When to stop using a high chair?

[Taitai]

So my DS 2 yrs and 4 months old, and we are still having him sit in an IKEA high chair for all his meals and snacks. I'm wondering when we should transition him out of the high chair and into a booster seat? He is a good eater (doesn't throw things and can stab things/feed himself with a kids fork), but he definitely is too short to sit in a normal chair (we have a relatively high dinning table). Our dinning room chairs are also covered in a light tan fabric, so i'm worried he will wipe his hands all over them.

We never let him eat anywhere other than his high chair - no snacks on the couch or while running around - so another worry is that having him uncontained will open up this Pandora's box of him escaping from the table during meals. Is it weird to keep him in the high chair this long though...or even until he is closer to 3?? Most of his friends from school don't use high chairs, but I also see them running while eating all over our place during snack time when we have play dates...and that is not something I want for our own family.

Sorry for the novel.

Tl;dr: I guess and am wondering when you all ditched the high chair (or if you are still using it).

[billyhorrible]

We stopped using the high chair when he didn't want to be in the high chair anymore. But we had a space saver, so that just meant taking off the tray.

I don't remember when we stopped using it as a booster, but BH is ridiculously tall. At 2, he just sits at our bar height table, or on his anywhere chair at the coffee table.

[littlelion]

We got rid of the high chair before 1 yo. He then used the chair that attaches to the table. He was sitting in an actual chair before 2 yo. My table cloth was always getting dirty and needed changing. I do let him have snacks in the living room. It's frustrating but I'm teaching him to be responsible for the mess. Pick up food that falls or let me know. Wipe stuff up that spills. Throw away garbage. At this age he gets it when I say something disgusting or the ants will come in for food....he's 2 y 8 m.

[letthewookieewin]

I think we ditched the high chair completely by 18 months and used a booster with a clip-on tray until DS was almost 2. We have the space for his own little table and chair at home and he's tall enough to reach most tables from a regular chair when we're out (he'll be 3 in two weeks). I think his two slightly older cousins still use either high chairs or boosters still at 3.5--I don't know if it's because they're shorter or if they just like to wander off. DS is fairly good about staying in his seat for meals and sometimes for snacks, but we're still working on him waiting after he's done until either we're all done or we get him cleaned up.

[grumpycat]

We stopped using the highchair around 18 months. We switched to a booster seat and now he just sits in a normal chair at the table (2.5yo, 38" tall). We do let him eat wherever but enforce that he needs to be sitting. He uses a basic booster seat at my mom's house because her table is higher and he needs the extra height.

It's going to depend on your child and how you are about messes lol. DS is very opinionated and we were over constantly helping him in/out of the booster seat. He can manage a chair on his own.

Eta: no I don't think it's weird. If it's working for you and your child, I wouldn't mess with it. Maybe try a booster if you want or a kid size table/chair for a non messy snack. We have a toddler size table with chairs that DS will occasionally use.

[fuzzylogic]

We're using both. Breakfast in a booster at the table and high chair for dinner because we all watch a show together.

Yes, I realize that watching tv while eating dinner is probably not "appropriate" but H and I have done that together for years. When she's older and can have conversations with us, we will have dinner together at the table

She also still likes her high chair! Sometimes she asks to sit in it and read or play on the tray. I figure why not, it's not hurting anything.

[lildiamondeyes]

We switched to booster seats when the girls were 2 1/2 and 14 months back in January. And half the time the oldest kneels on a reg chair. We had been just pushing their trayless highchairs to the table. Whatever has them eating their food.

[billmurray]

DS used a high chair until he was about 2.5. He was big enough to use a regular chair but he didn't mind. There have definitely been some meals where he has taken off, but now (he'll be 3 tomorrow) he's good about asking permission to leave the table and he know he's expected to stay at the table for the entire meal.

[Taitai]

Thanks so much for all the responses! This is super helpful. We do have a kids IKEA table with little chairs, which DS uses for coloring and playdoh activities. Maybe we will start putting him down there for snacks and see how he does. We have an open concept living/dinning/play area, so the dinning room table is close to the toddler one. If it works out, we could then move him to a booster seat at the table.

The reason I want to get him out of the highchair at some point in the future is that I'm expecting DS 2 in October, and I want to use DS' highchair for the baby, once baby starts eating solids.

I also don't want to kick DS out of the highchair and then start putting the baby in it the next day, as I fear that will spark some jealousy (as DS thinks the highchair is "his chair").

Thanks again for all the comments - I guess we'll see how snack time at his toddler table goes this week and head from there!

[jillywilly]

Our high chair came with a booster seat that DS sits in now at the table, he's on the shorter side, and somewhere around 15/18 months he would start grabbing onto the high chair tray and trying to pull himself up on it when he was hungry, which led to us putting the high chair away. The booster seat (which is really similar to just the plain, plastic boosters you see at restaurants, just strapped to his chair at our table) actually keeps him contained - he can't get in or out on his own because of the extra height. As for the upholstered chair concern, we have them too, and I'm just dealing with the fact that my chairs might get a little stained - the fabric we have on them honestly wasn't my first choice when we bought the table about five years ago, so I figure we'll just re-upholster in a few years once DS isn't as messy. I remember for my niece when she started eating in her own chair they just kept a towel on her chair to protect the fabric - it's not the most glamorous look, but then, how glamorous is any part of your house with a toddler?

[Taitai]

jillywilly Good idea about the towel for the chair. I might try that if DS starts using our chairs as a napkin. I'm just really afraid of permanently damaging them, because the dining room set is actually furnished by the building we live in - so I would have to probably pay for a whole new set of chairs if he messed one up. I am sure they would gouge me for it too. Ugh. That's the downside of expat furnished apartments I guess! It's another reason why we don't let DS eat on the couch or any of our other furniture...it's not really ours (our furniture is in storage in the states).

[sheilathetank]

We use the booster seat in a chair, but 9 times out of 10 she wants to be in our lab or just in the seat itself, or running around as we throw food into her mouth... sigh. We went out to eat yesterday and she sat well on just the booth next to me and ate. Until she dropped the entire full cup of milk on the floor that spilled everywhere... double sigh.

Taitai, can you assign him one chair and then cover it with a towel or something that he can sit on?

[Taitai]

Jul 31, 2017 7:50:09 GMT -6 sheilathetank said:

Taitai, can you assign him one chair and then cover it with a towel or something that he can sit on?

I think that is exactly what we'll do. It won't look that nice and will drive me crazy at first, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[footloose]

I wanted to ditch the high chair around 2 years, but my kid is weird and was strangely attached to it lol.

I had a booster seat and once in a while she would sit in it but she would cry and cry if I tried to get rid of the high chair. I'm a sucker and felt bad so it stayed until right before her 3rd birthday and it magically was gone one morning and I said some other little kid needed it 😋

She got over it and always sits in her booster seat now.

[jewel]

We mix up where she eats. Breakfast she usually eats at the coffee table while watching TV. Lunch and dinner are in a high chair or booster with no TV. Snacks are typically more on the go so kinda happen where ever. She will also sometimes sit in a "big girl" chair and eat, but is definitely too short.

[seamonster]

Use a towel or chair covers to protect your seats. DS stopped using a high chair at home around 18 months for our bar table and we got our regular table when he was 22 months and he sat at the table. He did a high chair at restaurants until 2 years and 4 months for containment. We didn't do a booster at home (or while out) because he hates sitting in them and he's tall anyway.

[budders]

Jul 30, 2017 8:13:48 GMT -6 billyhorrible said:

We stopped using the high chair when he didn't want to be in the high chair anymore. But we had a space saver, so that just meant taking off the tray.

I don't remember when we stopped using it as a booster, but BH is ridiculously tall. At 2, he just sits at our bar height table, or on his anywhere chair at the coffee table.

We also had a space saver, so V was sitting with us at the table by 15 months. We stopped using it as a booster about a month ago. V can't really sit and reach the table, but he likes to stand or kneel on the chair and we're fine with that since he stays at the table longer and eats better this way.

[yummeecookee]

We moved DS out of his highchair when he was around 18 mo. I bought this booster for him and he really liked it.



Starting last week, he has started refusing it and wanting to sit on the bench (our table has a bench on one side). He is definitely not tall enough to sit and reach the table so has been sitting on his knees.

[sheilathetank]

Aug 3, 2017 9:39:32 GMT -6 yummeecookee said:

We moved DS out of his highchair when he was around 18 mo. I bought this booster for him and he really liked it.



Starting last week, he has started refusing it and wanting to sit on the bench (our table has a bench on one side). He is definitely not tall enough to sit and reach the table so has been sitting on his knees.

Too bad phonebooks are no longer a thing.