Mumsnetters share the biggest mess their children have made while out and about with Nice ‘n Clean

[LucyBMumsnet]

This sponsored discussion is now closed - thank you to everyone who shared their stories

It’s happened to all parents, you turn your back for all of three seconds and what you see on your return shocks you - it’s difficult to comprehend how your child made that much mess! Whether it’s Sudocrem, spaghetti or paint that they’ve managed to cover themselves in, the clean up is more manageable in the comfort of your own home. Baby wipes can be an essential when out and about, but with increasing awareness around their environmental impact, it can be easy to feel guilty about their use. With this in mind and following their launch of plastic free baby wipes Aqualettes, Nice n Clean would like to hear about the biggest mess your child has made while out and about.

Here’s what Nice ‘n Clean have to say: “Kind to little ones and even kinder to the planet. Nice ‘n Clean Aqualettes are truly environmentally friendly baby wipes. The wipes are plastic free and made from plant based, biodegradable fibres helping to ensure a brighter future for children everywhere. Super soft and gentle, each wipe cares for delicate, new skin using a natural pre-biotic to help protect baby’s skin whilst being pH skin neutral.

Not only are they loved by mums and dads nationwide, Nice ‘n Clean Aqualettes are dermatologically tested and paediatrician approved too. As a family business, we know how precious every baby is and how important their future is too. That’s why we’ve made our wipes from biodegradable fibres and our packaging recyclable*. We think looking after little ones and their planet is a big deal. If you think so too, find out more at aqualettes.co.uk. We’d love to hear from Mumsnetters about how they look after their babies' skin whilst they’re out and about.”

What was the biggest mess your child has ever made while out and about? How did you tackle the clean up? Do you have to approach the situation differently if you’re out of the house? Do you feel guilty about using baby wipes containing plastic?

All who share their stories on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Insight T&Cs apply

*Packaging is recyclable where recycling facilities for shopping bags exist

The biggest mess my toddler has made was finding and pouring a full box of cereal onto my newly mopped kitchen floor so all the bits immediately melted and stuck to the tiles. Luckily wasn't too hard to clean up, good sweep and picking and re mop over and good as new! Plonked toddler in the sink and washed with a face cloth. No harm done!

Oops - just reread and realised 'out and about' - baby brain! Always use wet wipes when out. I do feel guilty but it's not always easy to transport wet cloths, we use these at home all the time though.

Our biggest messes always involve muddy puddles, they have a magnetic effect on dc. Also anything that has been freshly painted looking at you neighbour and the gate you creosoted without telling me my child had to be lathered up in butter to get that off...

Taking my two year old DD to Frankie and Benny's and giving her free range with a plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs 😂😂😂 (I have photographic evidence for her 16th birthday party)

I took DS out for a day with a friend when he was still breastfeeding (and when he had explosive nappies before we knew about his allergies). We sat in a park and 5 mins after he was fed he filled his nappy and covered my lovely pale blue skirt in the process.

Lovely friend tried to help me clear it up but it was pointless. I pushed the buggy 5 miles home as I didn't want to inflict myself on any train passengers .

I could make a few - emptying whole boxes of cereal on the floor, painting the dining room table & chair as well as the paper, walking play d'oh into the carpet as well as in new shoes...

Whilst out and about I try to be quite conscious of any ness we're making and clear up the best I can. It annoys me when people leave places in a state!!
One meal springs to mind where my DS who was only 1 at the time had some peas which just went everywhere!
On departing I said to the next table 'we'll leave you in peace now' to which the man replied 'leave us in peas you mean'!

DS1 wet himself in Boots whilst toilet training- thankfully think that's the worst that's ever happened!

It doesn't sound messy, but little bits of shredded paper from packaging which I actually let my toddler play with. They're too light to hoover or sweep up and I had to crawl all over the floor picking each individual piece up.

My daughter was 3, and puked in a Tesco. It went everywhere, they put a ring of little plastic 'wet floor' stands around us. I pointlessly tried to clean it with some wipes but they were ok about it and really, they just wanted us out.

We were supposed to be meeting some friends and their kids for dinner. We decided no where was really very kid friendly so suggested our house instead. We went up stair to check in the kids to find they'd thrown every item from their bedroom in the attic into the landing, we could barely open the door to get into there room! Tidying that mess was so much fun!

DP has eczema so we've got multiple bottles and tubes of cream in our bedroom. Usually kept well out the way. DP isn't known for tidying up after himself unfortunately and left them out on the side. I was washing up and whilst I was I thought toddler son was quiet, yep, in the bedroom, cream absolutely everywhere. I had to use washing up liquid to get it off the furniture to cut through the emollient, sons skin was soft though

My DC have made plenty of mess in the house but not so much when out and about...they have got muddy but then they just stay that way till at home. I guess the worst has been when they have been sick in the car - it's been a quick clean with any wipes/towels/coats I had in the car at the time then proper clean at home. To be fair, I've found wipes handy for wiping hands or faces but not useful for big clean ups.

DN, aged 5 in the local harvester. Grabbed a bottle of tomato ketchup to put some on her plate, but before we could intervene she went to shake it. Somebody had left the lid loose. It went all up the wall. On the carpet, over her. Thank gawd there were no customers behind her, just the wall. The staff were lovely, helped clear her up, and moved us to another table

We didn't go back for 4 or 5 years, we were so embarrassed, but when we did, you could still see a slight stain on the wallpaper. Oops.

My daughter poured a full bottle of ketchup and a jar of nutella into the lidless blender, turned it on and I had to spend the best part of an hour cleaning it off the walls and work surfaces

One of my children picked up and almost immediately dropped an enormous whole watermelon on to the floor of a supermarket. It exploded. He tried to run away from the scene and slipped in it, he was ok but covered himself in watermelon. He was just ok but it was quite a sight

They upended a bowl of macaroni cheese,it went everywhere!

I took my godson to Pizza Express (not the Woking branch), when he was about 1. He has a lovely lunch, tucked in with gusto, and got thoroughly covered in tomato sauce. It being a weekend, it was somewhat crowded, and the table next to us was quite close to ours. As the waiter came to their table to take their order, godson shot out a hand like lightning and patted him on the bottom, so gently he didn’t notice, but firmly enough to leave a perfect, red tomatoey hand imprint on his stonewashed jeans clad buttock . I briefly considered telling him, but instead I did the grown up thing of hastily asking for the bill then legging it!

We were once stay at a very high class hotel with attached restaurant, and my DD had just finished her dinner, the waitress took her plate away, she was 18 months old.
I was talking to someone and turned round to see my child being given chocolate mousse, before I could move my child washed themselves with it.
Face , hair , clothing, every part they could reach, but not a drop anywhere else.
The staff knew which room we were in and called my partner who was having a nap, to run a bath, I then grabbed my child under the arms, and carried them with the staff laughing but opening door as if by magic.
Someone even took a photo of my chocolate child.
I was so embarrassed, but they loved it, and spoilt my child for the rest of our stay.

About 2 hours in, on a flight to USA for a family holiday, 2yo ds starts running a temperature. I strip him down to his vest and nappy, dose him up with Calpol and sponge him down. He copes fine, though doesn't eat or sleep, and by the time we land I'm ready for a lie-down in a cool, dark room, even if he isn't! I dress him and we get ready to debark. As we leave the plane - poonami! It went everywhere, up, down and sideways, only just contained by his clothes. And - oh God! - the pong! On the bus transfer to the terminal the other passengers left a wide space around us!

So the first thing we did in America, before we even passed through Immigration, was find a toilet and wash ds in the basin. After a full change of clothes, we left the toilet to find a gloved and masked cleaning crew washing a wide strip of the floor of the arrivals hall. They hadn't yet reached the door of the toilets, and I could clearly see the last few of ds's pooey footprints leading to us.

At least his temperature had returned to normal.

Both my children have created big messes when out.

When DS1 was about 4 months old I took him and my Nan to the shops. It had taken ages to leave the house as I timed trips out between feeds. Got to the shops slightly harassed, wrangled the buggy up and got Ds1 out of his car seat. As I shut the door I noticed what looked like a weird browny yellow bird poo down the side of the car, apart from there was loads of it and I couldn't think what kind of bird could do a poo like that. As I went to put Ds1 in his pushchair I realised he'd had the biggest poonami ever and he was covered, I had it all down my t-shirt and somehow he'd projected it onto the car. I had to strip him down in the car park, baby wipe him off and change him (luckily I had spare clothes for him). My Nan was crying that he'd catch his death of cold and we ended up having to head straight to a clothes shop to buy me a new t-shirt.

Ds2 was 18 months old when we went for a meal with my Dad and Nan (same Nan as above) our meals had arrived and I was starving and looking forwards to tucking into a meal that I didn't have to cook. Ds2 was eating something, but he had a really easily triggered gag reflex back then and suddenly with no warning projectile vomited everywhere. It went all over the table, the chair, him, me, the floor, but mostly my meal. I was mortified, but really sad that I couldn't eat my meal! Ds2 was fine once he finished spewing. My Nan and Dad hurridly finished their meals, I got the waitress and asked for stuff to clean it up, but she said that due to their rules I couldn't and she would do it. I felt awful because it had gone so far. On the plus side it was just water/fruit shoot. But my Dad said he would never have believed that so much liquid could come out of such a small child. We left quickly leaving a very big tip. It was 2 years before I could face going back there.

Chocolate milk! I had given my almost-three year old a carton of chocolate milk - the type with a cardboard box with a straw. Then bumped into friend. Chatting away I glanced down to see him squeezing the box, making a fountain of milk come out the straw. He was COVERED. What an unholy mess, thank goodness for wet wipes! Didn't do much for his clothes though!

It was a chocolate eclair - on a very packed train, with her sat next to a business man at the table. DP and I were chatting, and did not notice her, aged 2 getting very angry, inexplicably, with the eclair and pulling it apart and then spreading it everywhere around her. It was terrible. It went on the businessman's shoe and he shouted at us and demanded they be properly cleaned because they were a special suede. We were contrite. He calmed down. We parted OK.

Following a rainy week, we had a lovely dry day one weekend and drove to a really great park. It has a large wooden play structure like a castle and a large pond surrounded by tarmac paths to scoot round.
Lots of people must have had the same idea, it was a busy day. After playing on the castle for a while my four year old was ready to scoot around the pond. Off he went. "Stay on the path, it's muddy!" we advised. He stayed on the path. Right until a dog came bounding towards him. Being a bit of an animal lover, the four year old did not want to bash into the dog. So he swerved. Onto the edge of the path, past the edge of the path, and straight into the mud. When the wheels met the mud it was as though the mud grabbed them. Hard. They stopped turning. The four year old had a bit more forward momentum so he went flying off the scooter and landed in a muddy poodle. His dad and I tried to carefully negotiate the worst of the mud to get to him relatively cleanly. Not possible. The four year old was crying. The scooter was half - submerged. They both needed to be rescued. By the time we got them out of the mud we were all covered in it. No part of the four year old had been spared. The puddle water had got everywhere. Up the inside of his jacket, through his trousers.. Even his pants were wet! We walked back to the car, the whole me thinking "was there a 'closed' sign on the toilets when we came in?"
There may have been, but they were open now. At least we could wash our hands! Thankfully I had an old shower curtain in the boot of the car (handy for muddy scooters!) and a blanket. We did what we could with wet wipes, but the four year old needed to be fully stripped off and wrapped in a blanket. The muddy scooter and shoes went in the shower curtain. I sat in the front passenger seat with my shoes off, and my legs in a carrier bag to protect the car from my muddy trousers.
The family with the dog were apologetic, but it was just one of those things.

That should say "the whole time"

Its a toss up between the time one of them threw up all over M&S and the time one chugged a whole bottle of water before forcefully redistributing that and his lunch all over an outdoor seating area, and himself.