Bib at nearly 4

[jennymac]

My dd will be four next month and is the messiest eater ever. I still make her wear a pelican bib and even with that on she can still get her bottom half covered in food. I know that it just carelessness on her part but would love to know if anyone has tips to make her a bit tidier! I am fed up constantly trying to get tomato based stains out of her clothes!

dont feed her tomato based products?

I wonder if it is because she has the bib that she is so careless? I've never bothered with bibs and sometimes food gets dropped but they've gradually learned to be careful. My eldest is the same age as your DD and is really quite careful. His younger brother is 15 months and obviously less careful but very rarely gets very messy.

Tomato based stains are fine when hung to dry in the sun.

Make meals less 'saucy' and rather drier? It's impossible to get covered in things that don't actually stick.

tomato etc comes out with tesco's own stain remover its excellent!!

Are there any other signs of motor skill developmental problems? perhaps it is harder for your DD because of underdeveloped fine motor skills.

I childminded a boy for a few years who was an extremely messy eater - I later found out that he is on an IEP at school for both fine and gross motor skills underdevelopment. He still dribbles at age 7.

Apologies if this is not the case with your DD, but if it is, it may be worth looking into.

I also look after a 3 year old boy who is the "tidiest" eater I have ever met. That includes my DH!!

um, can I disagree with those who say give her non-messy food? in the absence of a problem as suggested by numberfour she presumably just needs more practise, hopefully?

you might just have to accept the mess and ditch the bib - it seems a bit old to have one IMVHO. actually as it's a pelican bib could it be getting in her way?

just get really cheap clothes so the stains won't matter as much.

MY 4yo dd is a very messy eater. We have recently made a sticker chart.

No mess = sticker
Mess, but she cheerfully and willingly cleans it up to a reasonable standard = sticker

She is improving.

Numberfour - don't think it is a motor skill development problem as she can be neat if she wants - she is just very careless and is one of those kids who is always too busy nosying at what everyone else is doing to pay attention to being neat! Just got a reward chart for general behaviour so might add on a category for being a tidy eater!