A funny thing happened as soon as my son transitioned from baby food to feeding himself: He lost all appreciation for the bib. Out with the mushy food, out with the bib! If I dared try to put a bib on my 15-month-old toddler during a feeding, he would scream and rip it off.
Because he was feeding himself, he would get covered in food during every meal. I felt like my day was preparing food, giving him food and cleaning him up, over and over again.
After ruining many lovely t-shirts due to food stains, I knew there had to be a better way. So, I came up with a strategy for protecting my son’s clothing from food stains without using a traditional bib. I use secondhand too-large t-shirts as bibs, a DIY-bib tip that is today’s hint.
During my nearly constant shopping at yard sales last summer, I happened to hit upon some moms selling large $25 garbage bags filled with secondhand boy’s clothing.
After I sifted through the clothing in the bags I bought and cleaned what I knew my son would wear, I was left with a number of t-shirts in toddler sizes that were too large for my son or that had small stains.
Before passing the too-big shirts on, or throwing out the dirty ones, I realized that they all could have a second life as makeshift (and very inexpensive) bibs that might just please my bib hater.
So, on a particularly dirty dinner night of spaghetti and meatballs, I sat my son down in his high chair and put an oversized t-shirt on him, over his everyday clothing. The shirt acted like an apron and covered his t-shirt, and his shorts. During the meal, his face may have been a disaster of tomato sauce, and the oversized shirt was a complete mess, but his other clothing stayed 100% clean.
After that meal, overjoyed with my solution, I emptied out my son’s bib drawer, and I now keep a week’s worth of old t-shirts in there. Yes, the t-shirts get very messy during meals, but I simply throw them in my bib hamper, along with kitchen towels, wash them, and they are good to go (stained yes, but totally fine) for the next meal.
So, if you have a bib hater too, or simply don’t want to spend lots of money on bibs, transforming cheaper secondhand shirts like I did is a trick to consider – it’s so easy that anyone can do it (the not-crafty included). And for more on bibs, be sure to check out my bib hamper hint, and this DIY on-the-go bib hint as well.
What are your hints for protecting the clothing of kids who fight wearing a bib?
Hint Mama contributor Olivia Howell is a new mom living with her son, Weston, and husband on Long Island, who blogs about parenthood over at The Lovely Sisters. She is also a quilter, paleo cook, and loves rearranging her living room on Saturday nights. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
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