling without being too stiff to roll up compactly. 

Notice the eggs in the scoop instead of her lap

The actual surface area is just about perfect for my daughter's radius of destruction.  There is a little pocket scoop that hangs over the edge of the table and catches the inevitable dropped food before it ends up on little laps or the floor (not that it will prevent your tiny diner from tossing food on the floor when they feel like it).  It rolls up into the scoop, nice and tightly, for a compact addition to the diaper bag.  You can also roll up a bib in it so you don't forget, as well as contain any mess on the trip home. 

The suction cups stick really well to the table.  And there are A LOT of them.  Lucy did manage to pull one of them up (only one), but quickly lost interest in that game when they all didn't come flying off the table for her amusement.

It is advertised as top-rack dishwasher safe, but I haven't tried that yet.  Today was the maiden voyage.  If I end up with a melted pile of green, rubbery goo, I'll update this post accordingly.

The thing I would change would be to add some sort of rim around the edge.  Not that it would keep her from her usual food-tossing, but it would keep the mess a little better contained when she resorts to food smearing to let us know she's finished.  Even after all that work we do on baby sign language.

 Looking a little more closely at this adorable picture of Lucy, I realize that she is SOOO TIRED!  She slept late and her nap schedule got all out of whack, plus we were waiting FOREVER for our food at IHOP.  Over an hour for eggs and pancakes.  She went all giddy with relief when there was food on her plate.  She got that manic, "I am so hungry and happy there is food here that I can't control myself" look I recognize in myself when I am both hungry and tired.  She was literally laying her face on the table and shoveling the eggs into her mouth, while hugging anything that didn't fit in her hand.  It was cute...but a little alarming.