The mess!

[NormaStits]

8 months old, weaning is going well, she tries lots of things, loves fruit and veg. She also much prefers feeding herself than being spoonfed. Which is great for some foods and not so great for others!

The mess is driving me mad! What do you do, just strip them off and feed them naked? I give her breakfast in pjs because she gets clean ones every night so that's fine. But then lunch and dinner goes everywhere over her clothes. I'm not overly precious and I expect a bit of mess but I'd rather all her clothes didn't end up with permanent cherry stains or grease spots all over.

Should I just buy a load of those bibs with sleeves and cover her legs with a muslin? I feel like this is a really stupid question, but I just seem to get her clean and it's time to feed her again!

I can deal with the mess on the floor, I have a furry floor cleaner who hovers for all the scraps and sometimes even catches them mid-air.

[Pointlessfan]

I used to strip DD down to her vest to eat at that age but yes those cover all bibs are good. That phase does pass quite quickly luckily!

[MrsAukerman]

Yes, either just a nappy here or long-sleeved bib. It's very messy. We have a wipeclean tablecloth on the floor under the highchair so food gets recycled during meals.

[moggle]

Yeah I take her trousers off for meals although our antilop high chair with cushion plus a scoop bib means not much gets down there. If we're out I tuck a muslin round her lap. As for the top half, mostly I use a sleeveless bib but if she's going to be eating something that will stain I'll use a sleeved one or just consider stained sleeves the price to be paid for not having to wash a sleeved bib!

[BaguetteMaid]

I do the same as you OP, breakfast is in last nights Pjs then lunch if we're at home is in nappy, ditto with dinner. Lunch is usually a sarnie or omelette etc so not as messy whereas dinner always seems to be much messier (spag boll is the worst!)

I've bought some vanish oxy stuff today as I read on here to soak any stained clothes in a small bucket and then wash in the machine when you do your next wash. Have tried those plastic bibs and DD hates them! But maybe you'll have more luck!

[cantmakecarrotcake]

You need a couple of these:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0038PZJ3M/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?qid=1438264347&sr=8-10&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&keywords=bibs%20bibetta&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

You can sponge them off between meals then chuck them in with a normal wash. They dry overnight.

[NormaStits]

Thanks everyone!

I went and bought a long sleeved bib from Asda and the bloody pink colour bled into her lovely tshirt when she drooled on it, not pleased! Otherwise it worked, so I'll be looking to get some more of them (not from Asda!), especially for winter when it's too cold to eat naked.

I've got some plastic bibs for now, I still have to put muslin across her legs and tucked under her bum as she has a habit of chucking food down the side of herself and squishing it with her hips.

Even things that should be relatively clean like sandwiches are messy, she just loves to squeeze them in her little fists then wipe them across everything. I dread the day she works out how to put her hand down her nappy...!

[annatha]

I find that unless you're feeding them right before a bath, it's easier to pop a sleepsuit on instead of stripping down to the nappy. I bought some bigger ones and pop them over the top of whatever dd's wearing, then an absorbant bib (we've got some tommy tipee ones which have a neck protection bit and they're good. I was using wipe clean plastic ones at first but runny food would just run straight down into her lap and anything with a lip to catch the food gets turned upside down as she tries to retrieve what she's dropped) She HATES getting cleaned up after a meal so I'd rather just have to wash her hands/face/neck than sponge down her whole body. The suit can then just get chucked in the wash.

As PP said, a messy mat is good when giving finger foods so she actually eats some of it after bouncing it on the floor a few times.

I've also started sitting her on a muslin cloth in the high chair as our highchair has daft little folds that food gets stuck in and it's a pain in the arse to clean. I realise that I'm making more laundry for myself doing things like this, but I'd rather bung an extra load on once a week or so instead of scrubbing baby and chair down after every meal.

Would love any other tips though!

[cantmakecarrotcake]

The Baby Bjorn highchair (while a little pricey) is fab from a cleaning perspective. No nooks and crannies or straps to get food stuck in and the tray adjusts to wrap around baby's tummy so they can't get food in their lap. One of our best baby buys.