Messy Eater

[Spoo]

My DS is 6 months and a real messy eater. He is intent on grabbing the food before it goes in his mouth and putting his hand in his mouth whilst 'chewing' on food. I have tried giving him rusks and bread sticks to eat whilst I am feeding him to keep him occupied. He also wriggles a lot in his high chair.

Both he and I get very very messy - food in hair and eyes type messy. I know that this is a phase and he should hopefully get tidier. I am trying to be relaxed about it for his sake, but I just find the whole thing so stressful. He hastes being cleaned up afterwards and I do not have the time to bath him after every meal.

Does anyone have any good tips for dealing with the mess from messy eaters?

Honestly?

you need to find the joy in what your baby is doing .. what a wonderful world he is discovering .. sight, touch, smell, mess ..

chill out, relax and laugh at him .. at the fun he is having .. he will be getting enough food too

wait till the end of the meal to wipe him down

use baby wipes to wipe off most of the mess or carry him to the sink and just rub him down with water

use a splash mat under the highchair

Thanks Twiggs. I do find it fun but I know I have to deal with the screaming whilst I am cleaning him at teh end of the meal. I am also concerned when the food gets in his eyes. Baby wipes don't seem to work very well. I am using a J cloth and washing up liquid after and I have a splash mat.

I suppose I am doing everything okay. I suppose I am unsure that he is 'meant' to make that amount of mess as my friends little boy who is the same age is such a tidy eater.

Shower curtain under the highchair.

Then sit back and get used to it. DS2 can eat tidily, but DS1 and DS3 no hopers!

You can always steer clear of spag bol for a while

DD regularly wears her food

but then again she doesn't shriek when I wipe her down

Do you take his clothes off?

I used to do this with dd, still do if we're having a messy meal. It makes me less stressed after, and you don't have the food thats been hiding in the creases of the clothes falling on the floor when you take them out of the high chair.

Have you got one of those bibs that curl up at the bottom to catch the food. If not I would highly reccomend one!

He is normally in a nappy at mealtimes. THat I have to change after the meal. For lunch today I gave hime rice cakes which do not seem to make as much mess as rusks or bread sticks.

I'm just glad to know that I am not the only one with a messy eater!

Ds used to scream when we wiped him down with a baby wipe, not he goes fetch them himself. It passes, take heart!

We used to have a table in the kitchen on lino, so would eat our meals there.

DD would frequently smear herself in yogurt and everything else. We let her get on with it. Now at 2.5 she is a very tidy eater (even asks me to pick things off the floor when she drops them) SO don't worry about teaching him to be messy.

After the meal - clothes went straight in washing machine, flannel cleaned what we could off, knowing bathtime was coming soon so didn't matter if she was still left with smears here and there!
Lunchtimes tend to be less messy food so don't matter so much.

THanks for everyones advice. I am comforted by teh knowledge that it will get better - in the mean time DS is enjoying squigging banana and other finger foods and I am trying to be relaxed about the mess. So far so good!