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

In a restaurant for a family meal, the rest of us had finished our meals when DD announced she was full. I could see she had hardly eaten anything so I said she had to have one more mouthful, she said she felt sick but I insisted. She took one more mouthful then projectile vomited! I have never seen so much vomit, it was everywhere - we were sat on sofa type seating and it was all over the sofa, floor and DD. I had wet wipes and threw a handful to DH to try and clean up DD and I started to clean up the sofa until a staff member came over to help.

I was mortified at the time, it was obviously an unwell vomit and the smell was horrendous and I do remember around us people just carried on eating as if nothing had happened. Needless to say we left quickly afterwards. We pass the restaurant every time we visit my parents and even though it is 4 years later, DD always says "that is the place you made me eat more and I was sick" every time we pass!

We had a quick trip to the park after work/nursery, popped on wellies as wet. He was playing in the puddles left by tractor tyres, slipped, fell into the muddy channel left by the tyres and was covered head to toe in mud. He then turn over to get out so basted the other side in thick brown mud too!

So there is me in work/office clothes, ds head to toe in thick mud wondering how on earth I was going to get him in the car and home!

Luckily we have a dog and there was 4 old, tatty, torn, but clean dog towels in the boot. In the estate car boot stripped top half and wrapped in a towel, then bottom half and another towel then got him home.

Don't think a baby wipe (disposable or reusable) would have helped!!!!

once my LO now not so little decided to smear the contents on his nappy all over my leather sofa-

Gave DC some non alcoholic ginger beer to try, it came straight back up. In the middle of a busy restaurant. Very embarrassing. Had to get the staff to clean it up.

We do use a lot of wet wipes for most things and I do feel guilty about the plastic. Will definitely check out the plastic free ones.

I vividly remember taking my eldest daughter to Pizza Express when she was a toddler and her making the most amount of mess possible with her pasta in tomato sauce, it was all over her, the table and the floor. It was a night mare, I don't think the waiting staff were impressed either!

My little girl Heidi was 3 when we visited our local chemist, I was busy speaking to the pharmacist and turned around to discover Heidi had managed to open shaving foam and had squirted it all over the chemist's mirror, luckily everyone thought it was very funny but I was absolutely mortified.

My lo chucked a whole tub or talc everywhere she was covered

My son has always been a messy little monkey
But the biggest mess he’s ever made was when he drew all over our lounge walls with a crayons

When one of my twins threw up all over himself and his brother when they were sitting in the trolley in Tesco. I had no idea what to do, it was everywhere. This lovely lady from customer services came over, whisked us into the baby change and had them cleaned up and into new set of clothes whilst I stood in the corner on the verge of tears.

My daughter spread ice cream all over herself, her face, her hair, her clothes, her pram and me!

There’s a reason why wet wipes are a staple requirement in our house...

Me (addressing my then 4 year old DD): Don’t go too near the edge of the pond, you’ll fall in.

DD: No, I won’t.

Me (watching DD fall into about a foot of muddy, leaf-covered pond water):

DD (standing in said mucky water and brushing some twigs out of her hair): I think I need a baby wipe

And I’m still using a plentiful supply of wipes (mostly for the recent obsession with super-sticky lipgloss that seems to get everywhere).

Left 5 year old DD in the bath while I answered the phone. I returned 2 minutes later to find she had bailed as much water out the bath as she could using the play buckets she had. My feet were squelching in soaked carpet on my return and I had no choice but to till the whole lot up and carry it outside. Luckily we had recently moved in and didn’t want carpet in the bathroom anyhow. My DM asked DD if her mummy was cross with her and she replied “No she was too exhausted.”

Visiting the local farm. Had a lovely time.
My daughter wanted to say goodbye to the pigs. I said "wait for me" no, she toddled off straight into the largest pile of poo. Face first. She was so covered I didn't know where to start. The clean up involved the cold hand washing facilities in the yard. A strip off, into car seat with a blanket. Her all in one still bears the stains (but thankfully not the smell!)

I got quite stressed when the dc found and emptied the food bag on the floor of the back of our pristine hire car whilst on holiday. Crumbs mixed with banana, crisps and yoghurt everywhere. I had to spend ages cleaning it in scorching heat. It stunk! Never keep the food where the kids can access it. I was concentrating on driving so didn't notice until it was too late.

I think the worst for us would have been when DS tripped over in our local store and sent one of the stands flying. I tried to grab it and failed and it up ended everything onto the floor. Luckily the store keeper laughed at us but I was mortified

We went to the playpark this winter and despite a large hard surfaced play area my two small boys made a beeline for the grassy area and before I could stop them they were splashing away in the puddle. My 2 year old slipped several times and also wiped his hands over his face so he ended up plastered in mud from face to feet.... Then when he sat in the pushchair the buggy ended up covered too... Took me ages to get the mud out of the pushchair....

I'm forever picking up leftovers off the floor before leaving a restaurant, and would never consider leaving it for someone else to clean. Luckily we've not had anything big incidents though.
I try to just use napkins and carry muslin cloths to clean up, but I do keep some wet wipes on hand for a final clean. I know it's not great, but there's very little that can clean like that on the go.

My daughter had a massive explosive poo at baby yoga. Exploded through nappy, through her clothes and covered me in korma coloured poo. I stripped her off and bathed her in a sink... changed her clothes.. but...

I was meeting people after - no time to go home and had spare clothes for her but not me... so had to go covered in baby poo...

When DS was about 18 months old, I was queuing to pay in a very smart farm shop, well known locally for its award winning food. I was holding DS on my front, so that his head was on my shoulder looking behind me.

I suddenly heard an almighty crash. DS has reached out and swept an entire shelf of fancy jams and chutneys onto the stone floor. There was goo and broken glass everywhere, all over the floor, on people’s shoes, on the chiller cabinet glass. I was mortified and could have cried. He must have smashed 30 jars at a good £5 a piece. Very fortunately the shop staff didn’t ask me to pay and even helped me to my car with my shopping and my son who was laughing maniacally at his “cleverness”.

I didn’t go back for many years.

Whilst shopping in our local Sainsbury's, my son was in his pushchair, and I'm on a mission to not forget anything this time. Improve people are looking at my son and laughing. It gets to the point where I think I really shoulders a look at him. Turns out he had snaffled a packet of butter while I was in the chilled department and was tucking into it. His pleased with himself face was a pretty grim, greasy mess. Not only did it turn my stomach, to think of heating a whole pack of butter, but it turned his too....I'll leave the rest to your imaginations...

My son choking on swimming pool water and filling a corner with Weetabix sick. The pool was closed and I never went back to the gym
Or my younger son dropping a 6 pint milk container after insisting “my can do it” in Lidl leaving a sea of milk gushing down the aisle as people jumped to avoid it

I’ve got fo for spilling so I can’t blame them. It’s my dodgy genes

Wondering whether anyone else has had the same or a similar experience and might be able to shed some light for me.

I suffered 2 miscarriages in August and October this year, both at about 5/6 weeks.

I fell pregnant again very quickly after the second miscarriage and everything was going really well.

On Boxing Day I started bleeding (at 11 weeks) lightly, informed by my EPU that they would book me in for an earlier scan in NYE (my original scan was booked for 8th Jan). Over the next few days bleeding got worse and experienced a lot of pain. Long story short went to a&e in NYE and was told that the pregnancy was ectopic and I’d need emergency surgery to remove the pregnancy and my right tube. Obviously unbelievably traumatic.

Anyway, fast forward a few weeks. Went to my doctor to ask to be signed off work for slight longer as I’m not ready to go back yet. Also asked what my options were in terms of tests that I could have or specialists that I can see as obviously I’ve had 2 miscarriages and an ectopic and now have only 1 tube. He was totally useless and very unsympathetic, told me that there are no tests and I just need to “get pregnant again and would be looked after”. I don’t think this is right, I have a friend going through a similar thing and she has been referred for tests but I just wanted to see if this is the norm for others?

travelling back to the uk with dd (18 months at the time) on a long haul flight,
she was sick in the car on the way to the airport, explosive diarrhoea while waiting to board, went to change her nappy as soon as we were in the plane, only to realise that I'd left the wipes in the car (while trying to clean out her sick)
the next 8 hrs are a blurr, I remember running out of spare clothes as she was having explosive diarrhoea every hour (luckily bought wipes during the stopover). made it to Heathrow with just enough nappies, but dd was wrapped in an airplane blanket as I literally had no more clothes.

My son decided to do a massive poop while in a ball park and sadly it oozed out the sides of his nappy and down his trouser leg, they were not happy and neither was I... very, very embarrassing, oh and smelly!!

My daughter, usually very noisy, was completely silent in the back of the car which should have been a heads up. I was a passenger and took advantage of the 5 minutes peace to have a little daydream only to turn round and discover the source of the silence had been that she’d been engrossed with smearing a whole tub of sudacream on herself and the car seat. That took quite some time to clear up...