cleaning up self-feeding mess

[candaceb]

DS is nine months old. As he has gotten more interested in table foods and self-feeding, things have gotten messier. Last night I gave him hummus on crackers and he looked like hummus was the latest rage in spa treatments... I cannot figure out the best way to get him cleaned up. If I wipe his face and hands before I take off the bib and remove the tray, he inevitably gets messy again. If I take them off first, then he gets stuff all over his clothes before I can get him wiped up. Any suggestions from more experienced moms for the "best" way to clean up after meals?

[pepa]

Oh I know what you mean, DD gets everything everywhere, but her mouth
What I did I got a couple of these at ikea http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70179754
Easy to take off and clean and a couple of wet cloth so I can clean both face and hands, give one to her to hold and use the other one to wipe off the tray

[DrSally]

I got as much off the tray as I can (wo/cleaning it perfectly), and then "hands up", the kids put their hands in the air while I took each one and wiped it (and then the mouth). They got into the routine.

[MomToOne]

I had her eat naked-with-a-diaper right before bath time at that age.

[wellyes]

I feed him in clothes and a bib, but strip him as I take him out of the chair. Gets new outfit and a wipedown after every feeding.

[Katigre]

Strip them naked/almost naked (shirt off at the very least). That is what made mealtimes better for us :). The other optioni is a long-sleeved bib.

[BabyBearsMom]

I have bibs that basically look like a dish towel with a collar on them (so they go over her head like a shirt). After she is done eating, I pull the bib over her head and wipe her face while I do it, then with my other hand, I grab her hands and wipe those with the bib once it comes off over her head. Then I put the bib so that it covers her tray and remove the tray. It isn't perfect, but it works well enough.