Highchair Cleaning 101
How to Clean Up A Toddler's Highchair Fast
 |
| My rugrats ❤️ |
Where do I begin? Well, cleaning up after a toddler in a highchair can at times be a nightmare, so I'm going to pass along some tips to make your life a "little" bit easier and make the cleaning process quicker for you!
This is especially important if you have more than one toddler. Maybe you have twins, or just two kids close in age. First and foremost, remain focused at all times, especially if you have two of them!
Gather Your Supplies
With two against one - focus, focus, focus! Secondly...keep your vacuum cleaner handy at all times during meal time with toddlers. You're going to need it later...You will also need some paper towels, a wash cloth, and maybe even some baby wipes.
Baby wipes make life so much easier during situations like this one. I can't say enough good things about baby wipes! Let's start with this...does your toddler thoroughly enjoy tossing food all over your kitchen? Even when you've told them "no," time and time again? Okay, so if they don't, then you are blessed. If they do, you're still blessed, but you've got a
problem and have to teach them "no." We've all been there.
The only way to do this is to just keep telling them "no," but don't yell or get angry, just be firm and consistent. Tell them it's not nice and all that good stuff. You can even try taking their food away when they throw something, then hand it back to avoid hysterics. I think the taking the food away thing would work better for older toddlers, like, close to three years in age.
My daughters are such angels in other ways. For example, I can take them just about anywhere with me, but they love to throw food at home when they eat. Fun, fun! I obviously try to teach them "no," but it's the age and maybe the fact that it's two against one. None of my boys ever did this. Not one of them.
Thankfully, it's becoming less-and-less that they do this and I think we're almost passed this stage. So in the mean time, I can expect to clean almost every time they eat. And here's how I make clean up as quick as possible, because I don't have an hour to clean them up three times a day. That would be THREE hours of my time and I have too many other things to do.
Now to the Good Part - Cleaning Up
First, I remove any big food chunks from the tray if there is any that is. I usually do this with my bare hands, but if it's really nasty I'll grab a wet paper towel or two. Most times though, I honestly don't care. Hey, I'm a Mom... Next, I grab a wet cloth ( I use the baby wash clothes.) and I clean the high chair tray, then the hands and mouth of the child.
This obviously requires rinsing and repeating a few times. Now, mind you, I'm doing this all with speed and precision, because I don't have all day. With my daughters being twins, I clean up one twin at a time, putting space between their highchairs, so the clean child doesn't touch the dirty highchair when she's done. I've had that happen too...
Then, I clean up the other child's tray, face and hands. After that, I start working on the floor or anywhere else they may have thrown food if they did throw food. The qickest and easiest, less nightmarish way to do this is to grab a small plastic bag - let's say, a Walmart bag. Something like that. Then, grab either a wet paper towel, or a baby wipe. You might need a few...
With my bare hands, (unless it's nasty) start picking up the food and putting it into the bag. You know, like, pieces of sandwich, big pieces of food, etc. Nothing little! We can vacuum the little pieces later... Just grab the pieces that will get stuck in your vacuum cleaner!! As you're picking up the food, wipe up those spots with the paper towel, or baby wipe. Have the entire box of wipes with you on hand, because you might need many...
The Vacuum is Your Friend
Then, vacuum. Vacuum the entire eating area. So now that the floor is clean, the tray is wiped down, and the child is clean, then I remove the children one at a time from the room. I will either hold her and brush any crumbs or food off of her and onto the floor, or I stand her up and brush the crumbs or food off.
Again, if there is any food on her. Sometimes I get lucky and there isn't! Now that I've removed the first child from the room, I've obviously added more crumbs to the floor and nine times out of ten, there's more crumbs in the chair where she was sitting.
So, again, I take the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the floor, then the highchair seat pad. I also lift the seat pad up and vacuum under it; crumbs go everywhere sometimes. After doing this, I repeat with the other child. And it's funny because almost every time I do this, I always think of the movie
Mr. Mom with Michael Keaton and the scene where he's vacuuming food in the kitchen, and then I laugh at myself.
Final Thoughts
When you're finished with all of this, and maybe even laughing at yourself, you can take a baby wipe or two and wipe the seat pad down too. Baby wipes work good for regular maintenance if the chair needs wiping down. If it's ready for the washer though, then throw it in at night when the little ones are sleeping that way it's ready to get filthy again in the morning.
So there's your quick and easy highchair tips. I hope I've made your life just a little bit easier!!
