What do you do after child has outgrown high chairs?

[ivfbabymomma1]

First of all I'm sorry I'm posting here for traffic. I do usually post in the correct categories but I never get much response.

My child has outgrown high chairs. He's 2.5 but in 3/4 clothes so he's quite tall & big for his age.

We have a booster seat now at home for meal times but this has been a recent transition so I haven't been to a restaurant since, so what do you do in restaurants? Take a booster with you? Sit them on normal chairs and pray they don't run around?

This transition came because he was strapped in to his Tripp trapp and he was wriggling and the whole thing tipped sideways and fell 😢 he's very strong for his age. I guess he could potentially tip an proper chair too but he seems more content in it so he doesn't wriggle around as much.

Thank you in advance!!! I feel like I ask mumsnet every tiny child related question and I couldn't have coped with out your help!!

Actually just remembered we used similar to what @LunaLoveFood has posted when abroad, they were fine but obviously don't lift the kid up much to be able to eat independently ime.

They just sat down on the chair, or kneeled.

Ah, found the type we had. Can't remember the brand, youngest is 15 now but it was the same style as this:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004GCJN6K?geniuslink=true&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We've got a just 3yr old and we have one of these seats that we use at home and take with us when we go out so it's familiar to her. She loves being high enough to sit at the table properly and the straps are sold enougb to hold her in securely preventing any chance of her getting down and running around.

Munchkin Travel Booster Seat www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003WUKZSC/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_MTBTCKGTQ6G9NK5QVGN3?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We also take plenty of things to keep her occupied - generally books, colouring and some little figures to play with.

We had the munchkin one too, it's got a shoulder strap and a little compartment to keep wipes etc. Certainly got our money's worth from that after it accompanied us on a road trip through a country where high chairs were non existent

After about 18 months mine just sat on laps or on ordinary chairs. There's no way I was organised enough to have some kind of special booster, sounds like extra stuff and unnecessary faff.

My youngest is 9 and still uses their Tripp Trapp at the table! When they were small and we were out and about we either let them kneel at the table or, if the chairs were stackable, asked to stack two chairs to raise them that bit higher to the table.

Stickers and blank paper can be useful if child has no desire to scribble. And take them for a walk at every opportunity so they're at the table for as short a time as possible.

I’m glad I’ve found this thread as mealtimes with my almost two year old are just awful. He’s been out of his high chair since before his first birthday as he’d just scream and cry in it.

He currently has a booster seat on one of the dining room chairs but no matter how tight the straps are he still gets out of it. Dinner times are a night mare, he’s up and down or throwing cutlery, messing with his food. He isn’t allowed to get away with this behaviour but at the same time I am sick of dealing with it every time we eat.

At nursery he will happily sit at a small table with his peers so I’m going to try him at his little table at home tomorrow. But then it feels strange that we aren’t all eating at the table!

@GoldenApple

My little boy was in a highchair until about 1.5 years, after which he'd just stand up in it (hazard) and/or get out of the straps that is supposed to keep him seated.

Since then (he's 2 now) when we're out, we just sit him up on a regular chair and hope he doesn't run off. He usually doesn't if it's a bench type seat but if it's a chair. Sometimes he sits on laps for parts of his meal. His attention for eating doesn't last long so we rarely go out for a full meal, usually just a drink and snack.

At home, he has a little table and chair which he sits and eats his dinner at. He often gets up out of his chair to circle round the table but then sits down again to eat. It's an activity table, one side is flat for eating/drawing/playing, the other is a Duplo board so he can play with his blocks.

We do have a dining table at home but we find he doesn't sit at it and eat long enough as the table is too high and he tries to climb on it instead.

Exactly the same here. The little table and chairs are a god send as they're good for colouring, crafts etc etc too

My DD aged 6 still uses the trip trap at the table. How did your son tip it over? We stopped using the straps when she was around 2, if you are using the straps do you have the gliders on for stability?

We had a folding plastic booster, but when they got too big for it we got something like the Kaboost chair raiser. It adapted to restaurant chairs & our local pizzeria was so impressed they bought a couple. Mine didn’t tend to bolt though, so you might need something with straps.

A taller chair at home family heirloom used by their grandpa over a century ago. Battered but still going.

When out ordinary seat but streaming peppa pig very quietly, plus crayons and paper.

Done the same with all the grandchildren since the beginning, they're good and don't run around at all

How has a 2.5 year old outgrown a Tripp Trapp? I frequently sit on ours. The whole point of them is that they last for years - just take off the bar.

DS would just sit on a chair. Boosters weren't really a thing when he was little. I'd take him places where I knew we'd be served quickly and he would colour or play with his trains while waiting.

Had a HandySitt booster which lasted both kids until about age 5.

Surely it doesn’t matter where the child is sitting? If they would get up and wander because they aren’t strapped in surely they would be upset at being restrained in a high chair? Your child was so upset at being strapped in he tipped the chair yet you want an alternative? Children shouldn’t be strapped in unless for safety in a car.

Upon inspection of the Tripp trapp I fear I was a bad mum & didn't lower his seat / foot rest enough as he's grown and that balance was all wrong 💔💔💔

He did use the straps so I have lowered the seat etc and taken the straps away and hopefully that will work now!

I feel awful 😢

To those asking how he tipped it, I honestly don't know. I strapped him in, went to get his plate and the next thing I know the chair has fallen on its side (not backwards) and he's on the floor (still strapped in) but I feel I had the seat bit on the wrong level thinking about it 😢

@Oinkypig well I'm definitely going to use this as a lesson to teach him to sit for a short meal with no straps as it scared the life out of me!!

We got the chicco booster seat right from the start because DN broke his jaw falling from a highchair. He uses it at home but despite being really tall for 2 he fits well into most high chairs at restaurants. I do bring things to distract him though.

My just turned 3 year old has not used a high chair since he was a very small baby so he's very used to just sitting on a normal chair. We use a toddler chair from IKEA which looks just like a dining chair but higher. One thing we do is allow him to get up and down from the table if he feels like it which removes any power struggle and means that 90% of the time he just chooses to sit with us. The other 10% it's fine for him to go and play while we're at home.

We take him out to eat lots and lots, initially for very short time frames, with lots to entertain him and to cafe type places and ordered things that we could eat quickly! He just sits in an ordinary chair.

After lots of practice, he's happy to sit for long enough for a drink and a main course and sometimes a pudding too. Again lots to keep him occupied and we make choosing from the menu into a bit of a game. We also play restaurants a lot at home!

Honestly at that age a boy dos not want to sit still for long, their biological urgenis to run jump and build muscle.

We just stopped going to restaurants between age 2 - 3.5. Until old enough to bribe. Other mums of boys did the same. Girls seem happier to sit.