Baby making a mess with food in cafes - is it ok?

[Squirrel81]

DC is 11 months old and majority of time when I am weaning he wants to feed himself via BLW.

When DH and I go out at weekends we have 3 hour window including travel time as DC does not sleep out or in the car - only at home.

As such, giving him lunch before we leave doesn’t give us enough time so we tend to go and get a coffee and feed him there.

Problem is, due to BLW he makes a lot of mess on the floor. I tend to give him something like pasta and some pieces of fruit/tomato along side it (but obviously varies).

First few times I would get on my hands and knees and clean up the floor after he ate but cafe floors are pretty dismal and a couple of times I’ve been told by the waiter don’t worry they will clean it up but only in very select cafes.

Question is, is it socially acceptable to leave cafe having made a mess feeding baby? I don’t want to be rude or inconsiderate. Thoughts & tips?

Your being obtuse

there is how it’s supposed to be

and how it is in reality…

Of course it’s ok to bring own babies food !!!
You are buying yours so no big deal .
Bring wipes & clean mess up after , I know cafe floors can be mingin, so buy a box of disposable gloves to have at home & bring a pair with you when eating out 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Some of the responses here are overly precious. I worked in a cafe. I really didn’t care if parents brought in food for the baby. I definitely wouldn’t expect weaning babies to be eating the high sugar, high salt content stuff any overly expensive meals and cakes (I mean would you really buy a whole meal for a baby under 1!) and I wouldn’t be expecting the parents to buy food for themselves either. I would expect them to purchase something even if it’s just a coffee.

Re mess, I mean it’s nice if they can tidy up after themselves as it means someone else can use the table if you can’t there immediately, but I thought nothing of sweeping up after - it’s part of the the job and there are much worse bits to working in a cafe (like fishing out napkins in coffee cups and cleaning the toilets). Most cafes are family friendly and if a mum is on her own then of course it’s tough to juggle a baby with everything else.

So yes bring in baby food, do buy a cup of tea but don’t feel obliged to buy food yourself if you don’t want to, and don’t worry about the mess.

I think you’ve misunderstood, if the high chair is obstructing the walkway there is a risk of the child being burned by people passing carrying hot drinks.

Nope I understood

With all due respect you only worked there

plenty of fora about cafe owners being annoyed about disproportionate space being taken up In relation to money spent

Something has clearly gone over my head, I'm not sure why not buying anything for the baby would mean no one is passing the table.

Assuming you
go to child friendly cafes. I wouldnt go somewhere “nice” if you know what I mean. Id always try to clean up as even if they do it anyway they’ll appreciate it.

I think it's rude.

You shouldn't give your baby food that's guaranteed to require scraping off the cafe floor later. This means fruit, tomatoes, cut up veg, and anything juicy, gooey, or sloppy.

Cubes of cheese, breadsticks, small crackers, and the like are far preferable. Not every meal needs to be nutritionally balanced.

I appreciate plenty of cafe owners feel differently. I was really responding to all the mean spirited and intolerant comments from people who are saying mums shouldn’t even leave the house while their kids BLW and it’s rude to bring in baby food. Awful when we should be supporting new mums and their mental health. Family friendly cafes were a safe and warm place when I needed to feed my child when I was out and it wasn’t easy to just nip back home. And mums with young babies are not going to be taking up space for hours - they only stay as long as the baby will tolerate it, which is usually less time than the mum has to eat her own meal!

The OP is buying a coffee for her and her husband. Not food.

I would always take my own food for a baby of that age - so does everyone else around here. We always give the baby bits to try from our plates too. I would always clear up mess from the floor (pick it up using baby wipes) if it was my food or theirs.

Everyone I know with kids under 2 brings their own food.

But they also clean up. The OP is ridiculous.

There really won't be anything acceptable for an 11 month old.

But the OP and her DH should each order a main meal and a drink, at least.

If the time window is too short and OP doesn't want food herself, she should feed the baby in the park or somewhere else (and clean up(!!!)).

What sort of cafes do you go to that don't sell food appropriate for an 11 month old?

You should definitely clear it up! I BLW all of mine and always clear up when out- multiple time they will say don’t worry (particularly as I tend to ask them for their dust pan and brush rather than have to use my hands!) but I still do it regardless. They are on minimum wage it’s not fair to leave the mess for them!

I was in McDonalds last week and a guy at a nearby table knocked an entire iced latte on the floor. His son (about 11/12) bent down to start cleaning up and the dad actually had a go at him and said that’s what staff are for. Didn’t even pick up the now empty cup. I was so disgusted with such a horrible entitled attitude that the poor kid is now learning too. No wonder your industry is so unhappy

I absolutely loathed this when I worked in cafes. You’re basically obliged to be like “don’t worry about it, I’ll clean it up” while seething inside. I never meant it. I absolutely dreaded babies because of the mess!

So keep to mess minimal snacks. And clean up after you.

Toast!

scrambled egg

I brought baby food in the pouch phase but once they were eating real food I’d just order something for them or order something for myself they could have some of. Unless it was more of a snack time then id do a bar or puffs or something like that which is fair enough. I’d always clean up though, bewildered anyone would do otherwise.

Of course there will be suitable things. There isn’t a local cafe I can think of that doesn’t at least offer fruit, vegetables or something like a jacket potato. An 11 month old doesn’t need much.

Where do you go that has nothing for an 11mo?

If you go somewhere to have food and drinks and they sell food and drinks you shouldn’t bring your own food

end of

I also don't know of any cafe that doesn't serve anything suitable for an 11 month old. I always just gave my children a section of my own meal, whether that be a sandwich, a potato, salad, eggs. Babies eat anything, it really isn't necessary or helpful to be so restrictive on their diets 100% of the time.

This is what I did. This is where I think BLW gets ridiculous. Pouches are fine to bring in (and one pouch isn't going to cause any issues) but I certainly wouldn't be bringing in full cooked meals to a cafe. And I'd always clean up but my clean up was always minimal as by using pouches or by giving them their food there was minimal clean up. I honestly can't imagine going to a cafe armed with disposable gloves, dust pan and brush and laying down mats on the floor.

Yes babies make mess but if it was at the stage where their entire meal was on the floor and all down the chair and I needed to take a whole other bag of things to use to clean up, I'd do myself and other diners a favour and eat at home.