Kids Make a Mess While Eating? 8 Tips to Manage Messy Eaters
July 2022
Last reviewed: July 2022
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
As an Amazon Associate, Kids Eat in Color® earns from qualifying purchases made through affiliate links.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
Share
+
Inside: Did you know that it’s actually good for your toddler to make a mess while they’re eating? Learn why kids are messy eaters, why mess is good, and get tips on how to manage it all.
Do you ever wonder if you should let your child make a mess while they eat? Is getting messy good? If you have a particularly messy toddler, do you ever worry if all children get as messy as yours? What’s normal? Why is your baby such a messy eater? And, how do you make your child less messy when eating?
In this article, we’ll talk about messy eaters and mealtime messes–and how to manage both of them!
The sensory skills that are developing during mealtimes include:
Smelling a food
Seeing a food
Touching a food
Tasting a food and eating it
Hearing the sounds of the food
This could include your child getting pasta sauce all over their face to “learn” about it. This can be messy, but it is important to let your child get familiar with new foods.
If your child is a picky eater, get our free picky eater guide for strategies on getting kids to accept new foods.
Why is it important for toddlers to get messy when eating?
Messy meals are important because they help your toddler develop the crucial motor and sensory skills mentioned above.
Messes are also important for toddlers because they help children get more familiar with food. The more familiar they get with food, the more likely they are to eat more food now and in the future.
Additionally, when a child’s face, hands and even hair have food on them, it helps your child’s body get comfortable with eating. Their body becomes used to the food and it can help prevent picky eating or make picky eating less intense.
We know not all parents will love all the mess. There are some things you can do to help prevent some of the mess and manage the messy eater cleanup. Here are tips to help with messy toddlers at mealtimes.
Tips to manage mealtimes with messy toddlers
1. Come to the table with the right expectations
To help manage your stress levels and reactions, come to the table knowing to expect some mess. Remember that, with time, the mess will continue to decrease. Until then, take a deep breath and adjust expectations accordingly.
2. Use splash mats for mealtimes
A new product getting a lot of attention recently (and for good reason!) has been splash mats. These mealtime mats are meant to be laid on the floor under the toddler’s seat to catch all the pieces of food that fall to the ground.
To clean up, all you need to do is toss the items from the mat in the trash and throw the mat in the wash.
Unlike traditional bibs that only cover the chest of babies and toddlers, long-sleeve bibs cover the entire outfit. Most are waterproof and machine washable, so no need to worry about pasta sauce or liquids.
Check out more of our favorite bibs to help keep your little one clean.
4. Dress appropriately
This is simple but worth noting. Long-sleeve bibs are great, but if you do not want a particular shirt or outfit to get stained or dirty, it’s best to have your toddler wear something else.
If you don’t want an outfit to have food accidentally spilled on it, don’t let your child wear it during meals.
For an alternative idea, dress your child only in a diaper to avoid dirtying another outfit during mealtimes. This also exposes your child’s skin to more textures, which can be a great sensory exposure to food for kids.
5. Use suction plate trays and mats
Plate trays like EZPZ use suction to keep the plates in place, and they also provide more coverage than a traditional plate.
When the meal is done, the suction plate and placemat can be rinsed off and popped into the dishwasher, helping with cleanup!
If a toddler is being cleaned up after every bite of food, they may start to dislike meals. We would hate that too!
We recommend allowing your toddler to get messy while they eat. Then, bring a warm, wet washcloth to the table to help gently clean them up after they are done eating.
If your child is old enough, you can have them try to wipe their own faces with the washcloth as well. This will give them a bigger sense of control and might allow for greater mealtime success.
8. Finally, if possible, embrace some of the mess through food play
Letting your baby, toddler and child get messy during meals is important for the development of their motor and sensory skills. Messy meal times also help prevent or reverse picky eating.
Join in on the messiness through food play. You can ask your child to compete with you or complete tasks like, “Can you dip your celery stick in the peanut butter?” Making the mess work for you can help this phase feel less frustrating and more fun.
For more ideas on bringing food play to the table, download our ebook Food Play Everyday. It’s got tons of ideas for getting kids engaged and interacting with foods.
Of course, if you are not interested in food play at the table, that is okay too!
What about food throwing?
Food throwing is not a behavior we want to encourage. If your toddler is throwing food, read our blog to learn step-by-step instructions to end toddler food throwing.
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
Inside: Did you know that it’s actually good for your toddler to make a mess while they’re eating? Learn why kids are messy eaters, why mess is good, and get tips on how to manage it all.
Do you ever wonder if you should let your child make a mess while they eat? Is getting messy good? If you have a particularly messy toddler, do you ever worry if all children get as messy as yours? What’s normal? Why is your baby such a messy eater? And, how do you make your child less messy when eating?
In this article, we’ll talk about messy eaters and mealtime messes–and how to manage both of them!
Article contents:
Why kids are messy eaters
The benefits for kids of messy meals
Tips to help make kids less messy when eating
What to do about food throwing
More expert nutrition advice
Why are toddlers messy eaters?
Toddlers are messy eaters because they are still honing in on and developing their motor and sensory skills.
Motor skills
The motor skills that babies and toddlers are developing during mealtimes include:
While there are some utensils and plates that can help minimize mealtime mess, toddlers are still likely to get messy while practicing these skills.
Related: Making sure your child’s high chair has the right foot support can also be helpful in managing mealtimes.
Sensory skills
The sensory skills that are developing during mealtimes include:
This could include your child getting pasta sauce all over their face to “learn” about it. This can be messy, but it is important to let your child get familiar with new foods.
If your child is a picky eater, get our free picky eater guide for strategies on getting kids to accept new foods.
Why is it important for toddlers to get messy when eating?
Messy meals are important because they help your toddler develop the crucial motor and sensory skills mentioned above.
Messes are also important for toddlers because they help children get more familiar with food. The more familiar they get with food, the more likely they are to eat more food now and in the future.
Additionally, when a child’s face, hands and even hair have food on them, it helps your child’s body get comfortable with eating. Their body becomes used to the food and it can help prevent picky eating or make picky eating less intense.
We know not all parents will love all the mess. There are some things you can do to help prevent some of the mess and manage the messy eater cleanup. Here are tips to help with messy toddlers at mealtimes.
Tips to manage mealtimes with messy toddlers
1. Come to the table with the right expectations
To help manage your stress levels and reactions, come to the table knowing to expect some mess. Remember that, with time, the mess will continue to decrease. Until then, take a deep breath and adjust expectations accordingly.
2. Use splash mats for mealtimes
A new product getting a lot of attention recently (and for good reason!) has been splash mats. These mealtime mats are meant to be laid on the floor under the toddler’s seat to catch all the pieces of food that fall to the ground.
To clean up, all you need to do is toss the items from the mat in the trash and throw the mat in the wash.
Related: Need help coming up with meal ideas? See our guides for the best snacks for toddlers and healthy, kid-friendly lunches!
3. Try long-sleeve coverall bibs
Mealtime long-sleeve coverall bibs are game-changers when it comes to cleanup.
Unlike traditional bibs that only cover the chest of babies and toddlers, long-sleeve bibs cover the entire outfit. Most are waterproof and machine washable, so no need to worry about pasta sauce or liquids.
Check out more of our favorite bibs to help keep your little one clean.
4. Dress appropriately
This is simple but worth noting. Long-sleeve bibs are great, but if you do not want a particular shirt or outfit to get stained or dirty, it’s best to have your toddler wear something else.
If you don’t want an outfit to have food accidentally spilled on it, don’t let your child wear it during meals.
For an alternative idea, dress your child only in a diaper to avoid dirtying another outfit during mealtimes. This also exposes your child’s skin to more textures, which can be a great sensory exposure to food for kids.
5. Use suction plate trays and mats
Plate trays like EZPZ use suction to keep the plates in place, and they also provide more coverage than a traditional plate.
When the meal is done, the suction plate and placemat can be rinsed off and popped into the dishwasher, helping with cleanup!
Related: See our recommendations for the best plates for kids, toddlers and babies.
6. Keep wet washcloths handy
If a toddler is being cleaned up after every bite of food, they may start to dislike meals. We would hate that too!
We recommend allowing your toddler to get messy while they eat. Then, bring a warm, wet washcloth to the table to help gently clean them up after they are done eating.
If your child is old enough, you can have them try to wipe their own faces with the washcloth as well. This will give them a bigger sense of control and might allow for greater mealtime success.
Related: Feeding a toddler is tricky. Learn what two-year-olds eat and what three-year-olds eat.
7. Teach your toddler to use utensils
It will take toddlers a while to learn to use utensils well, but you can help teach your toddler to use utensils.
8. Finally, if possible, embrace some of the mess through food play
Letting your baby, toddler and child get messy during meals is important for the development of their motor and sensory skills. Messy meal times also help prevent or reverse picky eating.
Join in on the messiness through food play. You can ask your child to compete with you or complete tasks like, “Can you dip your celery stick in the peanut butter?” Making the mess work for you can help this phase feel less frustrating and more fun.
For more ideas on bringing food play to the table, download our ebook Food Play Everyday. It’s got tons of ideas for getting kids engaged and interacting with foods.
Of course, if you are not interested in food play at the table, that is okay too!
What about food throwing?
Food throwing is not a behavior we want to encourage. If your toddler is throwing food, read our blog to learn step-by-step instructions to end toddler food throwing.
More expert advice about feeding toddlers