What's under your table?:)

HisBelovedPrincess

Ok, so we are renting currently, and this is the first place we have been where our dining area is a carpeted room. My 2.5 year old boys are super sensory eaters (insert MESSY!) and I currently have an older rug under the table that we really don't care if it gets stained, but trying to keep food pieces from getting in it is tedious and I am constantly having to pick pieces up by hand before vaccuuming. It's super time consuming and I am wondering is there a different solution? If it was linoleum/tile, I could sweep and then mop regularly. Anyone else in this situation and use something different? A plastic mat of some sort? Help?:)

PurrCrasher

Haha, I like the term "sensory". My DD is very much a sensory eater. We don't have carpet under our table but I've heard of people putting table cloths or tarps underneath the highchairs. It couldn't hurt to try! Good luck.

katiebenes

try the plastic mats that are called "chair mats" or something like that from office stores... they have nubs that keep it planted on the carpet and are REALLY easy to clean. 

JocelynB0911

In our old house (which was dh's grandmas before she passed away) we had high traffic carpet in the kitchen. It drove me nuts but it was nice just to be able to vacuum things up. While I was preg with #2 my in laws got us laminate flooring and boy did it make a huge difference. Sadly, we grew out of that house very quickly and moved to a larger home. I am sure you could use a plastic mat or a drop cloth (I've seriously considered this for my son) but look into laminate flooring. I believe ours just snaped in and you can cut costs if your dh is handy or you know someone that can do it for a cheaper rate than the pros.

mirnb

I have a big plastic tablecloth under their chairs and keep a little stick vacumm right by the table hiding behind a curtain!

Corleyrae

I haven't conquered this my self, however my grandmother used a large plastic mat. It was like a thick drop cloth. She also used it on EVERYTHING we did. Toys, playdough, eating, everything.

keg

While we have hardwoods, we have an area rug under our table (oriental-type print so it's not too bad).  We've gone through a lot of things--high chair splash mat stuff (ok, but rather expensive for what it was), vinyl shower curtains (nice and cheap, but slid around), and now I've got a vinyl/oilcloth tablecloth under their chairs.  I like that the back of it is a little fuzzy so that it grips the rug well.  It also wasn't terribly expensive so once it gets too destroyed it's not a big deal to toss it. 

LucyRicardo3

we are also currently renting a house with thick shag carpet in the dining room, and the owner just had it installed before we moved in, so I've been OCD about any stains. (who on earth would put carpet in a dining room of a rental??)

I tried the BRU splat mats and clear tablecloth covers from walmart but they are so flimsy it's more of a trip hazard and they will not lie flat on thick carpet. Like a PP mentioned, I've had the best luck with the heavy office chair mats with the nobby teeth on the bottom from Office Depot. I've also seen them in places like Sams and Costco

I also drag their high chairs into the kitchen onto the vinyl floor during the day when it's just the 3 of us and I eat in the kitchen with them. Stick vacuum and sometimes a swipe with the wet swiffer on spaghetti days and it's all done. I really need a steam mop for in there!

HisBelovedPrincess

RWMomma:

We had this problem too. We got a mat that goes under the table at TJMaxx. But before we found that we were going to get one of the mats that goes under an office chair. 

 

Is the mat that you got one you could potentially spot mop? or is it fabric?  In my mind I'm envisioning either a reaaaaally big 'clear under the office chair' type thing to put under the whole table (let's face it the whole area gets messy!) or what I really want is a mat (with a print/color) that I can sweep and then wipe down with a wash cloth/spot mop. 

Thanks for all your responses ladies!:) I asked another forum I am on, with mainly mommas of all singletons and majority of them swore by a shower curtain, or a splat mat, or something of that nature. My thought to every resonse was "I don't have time for messing with that! Not with these two little men!"