Licking dinner plates

I’m entrigued what she is eating to enjoy so much the sauce /juice @Endlessblueskieswhatsnottolove

gravy - cheese sauce - etc ?

yes it’s not good manners and us as parents need to teach children nice manners

but sometimes a lot of liquid left - I have occasionally used my finger and got some of the left over sauce that way

is that allowed ?

At home obv - never in public

agree with the bread and it’s like lasagne /spag bol and garlic bread at the end and nice to mop it up

I'm sorry but if you can't see or aren't aware of the negativity on several levels associated with the 'licking' of one's plate then there's obviously very little point in attempting to explain it to you. 🙄
Let's just say that it's an unpleasant and unnecessary thing to do even 'in your own home' but who's to say that OP's daughter will not then do the same thing in a restaurant for instance or at a family gathering, a wedding for instance or birthday party? 😦
The licking of plates is most definitely and without question not socially acceptable and I would be unhappy if any of my children/grandchildren had attempted to do this anywhere at any time!! 😡

Tell her she can do it at home, but not when out or when you have guests. At 8 she’s old enough to understand that.

If you don’t want her to that’s your choice. Growing up we were allowed to do it at home (same with drinking our cereal milk) but with the caveat that we only do it in our own home and never when we have guests. I concur with others…if it’s grossing you out then give her a slice of bread.

In my experience the posher people are, the worse the table manners at home are. It’s a bit gauche or aspirational to care about these things in private.

This was a contentious issue in my house as a child. My dad used to do it for certain meals and of course I'd copy him!
My mum would get very cross with us and we thought it was hilarious.
I knew perfectly well that it wasn't acceptable conduct outside of the home, it was more a bit of fun!

My ex fil used to do this. It’s fucking grim and I would say not to be encouraged

In our family we have selectively bad manners. At home we're ok with using a finger to wipe up last bits of sauce from the plate. Obviously this is bad manners. None of us do it when we're guests in others' homes or eating out. We all seem well able to cope with this level of nuance.

For the avoidance of doubt, we wouldn't be ok with directly licking the plate with your tongue even at home.

She’s In her own home not a Michelin star restaurant for Christ sake 🤣

I honestly wouldn’t let this bother me. As long as she understands she’s not to do it when she’s anywhere else, or if anyone else is visiting I say let her.

If she doesn’t stop when you ask her to then that’s another discussion, but my kids would totally understand the difference.

I've just had a lovely bowl of homemade soup. I dipped the bread and wiped the bowl with it. Of course I lick yoghurt lids I wouldn't want to waste it.

I always lick my plate if I've made a delicious meal with sauce. Obviously I wouldn't do it in a restaurant or at a friend's house. My kids tell me off! (Self righteous teens).

I am not really sure what's wrong with it. Would you also not lick the lid of a yoghurt?

An ad just genuinely popped up here showing 2 kids happily licking their plates, because the product was so delicious. Yeah, don't lick plates in front of other people. If you must do it, lick the plate in solitary circumstances

If she is picking the plate perhaps she is still hungry and needs a bigger portion

If she is picking the plate perhaps she is still hungry and needs a bigger portion

Licking the plate is a pretty effective way of pre-cleaning it prior to washing up.

That reminds me of someone I once knew who had to turn their plate upside down so they could eat their pudding off the underside. Not a deprived family, i think he went to Dulwich College, just rather eccentric.

We had to do that to qualify for pudding. That's the 1960s/70s for you.

The bread is literally provided for the purpose of dipping.

The only thing with using bread to ‘mop up’ is that it’s unnecessary extra calories

I've managed to restrain myself from licking a dinner plate. We are supposed to be civilised, and children need to be taught basic table manners.

This.

As others have said, just give her some bread and tell her this is a slightly more polite Italian way to do it. La scarpetta apparently!
italysegreta.com/la-scarpetta/

I don't think its a big deal in your own home as long as shes taught its not something to do in public

I may be guilty of the odd plate-lick in the privacy of my own home 🫣…but bread to wipe the plate does sound like a good solution.

I grew up poor, we often didn’t have any food for dinner and it was two bits of cheap white bread with a bit of pickled beetroot inside. Gravy was a luxury we certainly couldn’t afford.

And It still doesn’t excuse poor table manners and it certainly doesn’t mean your middle class. I fully understand if you’re starving why you would do it, hence why I asked the op if her child was hungry, and I’m sorry if you’re still in that situation, but if you’re not then there is no excuse for poor table manners,