question from non- parent...

ok- not a mom yet, but just curious. when you go out to eat with your DC, and they have a high chair that pulls up to the table ( no tray on the high chair- the childs food can be on the table)... do you pull out your own wipes and wipe up the table? do you put down a disposable placemat for DC?

just curious because my friend has a 1 year old son, and we went out to lunch the other day, we get to our table, before we even sit down, she wipes the table down with a wipe, purells her son's hands, and then put down this disposable place mat that sticks to the table.
LOL the waiter actually seemed a little offended and said ' i hope you're not doing that becaue the tables not clean- we clean them really well"....
like i said i'm not a mom yet and who know what i'll do when i am... but just curious if this is "normal" or "over the top"

Re: question from non- parent...

I just put down the disposable placemats.

Three reasons:

1. I don't want his food directly on the dirty table.

2. The placemats entertain him.

3. He makes a huge mess and it makes it MUCH easier to clean up.

Re: question from non- parent...

I used to use those disposable table topper things, until DS started to find it amusing to pull them off Now, if the table "looks" clean, it probably is!

Re: question from non- parent...

When my daughter was younger I used to lay out napkins or a disposable place mat for her but now at this age she moves things around too much I don't bother.

Re: question from non- parent...

i put the food sright on the table no clean up

If the table looks like it wasn't wiped down then I put it on a napkin. I think most moms I know at least wipe it down first, not me though

Re: question from non- parent...

I still put those disposable placemats down on the tables for Julia.

Re: question from non- parent...

lol yeah.. i totally get either wiping it down or using a disposable placemat to put the food on... but i don't think you really need to do both...
and it could just be the way she did it, too... she made SUCH a show of wiping down the table, moving stuff off of it to wipe it, etc. like i said, though- who knows how i'll be when my time comes

Re: question from non- parent...

I use those disposable placemats. Basically when they are younger and still throw their plate phase. I would never want the food to go directly on the table. Yeah, they may "clean" it, but really, how clean is that dirty rag they are using, KWIM? Come to think of it, I do exactly what your friend did.

Re: question from non- parent...

I am not in the highchair phase yet but I can definitely tell you that I do things that I previously would have thought were a bit much. My son was a preemie and I have had many doctors lecture me about what even the common cold can do to him. Also, sometimes I clean things off with a wipe just to get rid of any harsher cleansers that may be lingering on the surface. I don't know yet what I will do when he starts to sit in a highchair but I don't tend to make a big show of things.

Re: question from non- parent...

I kind of do this as well.

I dont make a show of it..I actually try to be as quiet about it as I can so no one gets offended. It doesnt matter how clean the restaurant is, I still dont trust it. My childs food will be going down on that table and the germs that spread nowadays, just scares me too much.

Like you said..it could have been the WAY she did it..but I have to admit, I am a little neurotic about this as well.

Re: question from non- parent...

I sometimes use the disposable placemat or else I will wipe the table with a baby wipe or something
-I mean really have you ever watched the bus people clean up-how many times have they used that rag to clean other tables-ewwww! I don't even eat food dropped off my plate for the most part-but I am not over the top either one or the other usually and sometimes yes none of the above on a lazy day (I admit it!)
Personally I find the booster chair with the attached tray I bring myself to be the easiest/cleanest option.

Message edited 2/25/2008 11:45:01 PM.

Re: question from non- parent...

I am the worst diaper bag packer in the world. I use to bring everything, now I bring nothing.

I always mean to bring the placemats, always forget. He's really good at using a plate now though.

Re: question from non- parent...

I use disposable place mats when we go out to eat with Jacob

Re: question from non- parent...

At 2 mts old, when I sent my son to daycare and had to lay him on the floor, I said godbye to any germ issues. Now, at almost 11 mts old, the kid has rolled, crawled, and licked things off of that same floor.

Wiping down a table is not going to undo the god-knows-what he has aready brewing inside of him....

Re: question from non- parent...

Posted by Laura-DDS

I sometimes use the disposable placemat or else I will wipe the table with a baby wipe or something
-I mean really have you ever watched the bus people clean up-how many times have they used that rag to clean other tables-ewwww! I don't even eat food dropped off my plate for the most part-but I am not over the top either one or the other usually and sometimes yes none of the above on a lazy day (I admit it!)
Personally I find the booster chair with the attached tray I bring myself to be the easiest/cleanest option.

Re: question from non- parent...

I always put down the disposible placemat. DS loves them because he loves to point to everything on them, it is cleaner for him and like posted before it is so much easier to clean up.

Re: question from non- parent...

I always wipe the table down. My kid will eat/lick anything, and god knows what kind of filth and bacteria is living on those tables. They may say they clean them well, but we all know what goes on in restaurants

Re: question from non- parent...

In the past I probably wouldnt have. But Ive become very neurotic with DS...I can see myself doing exactly what your friend did.

Re: question from non- parent...

I have wiped down the highchair (there was crap all over it)

I also put down the disposable placemats.

Re: question from non- parent...

I agree with your friend.
I'm not up to that point yet but I don't see it being neurotic.

Re: question from non- parent...

I wipe down the chairs and the table and use a mat. Most of the time they are filthy. I am a neurotic.....plus it is not like the rag they use to clean the table is actually CLEAN.

Message edited 2/26/2008 10:06:00 AM.

Re: question from non- parent...

If I forget my booster seats for the boys, I will ALWAYS wipe the table down before hand as well, and always clean their hands before they eat....I guess Im just neurotic like that.

Re: question from non- parent...

I use the diposable placemats and I have this disinfecting spray I spray on the actual highchair.

Re: question from non- parent...

I think I'm a bit of a germophobe but I do NOT think those rags that they are using are clean. Even after they wipe, the table is a grease slick. We are not in the highchair phase yet but I think I would do a wipe down with a wet one or something and use a placemat if we were.

Re: question from non- parent...

If the worst thing DC put in their mouths during the day is food that touched a table, I'm doing pretty good... There is no possible way to prevent things from going into their mouths. They crawl on the floor all day, then stick their hands in their mouths. How clean is that? We don't obsess over it, because we don't want DC to pick up any of our neuroses. All I need is DC refusing to eat when they get older because they don't have a wipe with them...