DH thinks we are teaching our 6 month old bad habits by putting food directly on the high chair table

[occasionallyclueless]

I don't agree! All he does is play with the bowl and tips the food out of it. And I don't think at 6 months old it is 'setting a trajectory' (as he says) of bad eating habits. This is becoming a bit of an issue with us. I believe all children need at this age is love and security, discipline will come soon enough.
Who is being unreasonable?

Putting it straight on the tray is standard, isnt it?

Thanks for all the BLW/mess tips ladies! Too much they are brill aren't they?? I used to stalk them round Europe when I was young a free and have just optimistically bought tickets for one gig on the UK winter tour in the hope I will be able to leave baby for more than 30 mins at a time by then!

OP your DH sounds just like mine! Sooo quiet and unconfrontational but sooooo stubborn! I too get accused of being 'argumentative' - no dear, I'm just right! 😂 Men eh, can't live with 'em, can't bury them under the vegetable patch...

I strip my baby down, he has his meal, and then I put him in the washing up bowl in the sink...... Is the only way to get everything off! After dinner I carry him upstairs at arms length straight into the bath..... He is a messy little thing! Def food straight on high chair table..... Otherwise he just tips it straight out and throws the bowl on the floor.... Seems a bit of a pointless step to me!

Mine are now 7 & 5 they both eat off plates & have good table manners & we've never had issues with either of these things, they both ate food off of high chair trays as babies.

Did your husband expect your baby to be Stewie off Family Guy?

Nemo same! He's 10 months but small for his age, am hoping he's less messy by the time he grows out of the basin!

We not only put food on the tray, DH taught D's to bang a spoon on the tray and say service please...

I can assure you he doesn't do that at 12 !!!

lela I hear you- he hates having hands and face wiped and won't tolerate a full plastic cover up though I keep trying. The worst is wiping down as much as I can from the top then lifting him out to find all the gunk all over his legs and down inside the chair...I have been known to strip off myself before lifting him. Google Nuby lock n roll bib, they have a good silicone pouch but are soft on the top so not so annoying to fussy babies. Quite expensive on Amazon but they had them in Tesco for £2.70 recently.

OP, you can get silicone mats that sit on the tray with bowl type compartments, would they be an acceptable alternative for your (daft) DH?

Like this place mat

Yanbu. Does he think that your child, when they are grown, will tip his food onto the table before eating it?!

Always put food on to a plate or bowl as did all my friends for their children. Yes some would get onto the tray but as others said the tray is the table so I see what your dh is saying.

Let him put all the food on a plate and deal with feeding her on his own and the ensuing mess.

I too did BLW but never a high chair.

How did that work Cailleach?

jessiemcjessie For my friend, putting a tarp on the floor and baby on top did the trick! Just like an indoor picnic :)

I rarely used a highchair. Mostly my babies ate while on my lap, sharing a plate, or for independent eating picnic style on the floor. When I had my second baby my toddler loved this, I would spread a waterproof cloth on the floor and we would eat nibbles for lunch- breadsticks, chopped toast, chopped eggs, chicken, vegetables, cooked pasta, fruit, all random stuff on a platter.
No where to throw.

I don't think it's at all harmful, but I have to admit to being grossed out at the idea of not giving my children food in a bowl or on a plate. I'd never just hurl a dish on the table in front of adults and expect them to scoop it off the surface with their hands, so why would I my kids?

I don't like those school dinner trays, either, where the tray has sections and food is just splatted on. What's wrong with plates?

So. Yeah. I dunno. I just prefer plates. At the table. (We had a converter seat for one of the dining chairs.)

Maybe he thinks your DS will end up like ?

LaArdilla
I'd never just hurl a dish on the table in front of adults and expect them to scoop it off the surface with their hands, so why would I my kids?

Presumably you wouldn't wipe the arse of an adult either.