Some of the funniest and most memorable moments in our family have taken place at the dinner table. And having a baby who’s eating solid foods just adds to the merriment. We’ve had some good laughs after watching our baby lick a lemon or pickle, or get caught quietly sneaking unwanted food over the side of the highchair and into the dog’s mouth.
But you pay a price for fun with food: a big huge mess! In fact, a recent survey showed that 80 percent of mothers end up throwing away clothes because they feel it’s just not worth tackling the mess.
This where Dreft comes in, because it’s a detergent that is able to handle the damage your little one can do to all those cute bibs, burp cloths and outfits. This hypoallergenic detergent, with its signature baby fresh scent, has been trusted by pediatricians and parents for over 80 years. And in case you’re curious, it IS safe and effective for laundering cloth diapers as well. I can attest to that from personal experience. My thanks to Dreft for sponsoring today’s post and two giveaways (details below)!
I have a few tips I wanted to share with you after feeding (and cleaning up) 8 babies so far:
- Don’t expect perfection. You are less likely to get frustrated if you realize that it takes time and maturity to learn table manners. Babies will go through different phases as they learn. And if you are more aware of what’s coming, you are more likely to put measures in place that will minimize clean-up (a large enough tray, bibs, small portions, etc.)
- Choose foods carefully. Dry cereal is a popular first finger food not just because babies like them. The fact is, it’s fairly easy to clean up as compared to warm, wet baby cereal, which is very starchy and sticky. If your baby is eager to self-feed, opt for things like mashed potatoes and avocado (that hold together) instead of applesauce (which is runny). Put foods in front of your baby in small amounts. The typical response to a big plate of food is to eat very little of it and then play with the rest!
- Set realistic boundaries. Expecting your toddler to have a squeaky clean face throughout the meal is not reasonable. Expecting him to not throw food at the wall is. Expecting him to not to ever spit things out, or smash them or rub them between his hands is not reasonable. Expecting him to refrain from kicking and screaming is. Discipline and teach just as you would in any other circumstances when your baby or toddler exhibits a behavior that’s rude or obnoxious.
- Offer alternatives. Much of what we do as parents is to teach our children “a better way” of doing things – as opposed to what comes naturally. For example, some of our babies would yell or beat the high chair loudly when they wanted seconds. While it’s fine to want more food, even a young child can be taught a better way to “ask.” One strategy that worked for us was to demonstrate an appropriate behavior and wait for the child to mimic that before offering more food. It would obviously be age-appropriate, so for a baby, instead of asking him to say “please” we could make a pleasant sound that he could imitate or show him how to hold out his hand.
- Know when to call the game. There’s no point in keeping your child at the table if he isn’t hungry, or is tired or bored. If you do, mischief will invariably follow like night follows day. Letting your baby get down as soon as he’s done will not just make him happier, it will keep messes at a minimum.
Dreft sent a few complimentary items for our cleaning toolkit:
- Dreft detergent and Dreft Blissfuls scent booster
- Black & Decker Cordless Hand Vaccuum
- Dreft bib
- Set of Babie B suction cup bowls with lids
Giveaway #1 – My blog is hosting a giveaway for Dreft detergent and a $50 American Express gift card. Enter using the form below! (CLOSED)
Giveaway #2 – I bet you have a photo or video that captures some of your child’s messiest moments. And Dreft wants to see them! That’s why they are hosting the Messiest Baby Contest (you can follow on social media using the hashtag #MessiestBabyContest). Click here to enter. One of the prizes is having your baby featured on the May cover of Parenting Magazine. (CLOSED)
Giveaway #3 – The Dreft #MessiestBabyContest Twitter Party will take place on Monday, November 14th from 9PM-10Pm EST. You can RSVP for the party using this link: http://bit.ly/2f1Djbj. There are some really great prizes including an iRobot Roomba!
For more information, visit www.dreft.com or check in on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This post and giveaway were made possible by iConnect and Dreft.
I was compensated for my participation in this campaign.
My little one loves to eat yogurt and paint it all over the table! She used to paint her arms and face and hair with it too, but has thankfully outgrown that.
My grandsons makes a mess eating spaghetti.
no specific messy moment, meal time was always messy especially when
the meal was pasta with sauce.
Well, we don’t have a LO to make messes quite yet, but our nephew’s favorite way to make a mess is outside, digging in the dirt or sandbox.
My grandson’s favorite way to make a mess is whenever we finger paint!
My child likes to make a mess when he eats chocolate cake
My daughter makes a mess with cupcakes!
When my son was growing up, finger painting was his favorite way to get messy. 🙂
My son likes to help cook which is usually pretty messy!
My baby makes a mess while finger painting or eating Spaghetti and Meatballs. She also makes a mess when she eats cake!
I swear my son’s favorite mess is the one he makes with guacamole!! And boy does it dry like cement when he’s done lol!
Anytime they sit down at the table to eat they make a mess.. especially spaghetti-os.
They always like to make a mess at the table or with crafts.
Their favorite way to make a mess is to play with their hair with dirty hands while eating!
My Granddaughter likes to spit out her rice cereal.
My niece loves to make an absolute mess when she bakes desserts. Flour and sugar and butter go everywhere!
The kids favorite way to make a mess is finger painting.
Anything they can possibly think of, they do to make a mess. Eating seems to make a big one along with hitting every mud puddle after it rains when they play outdoors
Meal time is a messy time for us!
My granddaughters favorite way to make a mess is to take all of her toys out of her toy box and throw them everywhere!
My daughter is messiest when she is painting.
She loves to play with mashed potatoes in her hair.
My daughter loves to paint! Even though it’s washable it’s still SO messy!
With playdoh! Thats her favorite
Well,my youngest nephew just left here & he left a trail of everything he ate through the house, lol. Crumbs from a cupcake & cookie, candy wrappers, etc.
My sons favorite way to make a mess is playing with his trucks in the sandbox or dirt in the backyard.
my son loves to blow raspberries while eating.
My baby loves to make a mess at mealtime especially with baked spaghetti.
He likes to make a mess doing art projects.
My niece’s favorite way to make a mess to to “help” me with cooking. She is a riot, and I have made homemade aprons for both of us, but things still go where I least expect!
The kids always make such a mess with finger painting.
thank you
My daughters favorite way to make a mess is pull out all her toys & then wants nothing to do with them when it’s clean up time -__-
Painting! My son just loves to paint. We keep it as an outdoor activity to keep the mess down. Don’t know what we’ll do now that it’s getting to cold for him to pain outside.
My daughter’s new favorite way to make a mess is to pretend she’s drinking whatever her drink is and then spit it out all over her and the floor. I legitimately thought she peed through her diaper while in the high chair the other day because there was so much water on the floor!
My grandkids made a huge mess cleaning/gutting their pumpkins this year. Luckily it was nice so we were outside.
My son’s chocolate cake and ice cream at his first birthday party was all over him and the floor. It was so messy, but tons of fun!
My daughter is messiest with yogurt! She is great with everything else but yogurt ends up all over everything! She also loves to rip paper into little pieces so that’s a daily mess and I’m not even sure where she gets the paper!
My girls like to paint and make things. This always turns into a mess. Thankfully they aren’t messy eaters.
Our daughter loves to paint and she tends to get it all over!
He loves dumping all the toys out of the toy bin, just for fun
Right now my little guy just drools everywhere!
She loves to make messes while eating, i have to put plastic down around her highchair because she has so much fun making a mess.
My kids like to make a mess playing outside.
My sons fave way to make a mess is doing arts and crafts.
He likes to make a mess with his food.
Hand printing still my daugters’ favorite to get messy. Thanks for the chance to win such an amazing giveaway.