Mealtime Cleanup

Cleaning Baby

• Carry your baby to the sink using the football hold (tucked under your arm), and make a game of washing hands and face after meals.

• Put baby oil or petroleum jelly on your baby's face before feeding, to facilitate cleanup.

• Use only your hand dipped in water to wash the face of a reluctant child. Most children won't fight a hand as much as a washcloth, and you'll do just as good a job.

• Gently spray your child's hands and face with water from a spray bottle, and wipe clean. Kids love it.

• Warm a soft, wet cloth or baby washcloth in the microwave for a few seconds before cleanup. Check before using to make sure you haven't made it too hot.

• Let your child dip messy hands in a plastic bowl of water while still in the highchair. Then wipe dry. Hold onto the bowl so it doesn't get tossed.

• Squirt a little shaving cream on your child's cheeks, and then "shave" it off with a washcloth.

• Remove a drink mustache by dabbing toothpaste on it and rinsing it off. Kids usually like the pleasant taste and smell.

• Keep a step stool handy for a child old enough for washing hands and face at the sink.

• Use baby wipes for after-meal cleanups. Not only do they remove normal food stains (think grape juice), but wipes containing alcohol are good for ink and magic-marker stains.

Cleaning Equipment

• Put a plastic tablecloth or an old plastic shower curtain under the highchair for easy cleanup. Or spread out a section of newspaper and pull off one page after each meal (wrapping the crumbs inside).

• Mount a plastic paper towel holder on the back of the high-chair for quick cleanups.

• Rub waxed paper over the runners of a clean highchair to make the tray slide on and off more easily. Or apply some petroleum jelly, vegetable oil, or WD-40.

• Cut a plastic place mat to fit the shape of your highchair tray to make it easier to clean.

• Clean a highchair tray by adding a few drops of shampoo your toddler can play with after eating. When your child tires of finger painting, simply clean the tray and the child with the wipe of a sponge.

• Place a plastic or metal highchair in the shower, and let hot water spray all over it for a few minutes. Caked-on food wipes off easily.

• Clean a highchair outdoors with a garden hose. Let the high-chair sit in the sun for a time to help disinfect it.

• Give your child an ice-cream pail and sponge, and enlist "help" in the cleanup.

• Use a paper towel as a place mat to make table cleanup easy.

• Get rid of stains on dishes, cups, and countertops by using a spray bottle filled with a mild bleach solution (make sure to label it) or baking soda.