aibu to think if youre blw then clean up after yourself!

[judgejudithjudy]

so fed up of eating out watching people doing blw & leaving a huge mess all over the floor without any attempt to clean it up!

[IceBeing]

I have been told off before in cafes for picking up BLW mess....often along the lines of 'we can do it faster and better if you just get out the way' although more politely said obviously...

[LittleMissGerardLouiseButler]

I don't mind people stacking plates at all but I find it easier to stack them myself to get maximum usage of the tray I'm carrying! I do appreciate customers trying to help though :o

[ThoraNomiki]

Jeez I'd hate to be your child! Do you get your baby to change it's own nappy as well?

Babies make mess when learning to eat unless people do that extended mostly unnecessary spoon/mush-feeding thing. But yes it's nice if the parents of that baby make an attempt at cleaning it up.

[Tailtwister]

YANBU. BLW or not, if your child drops food on the floor you should clean it up. It is the job of the staff to collect plates etc, but not pick up food from under the table. We used to pick it up as and when it was dropped by our two, especially if it landed in an area where people were walking. If someone slipped it could cause a nasty accident.

[RoonilWazlibWuvsHermyown]

I don't clean food off the floor because my OCD means if I touch the floor (or hands go near it) I'd have to go wash my hands before touching dd again and I can't leave toddler dd alone to go and can't take her with me if I can't touch her. Not all of us who don't make an attempt to clean up food on the floor are being rude or disrespectful.

[QueenofKelsingra]

all 3 of mine were BLW, my DTs are only 17m so still make a fair bit of mess when out. I absolutely do a quick scoot round the floor - I don't scrub it or anything but get up all the main bits with a napkin/wipes. a bit of mess/crumbs in natural and to be expected when eating but leaving BLW style mess is rude and inconsiderate to the staff and other customers.

with regard to the stacking plates thing - used to work in a hotel and it is annoying when people try to 'help' by stacking plates. I am able to stack and carry much more at one time if I do it myself. there is a way of carrying plates, one in your hand to hold the cutlery and then stack the others on your wrist (hard to explain) and this isn't possible if the plates are already haphazardly stacked.

[Itsaboatjack]

Norudeshit It's helpful to stack plates as long as you do it properly as you would at home ie. scrape all uneaten food onto the top plate. It's not so appreciated when people stack plates and squish all the food between them so you have to pick it off before it can go in the dishwasher.

OP YANBU, I always do a cursory clean up when I the dc eat out.

[SHarri13]

I'm not sure it's BLW specific either is it? Babies not in that 'group' eat food and make mess too don't they? I just can't understand to need to specify one, small group.

[Norudeshitrequired]

Oh I wouldn't leave food on a plate and squash another on top there wouldn't be any food left with my greedy bunch to squash . I always make sure any scraps are on the top plate along with the cutlery and that the plates are stacked in size order so that they don't topple over (biggest plate at the bottom of the pile.
Oh dear, I think I have OCD

[RoonilWazlibWuvsHermyown]

Oh my! I stack plates by size so they don't fall over! I must have OCD this place sometimes

[mortuusUrsus]

Waiting staff don't mind plate stacking, it's the washers up who do. But fuck that lot, the washers up were always a miserable bunch where I worked

[Norudeshitrequired]

Oh my! I stack plates by size so they don't fall over! I must have OCD this place sometimes

Well I apologise if I offended you as that was certainly not my intention. I was thinking along the lines of some people think nothing of leaving their BLW mess behind and then here is me overthinking the method of plate stacking that both gets the plates out of my way and prevents them from toppling over and thus creating more mess. I was considering that I totally overthink these things and need to learn to leave the plates to the waitress to manage rather than being pedantic and fussing and annoying the waitress with my misguided attempts at helpfulness.

[Norudeshitrequired]

Probably a good idea not to take baby out to eat if you can't for whatever reason bring yourself to clean up the huge pile of BLW mess when you have finished.

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

DH is shameless and has asked waiting staff what they prefer. Apparently the polite thing is always to ask to borrow a dustpan and brush, usually the staff will say 'please don't worry about it' and then you leave a big tip.

[MrsOakenshield]

I have a friend who weaned her baby in the cafe near her house (not blw, but the point's the same) and she loved at as she didn't have to clear up the mess. I just couldn't have gone in there day after day leaving a mess behind me, the staff must have loathed her.

[openerofjars]

If you're, for example, sleep-deprived, frazzled and at the end of your tether with the delightful toddler you are attempting to feed/coat in baked beans, is it okay to give up cleaning because it's just making the situation worse (think beans in everyone's hair plus horrible screeching) and leave a bigger tip, so you can go and have a cry somewhere secluded?

[openerofjars]

Xpost with Gunpowder, must learn to type with more than 1 finger...

[Scrounger]

YANBU, I get up the large pieces from the floor, wipe the table down etc. It is just polite, my children are / were a bit messy and more so than most adults so why should waiting staff have to clear up half chewed pieces of bread.

Openerofjars, I think in that situation, leave a big tip and run. I would, sometimes it is better for everyone for just to go and leave them in peace.

[lainiekazan]

Ds recently went on a trip to Germany. The guide told them that it is the height of bad manners to leave mess on a table there. I wish it were the same here!

I feel disgusted when I see people allowing their dcs to make a horrendous mess. I don't want to sit in squashed banana, have greasy fingermarks all over the chair arms, or have my shoes stick to the carpet. Those people who go into an eating establishment and then get out a picnic for their children should have to pay a cover charge (actually, treble the cover charge).

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

openerofjars I have been there so many times. Once they very sweetly brought me a free coffee 'because I looked like I needed it' (!)

[KirjavaTheCorpse]

I do/did. I get an eyeroll from DP who was fully intending to leave the table as it was, but because I've started sweeping crumbs and placing forks and used napkins on empty plates/trays he has to do it too

It's good manners to leave the table easily serviced by an employee, ready for the next customer, imo. Even if that just means gathering your shit together and leaving it neat.

[Beastofburden]

Hmmm. In My Day you did BLW at home (actually we called it "cant be arsed with this/I am busy with the other kids") and if you ate out, you spoon fed the baby or gave it finger food of the kind that doesnt drip or drop everywhere. If the baby dropped it on the floor that wasnt BLW either, that was "OK, she's not hungry."

It's not like BF, they wont refuse to eat independently ever again, if they were helped once. People must eat out a lot more often than we used to

[kali110]

Hate people who dont even try to clean up after themselves.
Used to work in a cafe and i couldnt believe the mess people would just leave. So entitled !
Dont mind people not stacking plates as they never do it the way the servers do which means it takes them longer to sort but atleast pick up the bits off floor and mashed banana off the table if your going to let your child mash it into it.
I would never leave a table in the state some people left for me its just rude.
I saw on costas facebook page the other wk a woman moaning because she'd been asked to pick up the bits her toddler had dropped all over the floor.
Could believe it, how precious

[katese11]

I found asking for a big stack of napkins and a glass of tap water helped with the clean-up (dip napkin in tap water for table-wiping) and always pick up the big bits...but mostly staff tell me not to worry. I def leave a bigger tip for them if there is a mess tho!