Cleaning Up Under the High Chair Good Questions

Q: I'm looking for clean up ideas for under my baby's high chair. I have a splat mat and after every meal find myself on hands and knees cleaning and end up using lots of paper towels. I was thinking of getting some kind of wireless sweeper but it probably won't be great for mushy food. How do others make clean up easier? Any suggestions or ideas?

Sent by Julie

Editor: Are you under the high chair at the end of every meal too or have you found a better way? Let Julie know below in the comments what's worked for you!

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Comments (16)

we have a dog. that's about the only thing he's good for...

A dustbuster is your best bet!

This is not easy! I have a toddler and a preschooler now, so most of the goopy dribbles happen less frequently. But there are constantly bits of cheerios, cheese, and various crumbs on the floor. I decided that I wouldn't worry about it too much during the day (unless it was really awful), and then (usually) every night after my two girls are in bed, I sweep with a dustpan around the chairs, and then I spray on some Bona floor cleaner (for hardwood floors) and wipe the floors off with a rag on my hands and knees. It only takes a few minutes, and it helps me to have a regular routine so I don't stress about it all day long! Good luck!

I had a friend who used to line the entire kitchen with newspaper before every meal so that her child could experience her food... Um we never did that!!! When we had a high chair we would spray it with cleaner after every meal and loosen any dirt but it really got icky and eventually we did away with high chairs all together. Our little kids eat on our laps or at a low table and we just clean up consistently after each meal.

For the mushy stuff, wait a little while and let it dry. Then you can just sweep it up. Our daughter's chair is thankfully in a corner of the kitchen and we can wait to do clean-up for a few hours after meals.

I have to second the dog comment. Our dogs are unbelievably inconvenient in every other way- except for cleaning the floors after mealtime.

A "tablecloth" for the floor. Buy inexpensive cloth and place it under the chair and surrounding drop zone area. After a meal, shake it out outside and/or launder if needed. Have a number of them to rotate through in case one or more are in the laundry cycle.

Old tablecloths and sheets also work. If you don't plan on using them again, you can cut them in half.

Roomba. Let it dry until you're ready to leave the house, do a quick floor pick up and everything is much, much better.

Our dog is our live-in maid. She doubles as security.

We have one of those clear plastic office chair mats under each side of the table and I keep a pile of cut up receiving blankets handy to wet and wipe up the mess. Not very creative but it saves the carpet from sudden doom.

I second the giant sheet. It is our technique. We change it every other day, shake out the old one in the backyard, wash & dry with the daily "crummy" laundry. Easy & cheap!

Ditto on the Dog. :) Or perhaps a trainable cat?

Chihuahuas are great in corners and tight spots.

We have the same setup with a splat mat and I just use a damp washcloth to scoop everything squishy up and rinse it out. The key to this plan is to do a nice bleach pre-soak to disinfect them before you launder them so you don't have a stinky washcloth. Mine get changed out every three days or so, I own about 20 and I do a bleach soak load when I get down to the last one or two. We use zero paper towels except when we microwave bacon:)