How do you keep them from ruining your furniture?

Do you let your kids eat on the couch? Over the past 2 years my living room has become so worn and dirty looking. I'm ready to throw my couch and love seat in the trash. They used to be white but now there are stains everywhere, and the area rug is torn up. My coffee table and end table are nicked all over the place.

Since my living room and kitchen table are in the same area I've never tried to keep them away from the couch area with food or milk. Would it help? Is it possible?

 

I hear you, Aimee!!

IF I let my kids eat in the living room or family room, we usually do a picnic. I spread a blanket on the floor and give them a plate, their drink, etc. They don't tend to eat on the couches, except maybe cereal or popcorn (when we do movie theater) which is easily vacuumed up. Or get them some beanbag chairs that are just for them to sit on to protect your couch from those little hands and feet.

 

Our living room and dining room are really just one big room. So, no need to eat on the couch. All food stays at the table. Honestly, they've never even tried to eat on the couch. But, they do eat on the floor, picnic-style sometimes.

 

Ooh good idea about the bean bag chairs. I've got to do something.

 

We have a rule that everyone eats in the kitchen. Honestly, you think it's bad at this age, imagine when they are teenagers eating all over the house, leaving mugs, plates, half-eaten food on coffee tables, etc. Not good, not good at all. Having them eat in the kitchen is the only thing that saves my sanity! :lol:

 

We have a little princess table in our living room that the girls eat on. Until we got that we did let them eat at the coffee table and sometimes they sat on the couch. I put a couch cover on my couch to protect it because I knew that something would get spilled, that helped a lot, but we really don't have super nice furniture and decided when we moved in our new house to wait until they were older to purchase nicer things. I try to keep it as clean as possible, but I really don't care a whole lot about that kind of stuff because our furniture is so old and I know one day I will be replacing it.

 

Our living room and dining rooms are connected and they are not allowed to eat (or drink) in the living room. I made the mistake early on to let them and I had to deal with spilled sippies of milk. They use the straw type cups and they will take the straw and pull in it hard with their teeth and milk would splatter on the walls, floor ect. Another mistake I made was when they had EI together, I would just bring out a bowl of something for a snack and it would fall on the floor or get thrown all over the place.

On a daily basis after a meal, they will take their sippies and run in the living room. I have to remind them we drink only in the dining room or kitchen and I either take their cups away or move them into the kitchen.

I do give them snacks in the family room but it's mostly things that don't ruin the furniture (goldfish, crackers ect.) And again I learned my lesson by giving them milk down there which I no longer do. They can have a sippy of water and that's it. They only get milk during meals at the table.

 

My girls eat their snacks and drinks in the living room. Even though I try to keep the mess to a minimum the couch is stained even though they don't eat on it all the time and the coffee table is nicked. The furniture was not new to begin with so I figure I'll just replace it when the kids are older and less messy. For now I wash the covers on the couch, although I don't know if they'll stand up to too many more washes, the zippers are starting to fall apart.

I think extra wear and tear on the furniture is to be expected when you have kids.

 

The only thing I let them eat on the couch is their after-school snacks -- usually dried fruit. We find smashed dried cranberries buried in the couch cushions, but at least they don't stain. They also drink milk from sippies on the couch at bedtime, but that's it. All other food & drink (except water) has to stay at the dining room table.

Our couch is still ruined from various things like a stray magic marker, melted chocolate (my fault) and wine (DH's fault). But it wasn't in such great shape before we had kids. :laughing: We are semi-shopping for a new one, but not in a huge hurry, since I don't think it would be entirely safe from the kids yet (if it ever would be).

Our bigger problem was how to keep them from dinging the wood furniture by running into it with their walking toys, but fortunately that stage is over now. Now we just worry that the frequent milk/juice spills will eventually ruin the finish on our dining room table. There's always something. I remember my mom nagging me about the furniture well into my teenage years.

 

When they were smaller (under 2 years) we used to have a small mickey mouse table in the living room, the girls would eat at their table and we would eat at the couch....

When they started getting up and coming over to us and wanting to eat with us, I put an end to that. Everyone started eating at the dining room table. We haven't really had an issue since except for when DH decides he wants something OTHER than what everyone else is eating for dinner, but that's a whole different post! LOL

We do have one leather couch, which is the main couch. It's a mocha color though and hides stuff well. For the most part it's all wipable though. Our other couch is a brown and black plaid pattern and hides stains REALLY well! But, we just ordered a new couch so these ones will be put to the curb shortly. They are almost 10 years old though so definetly got some wear. The new couch, we had the option of an ivory color or chocolate. We had to pay $100 extra for the chocolate, which I thought would be well worth it for the exact reason you stated. I can't imagine a white couch staying white for long with kids! LOL

Oh, we also have a picnic table in their playroom that we sometimes let them eat at. Other than that, the only things eaten in the living room at all are graham crackers or popcorn on movie nights...

 

Two words: LEATHER FURNITURE.

Saves the day. Wood floors and leather. That's the answer.

We have a toy box that is always closed that is in the kitchen/dining room/living room (it is all open) and I put their plates on that and they stand and eat. They bring food all over the place etc but don't eat on the couch (that would require SITTING DOWN.)

Anyway, if we had anything fabric, it would be long gone by now. Good job on keeping it for this long!

GL!

 

What about getting fitted slip covers that you can throw in the wash? Then when the girls get older you can replace all your furniture. I only let the girls eat in the den occassionally (shhh don't tell DH ). And I usually do the picnic thing or have them sit at their little diner table. They've eaten the occassional cookie or goldfish cracker on the couch, but I only let them eat things in the den that won't stain. Oh and they only have open cups at the dining room table. If they want a drink in the den, they get a sippy cup.

 

Yeah, leather and wood floors definitely help! (Until you get a dog and they scratch the leather and leave their drool and paw prints all over the wood floor, but I digress...)

I have come to the conclusion that we will have to buy new furniture. I am waiting until they are in kinder or first, when we aren't as home as much. But the next go around we will definitely get kid friendly furniture. I will get a coffee table that 1) is already distressed, or 2) made of a hard wood so that the first toy set on it doesn't dent it!

Food rules help. We have a small wood table in our family room. If they want to eat, they have to eat on the table or in the kitchen. And water is the only drink allowed outside the kitchen. We used to allow milk in sippies, but have kind of moved past that stage.

 

My kids are only allowed to eat and drink at the table. We recently remodeled and got new furniture, so while I used to let them have a sport bottle of water in the living room, now that we have new furniture they have to have their water only in the kitchen/at the table as well.

I was raised in a house where eating only occurred at the table, so for us it was easy to implement.

 

We have them eat and drink in the kitchen. When spills/messes do happen, I clean them up and then use a steam cleaner we bought for just this purpose (that, and we have pets, so it helps with that too) once the stains on the carpet get bad enough. I should probably do it right away, but I don't always have the time :crazy:

They went through a phase with stickers and my mom-in-law gave them a book of stickers and they got put everywhere. We have a couple stuck to Alex's bed now and I'm not sure how to get them off (goo gone, I guess). So, the point: I'm not sure how to keep them from messing up furniture. We try to remind them to be gentle, but they're kids so even though they try to remember, they do forget from time and time and I don't monitor them every moment, so things happen. Oh well. I'll plan on getting new furniture or refinish what we have when they get older I wish I had advice for you, though!