[roses1001]

We just moved into a new apartment, and the dining area is carpeted. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? We have a toddler and a baby right now, and I'm really afraid to give the baby any food because I'm afraid it will get all over the carpet. Plus, I hate having to vacuum every day. It's such a hassle to get the vacuum out every single day, especially since my toddler is afraid of the vacuum.

Baby's crying, so I have to go. Does anyone have any ideas on how to protect the floor?

 

[USAmma]

Until we tore up the carpet and put down tiles in January, we had carpet everywhere but the kitchen and one bathroom. The other bathroom had carpet in it.

It was a royal pain. What helped was to buy a cheap area rug and cover the carpet. Then I put a sheet down under her high chair to further protect. The sheet got shaken out and washed as needed. The area carpet was shampooed often. It eventually got stained pretty badly but it really saved the carpet underneath. I think I got it at Home Depot for about $30.

 

[findingMYway]

depending on the size you could see if you could find one of those hard plastic mats with the points under to stay in place on the carpet. we have used an area rug under our table. maybe you could even buy a piece of vinyl flooring cut to fit the area and place it on top of the carpet. not glued down of course.

 

[rjeast]

I second the area rug. We have carpet in our dining room here too and we bought a rug to go over it. It has done a good job at keeping stains away so far.

 

[holliebug]

You can also buy splash mats that you put underneath the high chair. They are made especially for this reason. I think I saw them at BRU?

Good luck!

 

[jaymzjay]

We had the same problem when we moved to our apartment. Maybe because we moved from a house with hardwood floors, we wanted a more solid surface. We bought a new 5' x 8' bamboo rug for about $50.00 and it worked well. We glued felt to the bottom of the chair legs (to protect the surface) and swept away the mess easily. About once a week, we used a swiffer mop on the bamboo. Just go to somewhere like bed, bath & beyond or even wal-mart to buy a bamboo rug.

 

[chel]

I so understand. Luckily dd didn't really "eat" till after 1yr so she wasn't that messy. As Dh worked very long hours I often ate on the floor in the kitchen with dd. We did have a bar height counter but the floor was much easier. Our new apartment also has carpet in the main eating area and I make us squeeze around a small kitchen table.
If you must eat with carpet, I've seen woven plastic rugs (ideally meant for an outdoor patio) that can look really nice.
My bestfriend with a house with carpet in the dinning room has her 3 dc eat at a plastic picnic table in the kitchen.

 

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Our old house had carpet in the dining area. I made a painted canvas floor cloth to look like an area rug under it. I wiped clean.

 

[craftymom]

We were in an apartment while we remodeled/rewired our house, and had carpet in the dining area. With 5 and 2 yos.

I put down an old sheet (folded) and on top of it put an area rug we had had for years.

We actually tossed the area rug when we moved out--it got stretched funny from being under the table and on the rug. And it got dirty! We did NOT get dinged on our deposit, FWIW.

If you can find a decent-looking indoor/outdoor area rug, it might be another option--it might be easier to clean!