Do you give toys to your kids in highchairs at mealtime?

I am on the fence about letting them have toys at the highchair during meals. Sometimes all they want to do is hold and play with them and other times its no big deal. What do you guys do?

 

Prior to them being on table food and eating their meals when we do (like maybe 10 months or younger) I would give them something to play with while they sat in their high chair while DH and I ate. Now, they are sitting in their chair at mealtime and eating with us, no toys. Lily desperately tries to bring her lovey to the table sometimes, but no way, that would just create more laundry for me.

 

yes, anything to keep the peace and make eating a happy experience. A child expert told me "no fights during mealtime no matter what". So I do what I can.

 

Sometimes they will have a small toy in their hand like a hot wheels car or one of their backyardigan or diego figures and I don't make a big deal, they usually put it down on their highchair once they get their food anyway. They have tried to bring their soccer ball to eat and I tell them it is too big or dirty.

 

I used to, but now they are too distracted by them. They only get toys in their highchair if they are having a small snack and sippy while watching momma cook something (meaning I don't really care whether they eat or not, I'm just containing them in highchairs for my own convenience!).

 

If they are eating, no. If we are eating and they are just watching, sure.

We had those suction toys that fit on the high chair tray and they enjoyed those. But by the time they started eating finger food, that was all the entertainment they needed. Sprinkle a few cheerios on the tray, give them a spoon so that they "feel" like they are eating, and TAH DAH! Peace!

 

QUOTE(Shadyfeline @ Apr 30 2008, 07:54 PM) [snapback]748627[/snapback]
They have tried to bring their soccer ball to eat and I tell them it is too big or dirty.


For some reason this mental picture made me LOL!! Thanks for the replies. Looking forward to hearing some more.

 

I guess I never had thought about it before so, no we don't. The boys do pretty well in their high chairs. We used to let them have toys when I needed them to be entertained for a little while (like 9 months and younger). But, since they started table food, we don't. Now, we will in a restaraunt if they are finished. Maybe DH and I gobble up our food too fast.

 

No toys at the table for us. It's just too distracting. We usually do a mix of spoon-feeding and finger food at each meal, so they still get to use their hands.

 

No toys at the table. We are just trying to start early with the rules I guess. I have been known to let them have a small toy if they are finished eating & are just waiting on us, but other than that, nope.

 

Only in restaurants. We just didn't want to go there -- it seemed like one of those slippery-slope things. Besides, we didn't want to have to differentiate between which toys could be cleaned easily and which would be irretrievably sticky/stained.

 

Nope, no toys at the table during mealtimes. The only time they get toys is at restaurants before the meal arrives.

 

We have a "no toys @ the table" rule. We used boosters to the table rather than highchairs and so we started early.

 

I'm with a lot of the others, no toys in the high chair. If they needed to be occupied, I have given them a spoon to chew on/play with. For me, I just didn't want that to be something else I had to break them of in the future.

 

Nope. We got into a bad habit of letting them bring a stuffed animal out of the crib with them, then they wanted it at breakfast. Then it was "ok but you have to put it away once the food arrives" then they wanted it next to them in the high chair. Yada yada. Just don't go there. We finally had to implement "no toys at the table".

 

I do sometimes NOW...don't think I did back then. But now it's more like they want to protect their car from the other or something. They aren't usually actively playing with it. Hmmm.

 

No toys in the high chairs for us, either. Every once in a great while, we'll give them the fishy TV thing that came with their chairs IF they are done eating and DH and I aren't or something like that.

 

We also do not have toys because it is seriously distracting to my guys. So no for us.

 

I don't because they usually end up dragging the toys through their food and making a big mess and then they get upset if they drop them and then they just play and don't eat--so, no toys at mealtime.

 

I guess I'm in the minority here. I let my kids (28 months) bring a small toy to eat with in their highchair. They usually just hold it; if they start playing with it (and not eating) I warn them I'll take the toy away if they keep playing and that usually works. My DS in particular likes holding a toy in his hand through the day, so it's kind of "normal" for him to have a toy in his hand during a meal. Luckily this hasn't been a problem for us. I'm sure if it had been a problem I would start the "no toys at the table" rule.

thea

 

No here too! Like PP, I also have one kid that likes to hold an item in his hand all day. I still don't let him take it to the table because the other one has to have one too. It makes the meal so much longer and the toys are distracting. They do get to take a little goody box when we go out to eat that has some paper, crayons, stickers, trains, and other little toys to keep them occupied while waiting for our food.

 

No, because they'll just play and won't eat anything!

 

No toys or stuffies at the table - too bad so sad!

They sit on the counter and wait until your done.