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Original poster

highchair phobia?

9 replies

Tutter · 06/07/2006 13:46

anyone experienced this? ds (13mo) hates being put in his (or any) highchair. not a great eater. tricks so far tend to centre around distraction - tv/music etc (amazing how much weetabix i can shovel in during the noddy theme music!). embarrassing on holiday - not a chance of getting him to eat at the table, so dh and i had to take turns eating while one took ds to play, then we fed him in the hotel room. he will refuse food in his highchair, then take it if i feed him while he sits and plays with his toys - but i really don't want to create a habit of this.

have tried playing at the table to take away associations of being fed, but hasn't helped.

ideas?

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Original poster

Tutter · 06/07/2006 16:59

shameless bump

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bobblehead · 06/07/2006 17:21

Hi Tutter, my dd is 13m and also hates highchairs. I gave up using ours at around 8 months as I realised she would eat loads more not in it. She just hates being confined, so mostly I just foolw her around and spoon in mouthfuls while she plays. Its only now its bothering me as how will she ever learn to use a knife & fork etc? We were on holiday recently with a friend and her dd same age and had a little toddler table and chairs set up for them and dd sat quite happily and ate there, so I think I may try that at home.

Is it really the food your ds doesn't like, or the fact he has to stop playing to eat? That is really dd's problem and I don't want meals to be a battle time so will go with the fow for now. One thing I did find worked was putting her in the stroller with lots of finger foods and going for a walk. She quite happily tucks into her little picnic while enjoying the scenery. Doesn't help much with the social aspects of eating but as she gets older we will enforce more time at the table with us. For now it is just me and her as dh works until she's in bed!

Sorry have rambled a bit

JillMLD · 12/07/2006 00:04

I dont know if this will help but we really struggled with a lot of highchairs, dd seemd to wriggle so much in them she would almost slither out the bottom unless there was a crotch bar thing to hold her back. Even then if it wasnt pinning her so her back and bum were right in the corner she would hate it and cry and cry.

We kept sort of tyiong her back and down with scarves and stuff which helped a bit.

My friend got me this handbag highchair thing:
www.forparentsbyparents.com/info_out_sixplus.html
which transformed our use of highchairs. might be worth a try for you...

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ilovecaboose · 12/07/2006 11:05

Ds got really hysterical when he saw his highchair at around the same age. We replaced it with a little table and chair (ikea £12.50) and a booster seat for big chairs (woolies, can't remember the price). They transformed eating times to a certain extend (ds has other problems around food as well).

When we go out now (at 21 months) he sits just on a normal chair or on our laps. This seems to work ok for us.

bobblehead · 12/07/2006 20:01

I just bought a booster chair thing as I saw it on sale, though didn't expect too much. However dd really seems to like it! She actually points to it to get me to put her in it! It pulls right up to the table so she feels like she's sitting in a chair. She will only sit in it for around 5-10 mins, but I don't expect too much of her at this age, as long as she gets the idea

Original poster

Tutter · 03/08/2006 12:08

anyone else have any advice to add please? still struggling to get ds to eat at the table / in his highchair. the last few days i've fed him on my lap or when he's been sitting on the floor in front of the TV - i can just hear all the sharp intakes of breath from here.....

OP posts:

Marne · 03/08/2006 12:11

DD1 sits at on one of those plastic chairs at a little table she's a bit older though, i think she was 19 months when we got it.

dinosaur · 03/08/2006 12:13

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

oliveoil · 03/08/2006 12:50

Dd1 refused a highchair and so did dd2 at around the same age, I think they like to be independant and do that iron-bar-leg thing at this age so you can't get them in.

I fed on lap or on a little stool on their small table (watching like a hawk for them to fall off).

Then moved onto a booster chair thing which dd2 also now refuses to get in.

So they both sit at the table on adult chairs and can get off as they see fit, which I did a thread about recently as to whether I should be strict and get them to SIT DOWN and the concensus was no.

I would recommend a booster seat for now, I think mine was from Argos for about £15 or so, it is gathering dust in the wardrobe if you want it.

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