Toddler Bored of Highchair

[Paris1986]

Hi,

Hoping someone can help... my LG (17 months) has started becoming wriggly and unsettled when in the highchair. She eats almost anything but after a few bites makes a fuss - she’ll then eat the same stuff ‘on the move’. Isn’t really talking but can walk/run well so I think maybe she’s getting frustrated by being in the highchair. Only without she isn’t tall enough to reach the table (would need to be strapped to something too or she’d just walk off ). Has anyone else experienced this or have any suggestions as to what we can do/try!?

TIA xx

booster seat attached to a dining chair?

I thought about that but dismissed it as she’d chuck her bowl/plate about. On the highchair it all just goes straight on the tray! Unless there’s one of those trays like you get in prisons (sorry, I’m sure there’s a better way of describing them ) that can suction/stick to wood as our table is wood...?

Put a shower curtain on the floor! Problem solved! You just scoop it up and the end of the meal, bin / salvage what you want and can wipe down the shower curtain.

We had DS in the Ikea high chair at this sort of age with the tray taken off so we could push him up to the table. He felt a bit more grown up and we just dealt with the carnage. He’s 3.5 now and the carnage has only recently lessened!

You can get silicone mats to protect your table

Might try a combination - thank you! Push the highchair up to the table, shower curtain and deal with the mess! And see how it goes...!

Dining booster seat? You can get them with or without trays. One set of straps to secure to the chair, one to strap in the toddler. Look on Amazon. They are suitable from 12 months.

You can get bowls that stick to the table with sucker cups. Or get a dog, ours is very good at cleaning up after small children

Thanks everyone. Have a suction bowl but got it from the pound shop a while ago and is rubbish! Might need to invest, but that coupled with booster/highchair pushed up to the table should work wonders

One of these?

Easytots do the tray styles plates with suction pads on each corner - expensive but my 15mth old can’t remove it!
I have the one specific for the ikea high chair and the travel one which goes on any table I think.

Just put the food on the table then.

Just to add we got the bundle with the bowl & use that for pasta and so far she hasn’t got it off

The Stokke style of highchair is great. Looks like a real chair and grows with the little one. No chins in plates and tucks them right under the table. My DD has used hers since she was born; always sat at the table with the grown ups. I used a silicone suction mat by TommeeTipee; it holds all types of plates and bowls. Second the shower curtain idea, too!

17 months is the perfect time to start learning how to use a plate.

You can go either way, either get plastic non breakable ones for when they end up on the floor or for DC2 after learning the hard way with DC 1 got really large heavy pasta bowls that are difficult for them to pick up and throw. The benefit of the the big bowl is that it keeps the food pretty well contained as well and helps with learning to use cutlery as they have something to push up against.

I also got some non slip silicon mats to go under them to make them less easy to push off the table and pick up spills.

Food ending up on the floor is just an inevitable part of babies/toddlers though.

Oh and mine were both in a booster seat at the table at that age. DC1 because we needed her high chair for DC2 (very small age gap) and DC2 because again, just followed what we did for DC1.

Tonight we pushed her high chair to the table and gave her food in the crappy Poundland suction bowl on top on a shower curtain. Coped fine but not sure how long it’ll last... will look at plastic plates/bowls as then it won’t matter if she pushes it off. Heavy pasta bowls worry me - can still push or pull them off the table I presume (@pastabest?) and don’t fancy smashed crockery every day!

No advice but my 19 month old does the same. After about 3 bites goes crazy I’m the okra high chair (which is already up at the table with no tray). We have to take her out or she thrashes about so much the chair could fall over.

Heavy pasta bowls worry me - can still push or pull them off the table I presume (@pastabest?) and don’t fancy smashed crockery every day!

Yes they can in theory but it takes so much effort they don't and if they do try you can intervene quicker than they can toss it.

Think I've had one broken plate in 3 years and two children and that was a side plate.

Treat them like babies and they will behave like babies.

Once we put her on a normal chair she will stand and eat. But after 5 minutes jumps down and runs about. Which obviously is both naughty and a choking hazard. No idea how to keep her safely at the table.

We use one of these on a normal dining chair

Chicco Snack Chair

We just collapse the legs, take the tray off and push it up to the table. Can strap the child in or leave them unstrapped but with extra safety from the arm rests.

Ah ok. On the hunt for some cheap and really heavy pasta bowls now!! @Thewoodstar - do you think something with straps would help? Just a booster instead of highchair without the tray maybe? For now my LO is happy in her highchair but I don’t think it’ll last long

I used a booster like this

Thank you, found a booster on fb market place so I’ll see how I get on. Thank you everyone.
Good luck OP!

Glad you found one @Thewoodstar, fingers crossed it works! Thank you 😊 Xx