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i crouch on the floor and try to pick up the food with a napkin and put the food on a plate. they're going to toss whatever is on it anyway. if i didn't clean up, i'd leave a bigger tip. we usually try to go to child friendly restaurants, so they don't really mind the mess.

I don't touch the food on the floor. I clean up the table as much as I can. But we just leave a little bugger tip.

@Corduroy: We pick up the floor food, if possible, and put it on our plates before they're cleared. We also tip big.

Leave a good tip, ha. The waitress will have to sweep under the table before another can sit. I wouldn't touch floor food, either, but I wouldn't just leave a giant mess on the table, either.

There's average-child mess and then there's tornado-child mess.

oh my gosh we are doing blw and this is such a big issue lately. We pick up the big stuff (I use a napkin and then ball it up on the table) and wipe down the table the best we can. Today LL got smooshed hard boiled egg in the carpet...no way to clean it up. I always leave an extra big tip though now that he makes such a mess. Is it crazy that I am considering keeping a tiny broom and dustpan in the trunk so I can throw it in the diaper bag when we go out? haha

@Smurfette: A little bugger tip? My favourite typo in a long time

We do the same as @SleepyMonkey: I always crouch down to clean the floor, I do it at home so it doesn't bother me to do it in a restaurant too. I did the same at my friend's house today. I don't leave a huge tip, although I do leave more than I used to pre-kids IF they're nice to my LO. If they glare at her and act like she's a nuisance than I don't tip much at all.

@travelgirl1: Gah! Do servers really do that? I think I would definitely not leave a big tip if they were rude to LO.

@Mrs. Lion: Yeah, I was out for a meal with friends a month or so ago and the server was so unhelpful and acted like our strollers (we each had one and there were three of us but the restaurant was seriously empty) was such a pain and he watched us struggle with the door and step without helping and didn't interact with the babies at all - that annoyed me enough to only give a very basic tip. To be fair no one has been rude to her but he did act like she was an inconvenience and it just gets my goat, you know?

We clean up the table as best we can and leave a bigger tip.

We pick up the larger pieces of food and leave a generous tip

I clean up the table (and wipe it down if super messy with a baby wipe) and also take a napkin and get the big chunks on the floor at least into a pile. I clean as we go, too (for the table stuff).

I also put a dishtowel (from home) over LO's lap in the high chair; that catches a lot of crumbles from reaching the floor. I just dump that into my plate at the end of the meal.

We tip extra generously when eating out with LO.

I was a sever for 3 years and HATED tables with kids....@travelgirl1: honestly, I was probably totally that server that acted like your LO was an inconvenience.
I know everyone says they clean up, but the reality of it as a server are most kids are messy and extra work.
Get me some water, I wanna order his food first, blah blah....then there's a huge mess on the table and underneath it.
I would have to track down something to sweep under the table (which wasn't normally done between patrons).

That said, I get down on my hands and knees under the table and clean everything! I also tip well. I tip extra if the server is nice to LO.

We eat out around 3 times a week, I bring a water sippy and a bowl of crackers for him to keep him busy so we can order all of our food at once.

We also use those plastic sticky placemats or the silicone ones that attach to the tables with suckers- those have a nice lip on them so along with a bib with a food catcher pocket, less goes on the floor.

At the end I pick up as much as feasible and tip well if we were treated well (almost always). I have been caught by several waitresses picking up and most tell me not to worry about it, but I feel bad leaving a mess, so I do it anyway.

i prevent the messes as much as I can, and I pick up big chunks as they are dropped. little crumbs and stuff, I don't bother with. I always wipe off the high chair tray though. we don't tip here, so it doesn't change my tip I do apologise to the person clearing the table as we leave.

ETA: i get told by the server every time not to worry about the stuff on the floor, but I feel bad just leaving big chunks of food everywhere, so I'll still pick it up.

@mae-I once had a table give their LO cottage cheese to 'draw' in. Intentional mess for sure.

@wheres_c: I do tip extra if they're nice to LO . Right now I bring all her food etc with me so I don't think she's that much of an inconvenience to them, honestly. Especially in places they don't have highchairs as then she eats in her stroller so I have that to clean up too. I think my Britishness probably affects my tipping attitude too. That said, I've also been a server, so I get it.

we try to clean as much as possible. we pick up the food from the table and the floor--the floor can be kind of hard when it's carpet (stuff is harder to pick up) and i feel a little silly crouching beneath the table, but we don't go out a ton so it hasn't become too much of a burden. LO is only 10 months old, though, so i imagine it'll just get messier, in which case my strategy may change.

I clean up as much as possible. I just think it's rude to leave a giant mess.