Do you let your DC eat off of restaurant tables?

LittleEgypt · February 2010

We have one of those Kiddopotamus mats, but we've been out several times without it and DS can't use a plate (he's broken one at a restaurant, so no more for the time being). We went out to lunch today on a whim and didn't have it with us, so DS ate eggs and pancake off the table. He's had exactly one cold in his life.

brooketini · February 2010

I let DD eat off the table all the time. In fact, she ate off the table at Panera today. I typically wipe it down with a baby wipe before and after, so I guess I don't see the big deal. She throws plates on the floor, and I don't see the point in wasting the money on placemats to carry around with me. Huh?

It's so funny because just today I was telling DH about the silly things people get all worked up over on the bump, and find it lol-worthy that this is the controversy of the day.

1MusicMaker · February 2010

Mia Wallace:
No. DC eats off of a plate and before that, disposable placemats. It's a combo of the germs and whatever they spray the table with to clean it that bothers me. FWIW I don't eat food off of the table either.

Exactly. I'm getting hives just reading some of these responses! Ha! I worked in the food industry for many years in college, and I *do* know where those rags have been. Yuck.

LukeAndAmanda · February 2010

tarebear9891:
I do but I am not a germaphobe at all and he is in a throwing stage so plates are a no go lol. I usually do wipe it off first but otherwise it doesn't bother me.

This. I'm as far from a germaphobe as it gets. DD has only been sick twice in her almost entire two years, so that doesn't worry me. But I usually wipe it down with a wipe to get residue from the cleaning supplies off.

LoriFalce · February 2010

Gag. No. Joseph eats off plates, thanks. HeII, we owned a restaurant and I wouldn't have let him eat off our own tables, and I know they were washed down with bleach by our germophobe manager.

J&A2008 · February 2010

I use a wipe on the table and his chair.

He eats off a plate, like the rest of us. I can't imagine all of us eating off the table...

Have you heard of Hepatitis?

LittleEgypt · February 2010

J&A2008:

I use a wipe on the table and his chair.

He eats off a plate, like the rest of us. I can't imagine all of us eating off the table...

Have you heard of Hepatitis?

Wait, wait, are you implying that a LO would get Hep A from eating off a restaurant table? Usually that happens when you get contaminated food, so it hardly matters what you eat it off of.

LuckySunshineBaby · February 2010

i wipe it off first (most of the time).

J&A2008 · February 2010

LittleEgypt:
J&A2008:

I use a wipe on the table and his chair.

He eats off a plate, like the rest of us. I can't imagine all of us eating off the table...

Have you heard of Hepatitis?

Wait, wait, are you implying that a LO would get Hep A from eating off a restaurant table? Usually that happens when you get contaminated food, so it hardly matters what you eat it off of.

Sure. Plenty of restaurants get cited for using dirty cloths to wipe down the tables, and plenty more for failing to wash hands. Hepatitis might not be the most likely thing you could catch from the table. I was more just making a point that you don't know WHAT is on there.

LittleEgypt · February 2010

J&A2008:
LittleEgypt:
J&A2008:

I use a wipe on the table and his chair.

He eats off a plate, like the rest of us. I can't imagine all of us eating off the table...

Have you heard of Hepatitis?

Wait, wait, are you implying that a LO would get Hep A from eating off a restaurant table? Usually that happens when you get contaminated food, so it hardly matters what you eat it off of.

Sure. Plenty of restaurants get cited for using dirty cloths to wipe down the tables, and plenty more for failing to wash hands. Hepatitis might not be the most likely thing you could catch from the table. I was more just making a point that you don't know WHAT is on there.

Ehh, it's all individual comfort level, but I guess where I'm coming from is that a) I've never heard of a report of a Hep outbreak because of dirty washcloths (but I have heard of them due to green onions, etc.), and b) if employees aren't washing hands then the food itself is suspect and whether you eat off the table hardly matters. Most food-borne illness outbreaks are due to failures in food processing procedures.

bananaQ · February 2010

LittleEgypt:
J&A2008:

I use a wipe on the table and his chair.

He eats off a plate, like the rest of us. I can't imagine all of us eating off the table...

Have you heard of Hepatitis?

Wait, wait, are you implying that a LO would get Hep A from eating off a restaurant table? Usually that happens when you get contaminated food, so it hardly matters what you eat it off of.

Hep A is spread by fecal-oral route, meaning the carrier with dirty hands touches the food, contaminating it, (technically) as well as the rag that touches the table, that your LO touches, while eating, contaminating his food too...

Koala77 · February 2010

Um no, that's pretty gross. When she was too little to use a plate I used the roll up kiddopotamus place mats that have suction cups that stick to the table, now I bring a bowl or use a plate from the restaurant.

jennessey · February 2010

No, we do not let DS eat off of the table because he has food allergies. We try to avoid any cross-contamination. We use the little sticky disposable placemats.

mabst196 · February 2010

We start with a plate. She usually finishes off the table. Not my ideal, but not going to lose sleep over it either.

Echowysp · February 2010

We usually use the paper mat they give kids. He has eaten off of the table before though.

I find it funny that the people who are worried about the chemicals in the wash rag wipe their kid's table area with a clorox wipe that is filled with... chemicals.

sweetfrogy · February 2010

Echowysp:
We usually use the paper mat they give kids. He has eaten off of the table before though.
I find it funny that the people who are worried about the chemicals in the wash rag wipe their kid's table area with a clorox wipe that is filled with... chemicals.

LOL!!! I completely agree. I'm not NEARLY as uptight about these thing with DD as I was with DS, and she's actually been sick even less than DS. Go figure.

albl508 · February 2010

I have not yet but I know I will

Mjmksb04 · February 2010

punkfiction_v.3:

those sticky mats work for about 5 seconds for dd2.

and yes i do. bc im not a germaphobe.

Change that to DS1 and ditto. I usually attempt to use the placemat and after about 10 seconds he tries to rip it off, along with all of the food so then I give up and he eats off the table, and he isn't advanced enough yet to use a plate without throwing it on the ground. He hasn't grown a second head yet or anything.

pkate98 · February 2010

vanillacourage:
We have those sticky placemats that adhere temporarily to the table. Having worked as a waitress before, those aren't the kind of germs I want my kid exposed to. Plus it quickly corrals the mess when we're done.

This. But before I got those, I would just wipe down the table.

MegGary · February 2010

vanillacourage:
We have those sticky placemats that adhere temporarily to the table. Having worked as a waitress before, those aren't the kind of germs I want my kid exposed to. Plus it quickly corrals the mess when we're done.

This. They use those wet rags to wipe the tables down all day. I can't even imagine what kind of funk is growing on those things.

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