Buy a drop cloth and put it under the seat where she eats. After she eats, just rinse it off or shake it out (depending on the food) and reuse it. When it’s really dirty, toss it. They’re very cheap. you can probably even cut it in half.

As far as the baths go, hahaha, yes, I remember having to bathe her after every meal. Won’t last forever, and you’ll miss it some day (Yes, you really will!)

Enjoy her.

Edit: Hi, Zach’s Mom above me! No, it isn’t a phony question. My children are way past that stage, but yes, I really remember having to bathe her after many meals. She just had it all over her, and it didn’t seem worth washing her piece by piece, so I just threw her into the tub (gently of course! lol). I think it’s not a question of how much food is on the spoon, but rather how fast the child can grab it and rub it in her hair before you can stop her! lolol

Try putting smaller amounts of the spoon, he’s too young to be feeding himself with a spoon, so don’t go there!
If his play chair bounces, stuff the underneath with towels so he can’t bounce while he eats, and if his hands go everywhere then cover him with a blanket and tuck his hands in.
You could also buy a PVC playmat or something of a similar size and put that on the floor when you feed him.

Good Luck
xxx

First off, my son is 10 months old and I still do all the wet feedings. He can self feed anything dry and crunchy but baby food, noodles, anything runny or messy I feed him. I can’t imagine a 6 month old being able to feed himself properly.

Second, lay a bed sheet under the play chair so anything that makes it to the floor ends up on the sheet and it can be washed. Also, feed him in his diaper only.

Feed him yourself and it will solve most of your problems.

Post on craigslist.com in the wanted section. Be up front that you cannot afford a highchair and need a donation. More than likely someone will donate one. Hell, I have two extra ones and I’d give you one if you lived close to me.

The answer is pretty easy. Mix powdered milf in with her regular milk, and he’ll gain weight easily

Until Junior gets the idea take a nipple and cut the end out of it and he can get the strained food that way. I used to mix baby cereal with Formula and give it to my girls in a bottle That worked pretty well. You have to enlarge the hole to allow the cereal to pass through. You can always feed a little strained geggies with a spoon and give the rest in the bottle as above.

this is what i do, i have a 5 month old who has ate baby food since she was 2 months old with no problems and no mess really lol, put him in his play chair or like a bouncer or even on some pillows, where hes in an upright position but doesnt have to hold his own head up, my baby can sit up but when she does, she tries to lean forward for the spoon every time and gets it on her cheek lol, get a baby spoon and put him a bib on and get some baby wipes, put like a little bit of food on the tip of the spoon, wipe the spoon across the lid to get it off the bottom, put the bottom of the spoon on his bottom lip, lean the tip in his mouth so the foods in his mouth then kind of hold the spoon there a second so instead of pushing the food out he pushes it against the spoon and it still stays in his mouth for him to swallow, my baby has never pushed food out but shes bad for trying to blow spit bubbles while eating so when you hold the spoon there she tries to blow a bubble but fails to get lil specks of babyfood everywhere lol, i hope this helps, i know how frustrating it is when they just won’t do what you want, **Oh yeah, once he gets some food on his chin and lips, wipe it off with the baby wipe so when he goes to stick his fingers to his face, which mine tries at least once, he doesn’t have food on his face to get on his hands…then his clothes and everything else lol GOOD LUCK

well, I’m sorry to say that there ain’t no escape from the mess…you’ll just have to feed and wipe and feed and wipe off the mess made by you son…do it as soon as he plays with the food you just spoonfed him…

you see,its normal for an infant to play with his food…he does that repeatedly if you’ll observe…this is like his trial and error kind of developmental stage…he learns that when he does certain things (like play with his food:e.g. throw it, spit it etc), to his food, certain consequences will follow (e.g. the food will splatter all over the place, he’ll see his food on his hands, it’ll feel sticky…& believe it or not, even the way you’ll respond like if you’ll wipe it off or not)…so please, the only way to deal with times like this is to give LOADS of patience to your child…

Hopefully with time, your baby will learn to keep food in his mouth a little better, until then try putting an old towel or sheet underneath the place you’re eating to keep food off the carpet. It’s much easier to toss these into the washer than trying to scrub bright orange carrots out of a carpet!

We don’t have a high chair either, we use a booster seat which is cheaper and we’ll be able to use much longer than a highchair anyway. What is your babies play chair like? If it has toys attached it might make him excited and more wiggly because he’s got Mom, toys and food!!!, A babies three favorite things all in one!

One thing I do, is right when I pull the spoon out, I immediately put the spoon gently over his mouth so it covers almost like a shield. When I do this he doesn’t seem to open his mouth and spit his food all over. If the jar is close to him and that is what he is getting into, maybe you could have your daughter help you feed the baby and hold the jar if she is old enough. It is good for kids to have chores anyway, if she is about 4 or so I bet she could do it.

Another huge help to me is a BIG bib. My mom made some bibs out of regular kitchen dish towels. They are really cheap and easy to make. You just cut half way through one side and cut out a circle for the neck, then add snaps or something to close the back side up. It covers the whole baby and then we only have hands and a face to wipe up. Or just use an old shirt of your daughters that would be big on the baby and cover him all up, maybe tighten the neck part with an elastic or twisty tie so it fits around him.

And if all else fails, just know it is a phase and it will pass… okay, maybe not, my husband is still that messy and he’s 27… but try to see the light side of things and be grateful you have a home to get messy and kids to mess it up!
Hang in there!