DD is (just) 15 months - she's a pretty messy eater. At home we still use a splash mat and bibado. She doesn't throw much but likes to drop stuff off the edge of her high chair tray and lots makes it from bowl to tray as well, mainly things she's not so keen on, which is lots and variable, or when she's full. So far we've been ignoring and hoping she gets bored of it but that doesn't seem to be working tbh - I think she enjoys it, not just for the attention. The other day we got a pic of them having Christmas dinner at nursery, where they don't use high chairs but all sit on little chairs at a low table, and we were mortified to see that DD was one of just a couple of babies (and I think the oldest) to have a big plastic tray attached to the chair - so clearly she's far too messy for their system. So now we're thinking we should take a stand and make food dropping on tray/floor a hard no (would also love clean up to be less of an operation, so it's not just about nursery shame!) But I'm not mega keen on making mealtimes a battle, especially as she's quite a fussy eater. And posts on Mumsnet tend to reference lots of food chucking at this age, so I assume it's pretty normal.
What age did your DC become a neater eater? And how did that happen - did they just stop dropping food at some point or did you start telling them off for it/at what age? Just trying to figure out what's normal!