Mealtime is synonymous with mess time when you have a toddler at home. When little kids are learning to use utensils, cups and other mealtime props, at least some food and drink is going to end up on the table, chair and floor.
However, today’s hint is a way to make mealtime a little neater – new toddler feeding products designed to lessen the mess.
The plates and bowls in The First Years’ new Inside Scoop line, for instance, are designed to make self-feeding easier for toddlers. They have curved rims and sloped bases meant to help more food end up on forks and spoons, as well as suction bottoms so they’ll stay in place. The $12 bowls and $14 plates will be available mid-February on Walmart.com. The First Years is giving away a prize package containing these new bowls and plates, as well as a host of other toddler mealtime products, to one lucky Hint Mama reader – details below.
Elsewhere, the new $24.99 “less mess” Happy Mat from EzPz is an all-in-one silicone placemat and plate (the plate is in the shape of a smiley face) that suctions to tables and is designed to “capture most of your kids’ messes.”
Meanwhile, Skip Hop and Fisher-Price also offer placemat-plate combination products of sorts, and there are a number of other toddler products on the market aimed at making feeding easier and less messy for little ones, including bowls from Sassy and Munchkin.
To be sure, kids will eventually have to use regular old plates and bowls, so these products may just be delaying messes. Still, they’re worth trying, as they could help make the transition to adult eating props easier, quicker and less messy. Plus, like all eating products designed for toddlers, they’re great for adult portion control too
What are your tips for containing baby and toddler mealtime messes? Share your tricks below, and be sure to enter to win a feeding product package from The First Years worth $83, and containing 2 Inside Scoop Bowls, 2 Inside Scoop Plates, 4 Self-Serve Spoon 2-packs, 2 Simple Sippy 4-packs and 2 Straw Cup 4-packs.
Also, if you have dreams of being a reality TV star, The First Years is looking for parents to star in its new online reality series about what the first years of parenting are really like, and the families chosen will receive $7,500 in prizes. You can read more about, and enter for a chance to star in, The First Years “Welcome to The Family” online reality series at family.thefirstyears.com. All entries are due by March 1.
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The only advice that I can give is that you can put down a mat that is under the high chair to capture any real bad messes.
I’m not sure there is any surefire way to contain the mess 🙂 Especially for those who do baby led weaning. Having a dog that cleans the floor for you is handy 🙂 and the Happy Mat from EZPZ seems awesome, but we have never tried it.
Oh dogs work well for messes….at least they’re pretty magical at grandma’s house lol
My tip is to have a bib that catches food and place chair on a mat
my tip is putting plastic under the highchair and a bib on them.