Extremely messy eater - advice please!

[Ewemoo]

My 7 mth old is so messy when eating it is driving me mad. It is made worse as her twin is not messy at all. As soon as you put food in her mouth her hand goes in straight away and then smears the food all over her face, and clothes which although she wears a bib (toddler size) she still gets covered. I am finding it a struggle to get all these lovely orange baby food stains out of clothes so any tips for this would be appreciated. Short of tying her hands down (I am joking) what can I do??

I don't know, but I feel your pain

DS is 14 mo and still does this. He needs a bath after every meal, just about.

you have a while to go before it gets better

Nothing better than Vanish to get stains out of their clothes.

I found these bibs were a life saver as ds was also a messy eater... plus a plastic sheet for the floor. Hair, you can't do much about I'm afraid apart from washing it every evening.

How about avoiding orange tinted foods for a while?

Are you doing BLW? If so then there are many other things you can give that aren't orange.

Bread sticks
Toast
Cucumber sticks
Home made chips
Banana
Rice cakes
Roasted veg
Bite size shredded wheat (DS loves these)
Crackers and choice of topping
Cheese fingers

Another thing you could try is stripping her down to her vest at each meal. I know it's a bit more time consuming but it matters less if her vests get covered then her more expensive clothes.

Banana stains like the devil GwarchodwrPlant! Nasty brown stains instead of orange.

BLW might be a less messy route, though it's amazing how much mess a baby can make out of seemingly the most innocent looking foods!

I sympathise - my 9 mth old Ds2 is the same.

At this time of year when it's warm I strip him down to his vest to eat, and just accept tthat they will go in the bin when they are too awful.

BLW isn't a less messy route HeadFairy, you just have more choice than just orange coloured purees. I've always managed to get banana out fine. If you wipe it off whilst it's still yellow then it doesn't stain.

i had special bibs if too hot then naked and bath if not i had spare top that i would sue for the messy stained foods just pull it out pop it on where ever we were nice clothes saved

i do love to see messy eaters though shows there really enjoying there foods lol

I always found BLW marginally less messy GwarchodwrPlant but it might have been that ds was just too fascinated by lumps of food to smear it all over his face

I must have an exceptionally messy DS then! I wish he was more 'fascinated' with his food and actually swallowed it! Many a time I've thought to myself-'why oh why did I start BLW???' as he smears bakedbeans in his hair, ears, floor, fridge door, highchair!

I have two messy eaters - DD1, nearly 3 and still gets in a mess most meals. DD2 7 months too and ends up in her hair, ears, up her nose - you name it. My best suggestion is to use 2 bibs - a sleeved bib to cover up most things, with a tommee tippee 'trough' bib on top to catch as many bits as possible. With DD1 I used to tuck a muslin over her knees too. Also have plastic sheet on the floor to catch the worst. Big pile of Sainsburys basics flannels - use them to wipe her face and hands, then do the high chair and put it straight in the washing machine with the sleeved bib, and they just get washed with whatever is going in next.

Orange stains - not a problem - they get bleached by the sun - so just put the clothes outside if you can. Banana on the other hand.... grrrrrrr..... great baby food - but horrible brown stains on every bib and flannel after a while - as long as you know they are washed and clean though, guess it doesn't really matter!

Good luck!

My dd who is now 6 is only just starting to be less messy. when she was 3, in nursery, she'd come home and get me to guess what had been for lunch (whole school has school dinners) judging by the stains on her clothes . My ds is proving to be even worse (12mo). All part of the fun .

Oh, ewemoo I know exactly what you mean except both my dt's are that messy! They're 10 months, doing blw and urgghhh, the mess. But, not only will she improve, you'll get used to it. Eating naked with/without bib good. I started using flannels in a tub a while ago and can clean them up pretty well that way. I just accepted that they're going to get dirty at every meal (they're crawling so they get dirty in the garden too!), I have a good system and a lot of that vanish stuff in a tub. If you have a bucket going with some vanish in, you can throw them in as you go and wash at the end of the day.
I was despairing by 8 months (they only weaned at 6.5) but now it's getting better as they can handle more foods and have a few teeth.