Any advice how to keep ds 18mo in his high chair?

[forcedinsomnia]

Just that really. he will go in there quite willingly. Even climbs in himself when really hungry shouting din dins - but a few minutes later he is standing up and kicking off because he wants to get out. I try distracting him with toys, pictures on phone, juice or anything else within reach but he has a meltdown!!!! I have just ordered one of those travel/booster seats which we can attach to our dining chairs in the hope that if he is sat one a 'big boys chair' he may be happier there for longer. We do try and sit down altogether when possible but I sometimes don't get home until 6.30pm which is too late for ds to eat (obvs!)
We have an ikea basic highchair which has a strap but he's strong enough to pull it off now.
Also I'm not sure whether to still offer his food if we do let him out before he's eaten enough(imo)? Or should he only be allowed proper food in his highchair?
Any ideas? Or is it just another phase which too will pass????

A booster at thge table is a good idea or attach a set of reins to the highchair so he can't get out.

Reins? DS has always had reins on in his high chair :)

I don't know how to attach reins to highchair.....didn't even know you could??? But I'll look into it!

It should have some little loops to clip them onto?

mine has a harness type straps which dd can't get out of, maybe a change of chair?

Ours is a Tripp Trapp. It has nowhere specific for reins but I just looped them round.

All my trip trap chairs (we have four) have little d rings for reins, they don't have to be put on tho, did yours not come with them jolly? They are little metal rings, they are black and attach onto the back of the chair?

I'll have a look when I get home.....at work at the mo (obvs v busy!! )

My son hated the highchair at that age so I just used a booster cushion. If he's tired though it might be better to feed him earlier on even if it means sacrificing eating together during the week.

I thought that Green - but he is at the childminder till 5 when dh picks him up. Feel guilty asking her to do his dinner too - he is always shattered when he gets home though. Never gets enough sleep at the CM, but that's another story.

Nope, mine definitely had no little black rings. I didn't buy the Tripp Trapp harneas though, just used our own one.

I didn't get a trip trap harness either. Our chairs are all varying ages 12, 9, 7 and 4 yes old we got one for each if the boys and ds1 can use an adult chair now and dd can use his. They are tiny and were easy to misplace when you open the packaging but maybe they have stopped supplying them as standard?

How strange. We got ours in mid 2011. I have just checked the filing cabinet and the instructions and definitely no mention of hooks or rings at all.

Arrgh I have similar with my just 2 year old, except he's rejected his booster and insists on sitting on a normal chair, with his forehead level with the table...
Food is just about doable, drinks are a nightmare.

We must have got our last one in 2009? So they stopped doing the rings between then and 2012. They are really handy, tiny and unobtrusive. I know they changed the design of the baby kit recently, the bar and back bit etc you can get to use from 6mths and there is a new bit to clip in that makes it suitable for younger babies? Maybe they vs topped doing the rings when they changed the design?

I love trip trap chairs, they are great. Bit miffed by the price increase over the years tho, it was about £80 when we bought bone for ds1 and now they are about £110?

Hey 5 you should get a job with trip trap....they sound great (except the price!). Not getting one now though.
My ds eats well but I/we can only get so much in before he wants to move on. I want to let him feed himself but it's sooooo much quicker when dh or I do it. He's great at feeding himself but gets frustrated which adds to his eagerness to vacte the seat I think.

On the subject of reins.....thinking about it we went out for dinner last night and the high chair in the restaurant had built in harness and he just shouted 'GET OUT!!!' really loud when he wanted to be freed from the chair. So not sure the reins will work??

What kind of lunch does he have? My son used to get a proper cooked meal for lunch at his nursery so I just gave him something more snack like for tea. When he was done he could leave the table. We have proper family meals at the weekend though. You know, TV turned off, mobile phones away, everyone talking and he is fine now he is a bit older.

My daughter is around the same age as your son now and she is so different and will happily sit in her highchair until everyone has finished. So, I think a lot comes down to personality. My son is very strong willed and I would have driven myself crazy trying to force him to sit through a meal at that age eapecially when he was tired.

Could you just try changing the dynamic a bit (if you'll forgive the business bollockese) - would he sit happily at a child's table on a little chair, and eat? IKEA do some cheap and cheerful ones.

You're going to have to let him feed himself at some point...

Why feel guilty asking the cm to feed him?

I would give him finger food. Ds got to a point where he wanted to walk about and so I let him have snacks on the go. Now at 3 he sits down happily for a meal!

Gaffa tape?? :o

Seriously though. We found that dinner at childminders during the week and free range (table, get down wander, back to table etc)option of sandwich, yogurt and fruit worked better during the week for us as our DD was too tired for proper sit down dinner at the end of the day.

YY to "picnic" finger food, especially if he's getting a cooked lunch.