When to ditch the highchair?

[ilovehotsauce]

Dd will be 1 this week she has started refusing to sit in the highchair screams wildly and refuses to eat.

After this morning my sofa is covered in yoghurt, shall I just go to ikea and get a mini table and chairs? She is already walking very well and able to climb on and off stuff.

[FayeFruitLoop]

I ditched it soon after 1 and bought a munchkin booster seat thing, works brilliantly and I take it to restaurants and relatives etc. He's 2 now and will still be using for a while I think, whenever the kid is ready sounds like yours is ready. Mine loves eating with everyone at the table

[BforBee]

We still had ours up til the weekend when it broke from the combined weight of an almost 4yo and an almost 2yo trying to climb into it

It's been used for a while without the tray and harness as a higher seat at the dining table so not officially a highchair.

Unless you're really short of space it might be worth keeping hold of it in case you need it.

[ilovehotsauce]

We are currently dont have a dining table we have a small open plan lounge/diner and it had to go to make way for toys. We should be moving into the new house in the next month or so.

Would a mini table and chairs not be the way to go?

[roofio87]

It depends what meal times are like in your house. We have a booster sear for our 1yo because I like that he sits at the table with us and eats with the rest of the family etc.

[MrsLettuce]

Something along the lines of a Stokke Tripp Trapp is ideal, there are plenty of variations on the theme about. My DC are 5 and 7 and still use theirs, as does my 12 year old niece.

[MrsLettuce]

yy - we eat as a family too.

[GotToBeInItToWinIt]

We've got a chair that clips to the table for our nearly 1 yo DD. She generally eats with me at the table (although I just have a snack with her at her dinner time as DH and I eat much later). I think she likes sitting up with us, she feels part of the action. I think a mini table and chairs would risk segregating her from the rest of the family a bit, although if she eats on her own anyway maybe that wouldn't matter.

[Doodledot]

I am with mrs lettuce. We all eat together at the table so our old hand me down baby dan is going strong sti years later. Mine have ikea chairs that are high too - dan is used almost daily by friends over

[ilovehotsauce]

Thanks for the responses we rarely eat all together maybe 2days a weekat best lunchtime I have a snack and she will eat while I tidy up the devastation from the morning dinner time I sometimes eat with her if dh is on a late.

When we move and the dining table comes out of storage I will look at a booster seat.

Surely the mini table and chairs has other uses?

[Doodledot]

We do have a mini table and chairs so yes I would recommend for general use. Most people I know have them - for drawing, craft, playdoh etc - mine eat on it occasionally as a treat e.g weekend breakfast - but it's not in the kitchen so not supervised etc

[socially]

We have a mini table and chairs but its more for crayoning and playing.

If DS (2) isn't contained then he'd eat on the run, and frankly I'm a bit of an obsessive cleaner so I just wouldn't be able to put up with that. Too much mess.

We have an Ikea Antilop. He'll be in it until he won't be contained any more, then I'll probably use a booster seat at the table.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

link
My 15 month old has one of these, you can use it on the floor or on a chair. The high chair we had was given as a present and even thou it folded I hated the amount I space it took up.
This works really well for us

[WhyOWhyWouldYou]

Mini table and chairs are great. DS (2.5yrs) loves his. He uses it for play doh, crafts, puzzles, sitting behind it looking like a boss at his desk (so cute). He also eats his breakfast and lunch at it and dinner if he's eating without me and DH.

[Clarabumps]

I had a mini table and chairs for my dc as I didn't have space for a dining table and DP and I ate later when he got in from work.
I got one from Ikea and make a oilcloth cover for it that went with the lounge.

[Tigresswoods]

Sold ours on his 2nd birthday. It was a really "baby" one though. Had I known I'd have got one that could have lasted longer. I think we still used high hairs while out for a bit longer.

[magicpixie]

I've been looking for an acrylic booster seat
anyone seen one, or a clear one, one that doesn't stand out and ruin my look lol

[fixyourgardengate]

We bought one of the Lack side tables and a couple of the kids chairs. We actually eat most meals as a family with ds (nearly 3) using one of the ikea junior chairs and dd (15 months) in her highchair.

But the mini table/chairs got used for lunches in the garden in the summer and jigsaws/colouring etc.

[TwoLittleTerrors]

If you are going to ikea, get one of their junior chairs

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18733/

I used the antilop until DD1 declared she was too old to sit in a high chair. We eat as a family though so wouldn't consider the mini table/chair. I think that would be ok if you rarely eat as a family isn't it? You can use it for craft as you say.

[BeCool]

I had mini table for DD1, but prefer the toddler tall chair from IKEA we use for DD2, so she sits up at the table with DD1 and adults. Think she used it from about 18m.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10099897/

[Lizardc]

Second vote for a Tripp Trapp chair! We just got them for our 4 and 2 year olds and they are fab. Buy 2nd hand though - eBay etc - as they are silly expensive new.

[KnittedJimmyBoos]

yes get mini table and chairs they are fab anyway for craft and all sorts

[Doodledot]

Another vote for ikea junior chairs for dining table

[Artandco]

Stokke last until adults if needed

Or a booster chair

I don't think they need being strapped in for long, it's more they can't reach. My 4 year old uses the stokke at home and has to kneel still in restaurants

[IdaClair]

My 2 year old has a clip on seat at the table. Containment is essential or no attention would be paid at all to food.

[Limbinthesup]

We haven't had one at home since DD was about 1yr 5mo but she has ALWAYS wanted to sit in them in restaurants - even today (she is 3yrs 2 mo now and rather big for her age) and insists on being clipped in. I'm still going along with it as I know she can sit properly, but she won't fit soon as I am struggling to get her in and out as it is! When she gets stuck I figure her love affair with them will be over