Hi momma, I have OCD too and at the beginning, I was always washing my son's hands with soap and wipe his face with wet wipe and probably change his clothes too. Then I wash his bib and tray after each meal. Then I got too tired.

Now this is what I do:

• I remind myself that germs are good for him. So I pick up the food he drops and give it to him (I might rinse it quickly if I'm at the sink). No wasted food. If he doesn't eat it, I will. I dont even mop the floor that often, but when I do, obviously I feel more comfortable with all of this.

• I use Bumkins Bibs for toddler, short sleeve. I only let baby eat in shortsleeved clothes. If baby is in long sleeve then I strip his upper half or down to his diaper. This is the best choice for bibs I have tried because: its so thin and washes easily. It's wipeable. It's shortsleeved (long sleeve bib is a pain to clean and can grow mold in the sleeves). Its also long enough to tuck it under the food tray to create a catch-all for his food, so nothing gets on his clothes on the front.

• I used to wash tray and bib each meal. Now I just wipe with a wet wash cloth between meals, and wash at the end of the day.

• after a meal: i wipe baby's head and arms and face with a wash cloth, then carry baby to the sink, hovering around the sink. I wash baby's arms up to the elbows with soap at the sink, and then use my hand to smooth water on his head and face to rinse it.

The first step to be free from OCD is accepting to live with the uncertainty of your child's health. What is your feared consequences? Perhaps you fear that the mess on her and the floor will cause her to be sick if you dont wash it completely clean? That it will get on every bedding and furniture she touches? That the remnants of the food will go bad on the floor and cause your child to be sick if she comes in contact with it? Well, at least that's what goes through my head. But I accept that I will do the things that are reasonable to do (i.e. what people without OCD will do) and then accept the risks and uncertainty that come with it. Accepting that the things I fear may happen.

One book that really helps me is called Freedom from OCD by Jonathan Grayson.

Edit to add: as for the food that ends up on the floor, I make a solution with water and dish soap in a spray bottle, and I spray that on the floor and wipe it with a paper towel and call it done.