Eating Out - Perfect Placemat for Kids
Sunday, August 21, 2011 at 11:12PM
These table toppers from neat solutions are disposable, stick-in place placemats.
My husband, Reese and I were out to lunch today with a good friend who has a little girl a little older than Reese. As I wiped down the tabletop with a sanitizing wipe, our friend pulled this disposable placemat out and offered it to us. It sticks to the table on all four sides.
When I take Reese out to Restaurants I cringe if she touches the table before I can wipe it down. For all I know, it was probably wiped with a germ-infested sponge or worse, cleaned with a harsh disinfectant (yuck!). And since Reese has started finger foods, she has absolutely no problem eating a piece of whatever that has slipped from her hand onto the table.
Lately I have her eat directly out of her LunchBots. This works until she wants to flip her LunchBots over or decides she’d rather eat directly off the table.
neat solutions also makes potty toppers (genious) and floor toppers. I won’t be needing a floor topper because Nathalee made Reese her very own Splat Mat (score!) but when the time comes for Reese to use public restrooms you can bet I will use potty toppers.
Now I am going to buy some table toppers to keep in Reese’s diaper bags for when we’re out. What do you think about all these products?
Reader Comments (9)
The best invention ever!!! My friend told me about these a couple months ago.
Jennifer gave us a Tiny Diner placemat and it's great! It's silicon and sticks to the table with suction cups. I like that it's reusable and keeps things tidy, but it does have a few drawbacks. It's bulky, so you can't just keep it in your purse and when Nic wants to, he can pull it off the table.
I'll probably end up using them when the time comes, I just wish they came without characters. Why does all the baby/kid stuff have to be plastered with Disney or Sesame Street or Winnie the Pooh? I would just like some nice-looking products without all the commercialism.
They're disposable...more waste. We are such a convenience-oriented, throw-away society. I would rather my baby be exposed to a few germs and a little dirt than to pay for another disposable product. She crawls all over the floors anyway!
We have the Tiny Diner placemat too. I like it for all sorts of things. The catch-tray is really the best feature - prevents accidentall spills. (Does nothing for deliberate tests of gravity, but hey, what can you do?)
We don't have a high chair, but we do have a Learning Tower. We set Little Dude up with the Tiny Diner mat and he snacks from the tower while I cook.
I'm also sort of against buying disposable stuff for the kid, and not averse to carrying a big bag. I cloth-diaper though, so I'm already resigned to carrying a bigger bag.
Yeah, I don't like that its yet another disposable item and that it is so commercialized with the characters. I'd rather wipe the table down myself.
These are cute, I do wish they were not disposable but I do know the feeling when Sofia touches dirty tables in restaurants, I have seen what they use to wipe them off and gosh I can sometimes smell the towel while they clean the table; not to mention I have sometimes smelled the table afterwards and yuck!. Right now I have a placemat made of plastic, kind of like these but thicker, and I use tape to stick it to the table on the edges of the placemat, and then I just toss the tape and clean the placemat for another use.
Placemat will add to a healthy appetite! It is indeed a great work for kids.
I naturally feel the need to comment being a restauranteur mommy. I have my 8 month old DS in our restaurant probably about 20 hours a week and I have to say he pounds on everything and puts everything in his mouth. He has yet to be sick. We take cold restaurant spoons and place them in the freezer and let him gnaw on them. He plays with the POS touch screen. He slams on the table tops, server station counter, and all over our office. He, of course, is supervised at all times; however, desanitizing him is next to impossible so I don't even try to anymore.
As for the disposable place mats, as a restaurant person, I love them. I can clean and turn a table faster, especially after a baby is seated and can't help but make a mess. No need to leave an extra tip for clean up with these mats.