Do You Let Your Children Eat Off the Floor?

July 15, 2009

Every mother knows about the ten-second rule, but what about shaking your child's Cheerios on to the floor? Some parents forgo the plate or bowl because lil butter fingers have a tendency to drop the cereal on the carpet so they serve their kiddo's snacks straight on ground. Other moms and dads shun that practice, but don't flinch when a cracker or piece of fruit drops and their tot picks it up to munch on. What's your opinion?

19 Comments

3 years 7 weeks

well...my daughter turning 1 year on 13th april likes to pick up the things from the floor....so what i do is that i would put a mat for her and then give her the dry food like crackers,cheerios or sometimes bits of fruits .and she throw it on the mat and eat herself.this way she eat something otherwise she doesnt like anything except milk.

3 years 11 weeks

I have not watched the video so I wont comment on that, but I have a friend who has 1 year old boy and lets him eat anything and everything off the floor. The thing is, shoes ARE allowed in the house, there ARE dogs (live outside but do come inside sometimes) and there is hair and dirt all over the floor. I feel disgusted seeing this, almost to the point where I want to tell her "defreeze the chicken, wipe your floors with it and then cook it, would you eat it?" i dont think so, and neither would the restaurants allow it. and on top of that, we had lunch in a cafe where the toddler threw his food on the floor and she picked it up for him and gave it to him and allowed him to eat it. it was heartbreaking to watch. If i ever have kids, they are not eating off the floor, OR at least I'll minimise it. where is the hygiene and manners?

dleighl 3 years 44 weeks

I'm a germ freak, so this very conversation is making me queasy. Needless to say we don't eat anything off the floor at my house no matter how long it's been there. Luckily we have a dog who would scarf anything up before anyone even thought about still eating it.

3 years 44 weeks

I would never ever encourage my child to eat off the floor but if she were to drop a dry food and pick it up and eat it, I wouldn't care (as long as I know the floor is clean). She has never gotten sick.

Lily Inferno 3 years 44 weeks

I'm not a fan of letting my children eat off the floor, not bc of germs or anything but more bc I dont it to become a habit they think its ok to do. Once in a while, it might be ok, but not an all the time every day kinda thing. But hey, to each their own right?

Nadia24gv 3 years 44 weeks

Also, I don't allow shoes in the house for this very reason. Shoes should never come in the house anyway, think of all the piss and spit and vomit you walk in in parking lots everyday.

Nadia24gv 3 years 44 weeks

My floors are cleaner than most people's laundry so it's fine at my house. I didn't watch the video though so I don't know what happened in it. But if a one year old spills Cheerios on the kitchen floor and wants to pick them up like a dog, who gives a hoot? It's my house and my kid. We aren't trying to impress anyone. I would never allow it in public though. Barf,public anything makes me shudder!

MissSushi 3 years 44 weeks

Ugh, i hadnt watched the video before i commented.. and it makes me angry! I hate when people laugh and encourage things like this in small children. I knew a girl who encouraged her son with video taping, laughter, and praise (just like this one) to escape any seat he was put in. So the end result is she taught her son that saftey restraints arent important.

MissSushi 3 years 44 weeks

I cant imagine PUTTING food on the floor, but im with most people that if its a snack and dry and it hits the OUR floor, its generally okay. I don't want her to ever think its okay to eat off the floor, but a few dropped snacks isnt going to drive her into a life of carpet snacking. I think anyone who purposely puts food on the floor is a bit off kilter though.

HTCmom 3 years 44 weeks

So long as it's our floor, not an issue. They know to eat food off their plates, but really there are worse surfaces that they will eat things off of, floor not so bad.

meandtheo 3 years 44 weeks

i have never actually served my daughter food on the floor...but i let her eat food that drops there. i too actually eat food that drops on the floor if it hasn't been there that long, no biggie!

bluecat1972 3 years 44 weeks

Kids drop things all the time, I will let my daughter eat something she's dropped at home but never out in public.

3 years 44 weeks

lilsugar, you do know that there is no such thing as the ten-second, or even five-second rule, right??

Chrstne 3 years 44 weeks

I am not a parent, but this idea is just odd to me. I would never want my kid to get into the habit of eating off the floor. I mean, seriously, even putting a plate on the floor is better than putting food straight down onto the floor itself. I understand it may be convenient, but I would rather not have to deal with tantrums about why I won't let my kid eat off the floor. No way will I deal with a ridiculous crying session because of something I did to myself, haha.

Akpril 3 years 44 weeks

I'm with babysugar on this one- I don't want my kids thinking it's normal to eat their food off the floor. Did anyone else see that Supernanny episode where the kids has to rub all her food on the floor before she eats it? It made my stomach turn.

mstrauss 3 years 44 weeks

It's not like I feed my kid every meal off the floor, but when it comes to snacks, I am totally cool with dry food off the floor. Anything wet picks up insane amounts of bacteria so if I can, I avoid that, but germs are actually good for kids. Relax people!

3 years 44 weeks

My baby crawls on the floor all day and sucks her thumb, eats crumbs off the floor(her fav thing to do).....I was extremely frustrated and panicky at first...have spoken to her doc several times about this. He assured me that healthy babies would have developed immunity to all germs in the house.

babysugar 3 years 44 weeks

I don't really care about the floor so much but I just don't want my kids to get into the routine of eating off a floor. They need to know that eating at the table is polite and expected.

Angelica 3 years 44 weeks

I have to preface this comment by saying I am not a mother so I don't know what it's like to try and manage a child's eating...I recently witnessed my friend let her young twins eat off another friend's very clean floor and was pretty mortified. Granted the floor looked pristine, but people walk on it with shoes all day and who knows what they track in! I was overwhelmed by the idea - as was the whose house we were at - but the twins' mom noted the kids were going to drop the food on the floor anyway...Not the biggest deal, but it's a shocker the first time you see it!

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