Now, I'm OK with baby messes and I'm good with the fact that this bunch makes messes in triplicate but can any one out there help me before I lose my mind!!! Nobody wants to be fed anymore, but the food mess and the baby mess and the highchair mess is more than I can deal with. I'm by no means a "Felix Unger" but sticky hair and fingers just cant happen!! I want them to eat a variety of things, but I need help coming up with options that can help cut down on the mess and if anyone has some suggestions on highchair help I would greatly appreciate it (we already have them covered in garbage bags).

What did/do you all feed your crew? And, by the way, when I say sticky stuff cant happen I'm taking about big time gook, a little PB&J is no problem, even crunchy hair is OK, but the orange punker look with the ravioli sticking out the ear...no...thanks in advance...JM

Miller6
Jesse 18yo (I have one graduated from HS!!!)
Carli almost 15 yo
Christie 13yo (going on 30)
McKenna,
Cody,
and Cailey 1yo

To this day, I still feed the messiest stuff to them myself. Ice cream in a bowl is one of those where I still retain full rights to the spoon! They do get their own cones, and ice cream on sticks so I'm not completely anal about the messes its just that it slides off of a spoon too easy!

I used to put as much of the non messy stuff on their tray to let them feed themselves, but still fed them the messiest of all - mostly the stuff in tomato sauce - by spoon. That way, the mess was down to a minimum, and I was fairly sure about the quantity that went down their throat rather than down their front!

Frankly, I still have one that has difficulty holding a spoon because of something wrong with his lower arms and hands, and I end up feeding him at a lot of meals, the stuff that he can't be picked up with his hands.

MTM - mom to Michael(84),Stephan(85), Thomas, Matthew and Kathryn - born 12/27/99 at 32w 0 days

You cracked me up with the "retain the right to the spoon"!! Just had to tell ya...LOLOLOL!!! JM

Thanks to some tips from folks here, I now keep a bowl of warm water & a cloth diaper at hand during feedings. If someone gets too messy I do a pre-emptive strike with the wet diaper to keep it from drying & forming that impossible-to-get-off food crust. I also use this to wipe everyone down when they are done.

Other than that, I just smile and let them smear away. They need to learn about food & textures, and are just too little to teach them about neatness. The chairs we use are the First Years chairs that can go on the floor or be strapped to an adult chair. For now they are on the floor, and if a chair gets too messy I just put it in the kitchen sink & blast it with the faucet and that squirter thingy.

Just today the WIC lady was here at my house to recertify us. She came just as I was doing lunch for the babies. Today's lunch was minestrone "soup goodies" chopped up with my little food chopper. Of course Edward loves these, and had a blast giving himself a facial and hair conditioning treatment right in front of her. LOL!!!

Tulip & The Three Amigos
Born at 35w5d on December 31, 2002 - Happy New Year's Eve!!!
Aimee, Let's bump heads!
Edward, Rollin' Rollin' Rollin', Got to keep on rollin'!
Hope, Bouncy! Bouncy! Bouncy! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

YES! You *can* breastfeed triplets!!!
http://www.tripletconnection.org/dcforum/forum1/14349.html

Tulip & The Three Amigos
GBG born at 35w5d on December 31, 2002 - Happy New Year's Eve!!!

YES! You *can* breastfeed triplets!!!

I am a Velveteen Rabbit, and the birth, love, kisses & magic that are my children has made me Real.

I use toddler cookbooks they are geared around age appropriate foods:

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
The Healthy Baby Meal Planner
Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook

I make batches large enough to feed the entire family, no need to make more then one meal.

Standby homemade meals
grilled cheese sandwich (add a slice of thin deli ham if you like)
french bread pizza
fruit and crackers and cheese (baby swiss, munster, mozzerella, cheddar)
green beans
lima beans
made up pasta dishes using noddles they can grab
scrambled or fried eggs w/cheese
baked salmon
******
Standby processed foods
ritz crackers
vanilla wafers
graham crackers
animal crackers
Quaker breakfast bars (apple, blueberry)

Note: all these foods need to be tested during daytime hours just incase someone reacts to the new food items. I held off on eggs, peanut butter, fish and chocolate until they were well past one years old.





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Mom of SuperTwins
I believe in miracles - I have three that live in my home. June 2002 @ 30 wks
http://www.michaelclancy.com/ (picture of a baby holding doctor's hand while still in utero during surgery @ 21 wks)

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I BELIEVE in miracles - g/g/g- June 2002 @ 30 wks and they are 10!
Married to my best friend
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Support for Infertility www.pregnantwithhope.com

these are REALLY good ideas...are the Quaker breakfast bars comparable to the over priced Graduates? JM

I give mine the new Krave bars, and the new Kellog special K cereal bars. I think its great that something that is good for them can be presented in "snack form" and also in a form thats clean up friendly!

MTM - mom to Michael(84),Stephan(85), Thomas, Matthew and Kathryn - born 12/27/99 at 32w 0 days

Miller, looking at your signature I can see you've been down this road a few times just like me, huh? I can honestly say that babies learning to feed themselves is one of my least favorite things. The mess drives me crazy. I am sick of cleaning and being on my knees after every single meal. That being said, I do let my monsters make a mess, it is healthy for their development to play with the food and all the textures. We also have several wet cloths for spot cleaning as we go.

Deep cleaning high chairs has turned out to be an excellent form of punishment in my house, and my 12 year old (going on 30) is a bit less sassy these days . The day she did the wrist flip, the head flip and called me "girlfriend" all within 30 seconds and one sentence I nearly lost it!!! After my reaction I trust it will be a onetime occurence. Anyway, I'm getting off subject...............

AnneLena - SAHM
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^
Christian 17
Savannah 12
Jacob 3
and surviving sextuplets born at 32.2 wks Dec 02:
Noah 4# 4oz
Dylan 4# 3oz
Amalie 4# 2oz
^angel d^
^angel e^
^angel f^
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^

AnneLena - SAHM
·.¸><((((º>.·´¯'..¸.·´¯'..¸><((((º>.·´¯'..¸.·´¯'..¸><((((º>.·´
Christian 19
Savannah 13
Jacob 4 1/2
and surviving sextuplets born at 32.2 wks Dec 02:
Noah 4# 4oz
Dylan 4# 3oz
Amalie 4# 2oz
Sweet Angels ^d^ ^e^ ^f^ We'll love you f

my particular favorite is the old "Oh, my God, mom" or the rolling of the eyes...but to be honest hadnt thought of the cleaning of the highchairs punishment. Thats good!! Thanks..JM