OMG - BLW sooo messy! Am I being uptight?

[PassionKissUnderTheMistletoe]

Just had lunch with DD - Mashed potato with salmon and cheese stirred in. We had it on the kitchen floor with me handing her loaded spoons. She also had a bit of pita bread which she picked up herself off a plate.

Well - we got covered in mash, as did the kitchen floor. And she choked a bit on the pita so there was some sick down her too.

I love the idea of BLW but I can only face doing it once a day if that. The rest of the time it's spooning in purees (but she's getting less and less keen on that).

I can't face giving her spag bol or shepherds pie - the stains!!

Am I being a wuss?

Any tips for limiting the chaos

Simple answer - yes you are

It's messy, but fun and she is learning so much more than eating. Part science lesson, part nutrition!!

My son is 14 months and just getting over the windscreen wiper phase where EVERYTHING end up on the floor once he is done eating

Put down a messy mat, get an IKEA highchair you can put in the dishwasher and get a DOG!!

Oh, and don't forget your camera - that's half the fun

Yes you're being a wuss Child eating = mess, regardless of how / when / where / what you give them.

You'll get used to it

Laminent flooring / wipeable mat underneath the highchair

Don't both trying to clear up until she is finished eating

Accept there will be mess for the next 5 years few months

Have a pack of baby wipes nearby for her (and you!) and anti-bac and kitchen roll for everything else.

Enjoy

firstly, get down some huge protective mats - we got cheapo table cloths from wilkinsons (£2 each) which are under the highchair.

secondly, try and limit staining foods to start with - we used much more chesse sauce than tomato sauce on pasta for a few months (of course now DS is eating tomato sauce happily, he's discovered how to fling it too, but never mind).

I am also a mess wuss, and made sure our meals were mainly easy to cut into fingery chunks for the first few weeks/months. so instead of mashed potato, I did boiled, and cut them into appropriate pieces. salmon was flaked into pieces. cheese in sticks for him to pick up and gum. toast was unbuttered for a while, as he tended to smear butter in his hair, which then stank all day (we were weaning in the summer, so it went rancid much more rapidly than it seems to now when he smears it into his hair!). veg cut into chunks, or fingery veg like baby corn, green beans, and occasionally asparagus. He loves beetroot cut into chunks too, but it can get messy.

long sleeved bibs are essential.

and use a highchair if you can, as it does limit the mess much more than a picnic style meal on the floor!

Ikea do fab long sleeved bibs £2.99 for 2 - we have six, they dry really quickly so you can literally wash every couple of days and they dry in time for the next day. I put a cheapy plastic backed bib underneath for anything tomatoey that will stain as it does soak through a bit.

I feel your pain though it does feel like a slog constantly feeding and cleaning up. That coupled with the incredible amounts of laundry I now have to do and I am not sure how I will have time to go back to work in Jan (less MNing perhaps?!)

Oooh long-sleeved bibs - I will definitely get some of them!

Her pretty clothes

Thanks for the tips (will get the camera out tomorrow and remember that it's supposed to be fun )

I made the most of it with DD and just changed her clothes three times a day, to use up all the lovely outfits people had bought her. Only recently realised (she's 15mo) that I don't ever have to change her clothes in the day now. She often doesn't even need a bib. I totally ignored the mess and never commented. She now (usually, i.e. unless granny is watching) eats absolutely beautifully.

DS gets stripped off to eat in his nappy a lot of the time especially if it is particularly messy

Agree with everyone else! The mess is part of it, but is also fine once you're prepared for it (and I speak as someone who was worried about the mess of BLW far more than the risk of choking or anything else!).

We have a high chair that's v easy to wipe down, we have a wipe down table cloth, we have a floor mat under the highchair (we bought some vinyl for the floor and table from this place and we swear by muslins (one tied around his neck as a bib and possibly another tied around him under his arms depending on the level of mess expected).

Enjoy taking pictures! Our first month of BLW involved so many pictures of DS in his highchair with random food mess on his face...