Neatnik Saucer Review

My daughter's favorite place to eat is Golden Corral. We sometimes eat breakfast there on Saturday. We love the variety of food to please my picky eaters since their likes change almost daily.  The one thing I hate about Golden Corral (and actually a few others are pretty bad too) is that their high chairs are nasty. Usually we bring a shopping cart cover and a cover for the table. I was so excited to see the Neatnik saucer. It seemed like the perfect solution, but I couldn't justify spending $32 on something when we already have a system that works. I was so excited when one showed up on my doorstep that I won in a giveaway.

I had no idea how big it really is until I opened mine. Its huge! This is a pro/con. It covers a lot, but takes tons of table space from others. I love how compact it folds and that its all-in one.  I don't have to take two separate things.  I have the Miami design which I love.  It's a nice grey and neutral color with circle patterns.  It has velcro on each side to put toys on it so they aren't thrown on the floor.  We didn't use them, but my son liked playing with them.  It did keep him busy while waiting for food.

I really wanted to love this, but there are cons...

We've tried it several times at different places and all restaurant tables are taller than high chairs which causes the Neatnik to angle toward the baby. There are suction cups to keep it on the table, but they don't stick to all table surfaces. If it doesn't stick, then food falls to the baby's lap.  We went to Longhorn for my Mother-in-law's birthday and the suctions would stick at all to the table.  Every time my son would lean back in his chair the neatnik would come up from the table and angle everything down at him.  We took it off.  Thankfully, their high chairs were very clean.  He used a plate which he, thankfully, didn't throw on the floor.

Here is a picture from our first try.

See the angle? It's pretty bad at the several places we tried.

This is what happens when my 19 most old gets mad.

Or curious..

The food goes straight in his lap when he does this.  Cleaning the seat area...well the whole thing...isn't easy. I can't throw it in the wash. Its not easy to wash in the sink. It's possible, but is so big it's a pain. The material is easy to wipe down with a wipe, but that's not a good wash.

I think some of the angle issue wouldn't be so bad if the leg holes were lower. My son's legs were actually pulling the whole thing lower.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but with it suctioned to the table the leg holes are about an inch from the bottom of the chair.  As he sat his legs pulled the saucer down even more.  I still want to love this thing.  If there were some changes, maybe it could work.  Ie small table surface area, longer seat area (so the seat could come up high and not have as much an angle?), and lower leg holes. 

If I bought it, I'd probably return it. We will stick to our previous set up.

Our infantino shopping cart cover that can double as a high chair cover.

Our Summer Infant Tiny Diner Placemat that we got from ToysRus/BabiesRus).  We get TONS of compliments on it and parents wanting their own.  It doesn't take up the whole table. 

Thankfully, he doesn't seem to mind the pink. ;) We should have picked the green for my daughter rather than the pink and we are too cheap to buy another one just for the color when the one we have works perfectly fine.

We don't use the shopping cart/high chair cover unless we really need too.  Most of our favorite places to eat actually have clean high chairs. :P


Is it bad that I still want to keep trying the Neatnik?  I was really hopeful about this product. 

I was not compsensated for this review in anyway.  All opinions are my own.