what should i do if toddler drops food on ground at restaurant?

[Anonymous]

I put my daughter in a large bib with a pocket that catches some of the dropped food. There's still usually a few escapees, though. Generally I just wait till we're done and then lean over and grab whatever I can with a napkin or diaper wipe. Sometimes a restaurant employee will come by and nicely say, "don't worry about that, we'll take care of it." If it's a tipping establishment, I leave extra if my daughter made a mess. Hasn't been a huge problem, though; I think most family-friendly places expect some food on the floor.

[Anonymous]

I would never never never never BUY something to cover the table OR the floor. Can you say FIRST TIME MOM????

Good grief.

You go to child-friendly restaurants, watch yer kid, pick up the biggest crumbs and tip like hell.

This is not rocket science....

And the waiters who work in family-friendly establishments are used to this...no shock or horror for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It takes about ten seconds at most to use a wet wipe to gather up most of the food on the ground - we always do. I think it's rude to just leave it there, personally.

Agreed. That's what we do.

OP - if your kid is throwing food on the floor (and not just a few crumbs, but enough for you to write a post about whether or not you should clean it up) THen it's probably a good sign your child is done eating and needs to be "entertained" another way until it's time to leave. So, stop giving your child food as soon as the first handful of food go flying off the table to the floor.

You say your supervise your child so I assume you can recognize the red flags of a child whose done eating.

[Anonymous]

Thank you poster 14:40. Your common sense is welcome! As you say, choose child friendly restaurants, do the best you can and tip nicely. I have three kids and have also been a waitress back in the day so know the situation from both ends.

[Anonymous]

I hate when parents put kids food on a paper mat or on the tray. I asked for takeout containers for them or used a plate. No super messy stuff or hard to clean up meals either. Nice neat finger foods.

[Anonymous]

I was curious to get my husband's opinion on this - he's a restaurant manager now, has been a server and a bartender. He said, without hesitation, he doesn't want customers on the floor wiping up after their kids. The restaurant is "equipped" to handle the mess, and he just doesn't like how it looks, a customer on the floor, under the table, wiping up. It only takes them a couple minutes to take care of it. He seconded a nice tip for the server and busser.

I asked about the floor mats - two kids and I've never seen anyone use one, either - and he vetoed those as well, said they wouldn't really make a difference in terms of what his staff would have to clean up.

[Anonymous]

I do make a basic effort to clean up big stuff. And I also tip very well. But I don't think anyone else has mentioned apologizing to the server. I always do that!

[Anonymous]

Oh puhhhhlease, if you tip appropriately there is absolutely no need to crawl under the table to clean up your and other people's food - the restaurant has the proper industrial equipment to do so. I was a waitress and never minded - it's only natural for food to get on the floor when a little one is learning to eat. To all those snippy people who responded so rudely, at one point I guarantee you were a toddler and managed to get your food on the floor as well. Get over yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Putting a mat or newspaper (tacky) is a bit extreme and looks horrible. Our child does not usually purposely throw food but things sometimes slip out of his hand/fork and we absolutely clean it up if it is anything out of ordinary dining. It takes 30 seconds with a wipe to scoop up the food at the end of the meal. I don't see what the big deal is. Do you let your house get that nasty and let your child throw food like that at home? I'd hope not. I want my child to understand he makes a mess, he cleans it up. We also use the plastic disposable placemats to keep things clean, especially when they have good linens.

What I appreciate is when servers are good and don't put food in reaching distance or anything else and are considerate so no disasters happen by accident. Its very frustrating to clear everything around him to have a server put plates and other stuff right there when there is plenty of other room on the table but its easy. I don't expect them to take care of my child. Their job is to serve our food/drinks and attend to dining needs, not do our parenting.

[Anonymous]

I own a restaurant and I would concur with 14:31

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was curious to get my husband's opinion on this - he's a restaurant manager now, has been a server and a bartender. He said, without hesitation, he doesn't want customers on the floor wiping up after their kids. The restaurant is "equipped" to handle the mess, and he just doesn't like how it looks, a customer on the floor, under the table, wiping up. It only takes them a couple minutes to take care of it. He seconded a nice tip for the server and busser.

I asked about the floor mats - two kids and I've never seen anyone use one, either - and he vetoed those as well, said they wouldn't really make a difference in terms of what his staff would have to clean up.

This. I have also waittressed. You should not be under the table. If it is a large single item (napkin, a whole sandwich) you can pick up easily and quickly, go ahead and do it. What you should do is alert the server, busser, or cashier (depending on the type of place), that it needs to be cleaned upon leaving so someone else doesn't accidently sit in it.

Of course a server is going to prefer that you do everything for yourself, order expensively, and tip profusely. That doesn't mean it makes any sense for you to do it, just that servers are happier with less work and more money.

[Anonymous]

As a former college server, I can tell you that nothing is more rude then having your kid (and in my case) 7-9 year old throw food on the floor and laugh and the parents did nothing.

I think its a nice gesture to clean it up, even as best as you can, and if its still terrible leave a nice tip and apologize. Trust me, being on the other end of it, it really sucks having to clean up crap on the floor from ungrateful patrons. But it sounds like all the pp's have a good outlook on this etiquette!

[Anonymous]

We have two toddlers and go out a lot and not only have I never seen anyone put down a floor mat (LOL), I have also never seen anyone crawl around picking up their kid's droppings. If it's something large, like a pancake or a whole cookie, I'll lean over and pick it up, but not small bits.

If a restaurant worker is shocked and offended that they might need to sweep the floor after someone (be it a child or adult) eats there, that person needs to find a new job.

[Anonymous]

If you, as an adult, accidentally dropped some food on the floor, wouldn't you clean it up? Why should it be any different for your kid's mess? I think it's extremely rude to just leave it, and seriously, if you can't control one toddler for the 10 seconds it would take you to clean up the food, then maybe you shouldn't be taking the kid to restaurants. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you, as an adult, accidentally dropped some food on the floor, wouldn't you clean it up? Why should it be any different for your kid's mess? I think it's extremely rude to just leave it, and seriously, if you can't control one toddler for the 10 seconds it would take you to clean up the food, then maybe you shouldn't be taking the kid to restaurants. Ugh.

Sure if I dropped a hamburger, I'd pick it up. But, I wouldn't get down on all fours and pick up rice or small things. If I was going to go that far, I might as well get out a pack of baby wipes and scrub all the plates clean.