Best systems for cleaning during/after baby eating

[Anonymous]

Please share your best tips! Mats under high chair? Favorite bowls? What bib? What do you use to wipe off? What do you wash in the washer and what do you rinse in the sink and hang to dry in the kitchen?

[Anonymous]

I don't know, just wish we had a dog!

[Anonymous]

Hahahahahhha. No. Your whole house is going to be covered in avocado. And about 4 months from now your kid is going to eat a cheerio that’s been there a looooong time.

Sorry, I’m in the thick of it. I tried mats and trays and bibs. Nope. Nothing works. He’s just a mess. Sometimes he does straight from dinner to the bath. I am usually covered in some nonsense. There’s always something gross stuck to the floor somewhere. I think it just is what it is for a while. They won’t always be so messy.

[Anonymous]

I unfortunately have a lot of experience with this 🤪. So here’s my thoughts, for what they’re worth. What are you serving? If it’s truly messy, like beets, I cut so that it is easy for her to pick up or spoon feed that part. There’s very little shirt wearing for kids at dinner. They have to earn their shirt. We have a Tripp Trap chair, which is pretty easy to wipe down. We also have an old kitchen table that is easy to wipe down. Baby eats out of one wooden bowl, sometimes with fingers, though she is trying spoons and the occasional fork. She has a sippy cup for now, but would love to graduate to glass. One shattered on our slate kitchen floor the other day, so we’re holding off. One face/body washcloth, broom, then wipe down floors. Every meal. It’s exhausting!

Also, if she throws food, she isn’t allowed to self feed. I know this stage goes fast, since she has an older brother, but it’s infuriating!

Watching this thread for tips. Keep ‘em coming!

[Anonymous]

For my first kid we didn't eat anything messy. Seriouly, no yogurt unless i spoon fed her and no red pasta aauce. For like 2 years. She also loved being spoon fed so it meal time was clean and orderly until about 3.5. And then she was ok with a spoon anyway. Second kid refused spoon feeding st 8 months. So we did baby led weaning and there was a lot of food throwing. Still no red pasta sauce for her. But at 18 months she uses a spoon and fork really well. I only serve rice or cous cous on days i have energy to do major cleanup. Otherwise, i have a broom and a stick vac and a "floor towel" for water messes. I sweep, vacuum after every meal and mop floors eve other day. We use a stokke chair so easy to wipe. I use heavier silicone plates she cant easily move when doing fork and spoon maneuvers. And i don't let her eat yogurt with a spoon. Keep a moist napkin/paper towel to wipe hands and face tight after meal time before any walls are touched.
If food is thrown its out of the high chair for a minute which works for the rest of the meal but lots is still dropped not on purpose. Im planning to repaint the walls when the youngest is 5.

[Anonymous]

Long sleeve bibs to start, then move to a silicone pouch bib. The first will save clothes from stains and the latter can be washed in the sink.

There are silicone mats you can buy instead of dishes. With our first we did that instead of dishes until 12 months or so, then used our regular plates. The weight of them was actually easier for DS than using plastic plates with a suction cup. Obv this could be disastrous for some kids, so ymwv.

[Anonymous]

Just deal. Self-feeding is extremely important so you let the kid at it. No thrown food but everything else is a learning opportunity.

Couple hints: have “eating shirts”. I change my boys shirts before meals to old or inexpensive dark colored t-shirts and boxer shorts. Even with a bib, food stains.

Eat with your child and never take your eyes off him/her! Keep a damp paper towel nearby.

Clean hands and faces when the kid is done.

Solitary play after meals where I clean the high chairs and do a quick swifter on the floor.

Oh, and don’t put the child within arm’s reach of the wall.

[Anonymous]

Get a high chair that is really easy to clean—no fabric, no little crevasses or hard to reach places, w a tray that can be removed easily so you can just pop it off and wash it in the sink. I would recommend one but after 2 kids and 2 high chairs, we did not find one I’d think worthy of a recommendation! We had the ikea antilop which was pretty good (and cheap!) but the tray was a beast to remove. We also had a Chicco one which was awful! Super hard to clean.

Get sleeved bibs. Bumkins brand made the best ones we owned.

Have baby wear clothes you don’t care about getting ruined when eating or no clothes at all (just diaper+bib)

Have then far away from the wall and anything they can reach out and grab/touch w messy hands.

Have them on a hard wood floor or other easy to clean surface (obviously not carpet but also not tile w grout!) if you don’t have an area like this, buy one of those splat mats or a shower curtain or tarp on the floor will do.

Cut foods length wise so they’re easier for baby to pick up. Use a crinkle cutter to cut really slippery foods like bananas, avocado and/or put something like flaxseed meal on the soft/mushy foods to make them easier for baby to grasp.

Try not to stress it! Baby needs to learn to feed themselves and there’s really not a “clean” way to do it. But it’s just a phase and the more you let them do it themselves/practice early on, the more likely they are to get good at eating quicker. So let them feed themselves and learn to use utensils.

[Anonymous]

Bibs and wet washcloths, but yeah, embrace the chaos. They will rub avocado into their hair and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

My cat just peed on thrlr floor mat, so seconding wishing I had a dog.

[Anonymous]

Silicone pouch bibs (rinse in sink and air dry).

Splat mat under the high chair (washable in washing machine).

Damp baby washcloth for wipe downs during and after meals.

[Anonymous]

A mat under the chair, and then let them eat. I gave her everything rice, yogurt, fruits, just not things that would stain stuff. She was never a food thrower just one that would get it everywhere on her hair and face. It was a bit messy for a few months, but it helped her learn how to feed herself and eat with a spoon and fork very quickly. And it was a good break for me, to leave her with her food for a while, she would be safe in the chair, eat and learning a new skill. The only downside was that I'd spend 10 mins cleaning afterward, but hey! I got a 30-minute break to do other stuff while keeping an eye on her every now and then. We used Bumkins bibs and folded the sleeves if the onesie had long ones. Mostly, just giving her a good face and hand wash and then wiping her hair with a wet towel was enough, on somedays we needed to change clothes. Wipe away wet food from chair and mat, quick vacuum for the rest and rinsing the tray in the kitchen sink became our routine.

It's less stressful if you focus on how to handle the mess rather than avoiding it.

[Anonymous]

Do you guys use paper towels, baby wipes or rags/washcloths?

If washcloths, do you gather them in a bucket or rinse them in the sink and hang to dry?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A mat under the chair, and then let them eat. I gave her everything rice, yogurt, fruits, just not things that would stain stuff. She was never a food thrower just one that would get it everywhere on her hair and face. It was a bit messy for a few months, but it helped her learn how to feed herself and eat with a spoon and fork very quickly. And it was a good break for me, to leave her with her food for a while, she would be safe in the chair, eat and learning a new skill. The only downside was that I'd spend 10 mins cleaning afterward, but hey! I got a 30-minute break to do other stuff while keeping an eye on her every now and then. We used Bumkins bibs and folded the sleeves if the onesie had long ones. Mostly, just giving her a good face and hand wash and then wiping her hair with a wet towel was enough, on somedays we needed to change clothes. Wipe away wet food from chair and mat, quick vacuum for the rest and rinsing the tray in the kitchen sink became our routine.

It's less stressful if you focus on how to handle the mess rather than avoiding it.

Yes, handling is what I’m trying to optimize.

[Anonymous]

Splat mats: do you pull it after every meal and wash it? Or less frequently? Do you have two and change them out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you guys use paper towels, baby wipes or rags/washcloths?

If washcloths, do you gather them in a bucket or rinse them in the sink and hang to dry?

Always preferred washcloths. They clean better with fewer complaints from baby. Just buy a bunch of the cheap ones. I keep a small wire hamper in the dining room for dirty washcloths. Can always hang them on the edge until they dry.