Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If your child ate with their mouth open, would you tell them?

57 replies

Chefpig · 18/09/2026 19:16

I see so many kids eating with their mouths wide open these days. Have people forgotten basic manners and etiquette?

OP posts:
AllHoityToity · 18/09/2026 21:32

I tell my adult children to hold their own head up if they are leaning on their arm at dinner time and no gesticulating with cutlery. If I don’t tell them, then who will?

KiwiFall · 18/09/2026 21:36

Of course I would! I hated it when someone at my primary school used to do it. I still remember who it was it was that disgusting.

TurquoiseGoldPeaches · 18/09/2026 21:37

Yes!!!

OhHobnobs · 18/09/2026 21:42

CaptainCalm · 18/09/2026 19:17

Yes, every time. It’s disgusting.

Same. Now my kids tell their grandparents off for it too 😆

SometimesThingsHappen · 18/09/2026 21:47

Yes. I was constantly telling my kids to chew with their lips sealed. I am very sensitive to mouth noises and can't handle them at all.
We spend time with friends of friends who have a daughter around the same age as my kids. She is always eating with her mouth open. It's disgusting. They never say anything to her which I find really weird as neither of her parents eat like that. My friend usually corrects this girl about please and thank you but doesn't tell her to eat with her mouth closed.

BCBird · 18/09/2026 21:50

I would definitely. Gross

DreamingOfGeneHunt · 18/09/2026 21:52

I absolutely tell her. It's revolting.

BishBashBoshDumpling · 18/09/2026 22:29

I distinctly remember as a child, being babysat by my Godmother at her house, where she reprimanded me for eating with my mouth open during lunch. She was disgusted.

I neger did it again and I am forever grateful to her.

NotAnotherScarf · 18/09/2026 22:33

Mate try eating in spoons. Now I love spoons, go to our local at least twice a week but the number of people who chew with their mouths open. Last we there were two naturally stunning young ladies clearly sisters with their partners. They were so good looking everyone was looking at them. Then they started to eat!

Another pet hate is people who talk with food in their mouths. Sil does it continuously. I hate her anyway but yuk.

PeloMom · 18/09/2026 22:35

Yes I tell mine. It’s a recent development and I wonder where it came from. Wasn’t an issue until few weeks ago

Ratherhaveacupofteaandabiscuit · 18/09/2026 22:39

It is revolting. I wish someone had told my father in law as a child.

ButtercupYellow26 · 18/09/2026 22:40

Of course. Basic manners.

CheeseToast17 · 18/09/2026 22:41

Yes 👏

5foot5 · 18/09/2026 22:46

Of course. When DD was little she needed to be told and reminded often. I can vaguely remember when I was that young being told by my parents and it seemed impossibly hard. Until it wasn't. Certainly by the time DD was at school she had mastered it.

It is appalling when you come across an adult who never seems to have been taught this. In a previous job I used to sit opposite a young man who ate like a cement mixer and then burped all afternoon. I always assumed he took in a lot of air because of the way he ate. Amazingly he had a girlfriend.

ChiliFiend · 18/09/2026 23:04

I tell my children every mealtime - literally. It's not working. They have started telling each other to eat with their mouths closed while eating with their own mouths open.

mondaytosunday · 18/09/2026 23:07

Of course. My daughter eats properly but I wonder when my son decided that eating like a pig at a trough was appropriate! I’m constantly reminding him to slow down and take smaller bites. He does eat with his mouth closed though.

Weirdpig · 18/09/2026 23:38

There's clearly a bias in who is responding to this thread. My DD can't stand seeing people chew with their mouths open, it makes her feel sick. She can't really eat at school as a result. So many of her friends chew with their mouths open, so clearly a significant proportion of parents are not training their children properly.

Floppyearedlab · 18/09/2026 23:41

Of course. It’s revolting. Totally unacceptable unless you are a pig or cow.

mathanxiety · 19/09/2026 00:42

Yes!

It's a disgusting way to eat, and also increases the risk of choking.

BishBashBoshDumpling · 19/09/2026 05:20

I have broken things off/not had another date with some men for this reason and this reason alone.

I cannot stand it. Absolute deal breaker.

merrymelody · 19/09/2026 05:32

I once demonstrated what it looked like to chew with your mouth open to my DC. They were shocked.

pilates · 19/09/2026 05:36

Yes I would.

Error404FucksNotFound · 19/09/2026 05:41

Its one of the things I drilled into them at an early age.

Chewing with your mouth open is revolting.

JMSA · 19/09/2026 05:43

Two of my three have diagnosed Misophonia, so there’s no way I’d ever have to tell them 😁
But yeah, I would have done, in another world.

Wingingit73 · 19/09/2026 07:30

Its socially unacceptable. The worst. Teach them. Tell them. Not being able to eat is grim.