when did you ditch the high chairs?

Meal times lately have seemed more like a battle than anything else......throwing food, standing up, won't eat, etc. I don't have the little straps on the high chair, so I can't keep them sitting & lately their new thing is to stand up & put their feet on each other's trays. So, yesterday for lunch and dinner I let them sit at the little picnic table that we do crafts on & it went a lot better. I've also noticed that if they're sitting in dh & I's laps they also do better. I'm kind of debating whether or not to just get booster seats and let them sit at the table with us & get rid of the high chairs. Is it too soon?? When did you get rid of yours & what did you go to instead?

 

I don't think it's too soon. If the high chairs are not working, they're not working. We just ditched ours (actually booster seats) at just over 2 years, because the kids flatly refused to sit in them any more. They wanted to sit "at the table." So we moved to Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs, which my MIL had actually bought us for last Christmas but we didn't feel ready to use them until now. We love them, and at the moment we especially love the 5-pt seatbelt. It is really nice not to have to wash the booster seat trays after every meal, although the girls do make a huge mess with the tablecloth & on the floor. It's a tradeoff, but the important thing is that they're willing to sit in them!

 

Not sure how old your twins are...but, I don't think it matters. I think it depends on the kid.

I can't IMAGINE not having straps on our high chairs. We never bothered with them until about 15m...but haven't been able to get through a meal without them since. My kids (20m) are monkey-climbing busy-bodies and would be literally climbing on the table hanging from the light fixture if they weren't strapped down.

However, my 19mo niece is perfectly capable of sitting in a booster at meals without the imminent threat of stitches.

 

I moved the girls out of their highchairs around 18months. We had the kitchen redone and when we were able to use it again we decided that the highchairs were just too big. So after a bunch of research we decided on the Stokke Tripp Trap chairs. The girls love them because they are able to sit at the table with us and I love them because they are easy to clean, look great and will grow with them.

 

We stopped using the trays and put them right up to the table at 14 months. They then started to use chairs and then crawl across the table to get into their highchairs. That is when we got rid of the highchairs at 17 months. We didn't move to boosters or anything. They sit at the table in normal chairs like everyone else. They do a great job. They sit and eat better then my 3 year old does.

Cari

 

We also use the Stokke Tripp Trap chairs. It makes cleaning up so much easier and they love being able to sit at the table with the rest of the family. Since we started using them, it has really cut down on the cleaning up time. We also use a vinyl mat (like this)underneath the chairs so that I do not have to clean the wood floors multiple times a day. I believe we started using the chairs right after their 1st birthday.

 

At 12 months, my girls were still doing so well in them that I swore they would be in them until they were at least 2. Then around 14 months, Arwen kept taking the straps off and wanting to get down. I pulled out the booster seats that I got for them at my shower and they are much happier to eat all their meals at our kitchen table with us. I still have them though and they came in handy this past Thanksgiving as we were able to have them sit with us at the dining room table and not worry about them pulling at all the stuff on the table (we had the trays on them).

 

Not too early, really. You might struggle with it a bit but overall it's a good thing!! We went to the Babysmart Cooshee's from OneStepAhead.com I like them but they sometimes get a little dirty sponge smell (one of my BIGGEST pet peeves in LIFE!). So, I clean them and put them in the sun to dry. Takes care of it! Good luck!

 

We have 2 of the Fisher Price Healthy Care booster seats......do you think those would work ok at the table without the attached tray?

 

You all making me nervous -- I was beginning to wonder when we would be getting rid of the high chairs too. Rianna and Justin turned 14 mos on Nov. 30th. I have a little bit of time to figure out what to do.

I love the Stokke Tripp Trap chairs but it is out of our price. My hubby will probably say, No. But maybe, I can get Papa to buy it for us?! <wink>

 

We put them at boosters at the table at 17-18 months, somewhere in there.

 

We moved out of high chairs a couple of months ago. I bought the Babysmart Cooshee Hyback boosters and they work great! They don't have straps though. I have a long bench on one side of the table, and that is wher the twins sit. I was worried about the seats not staying on the bench, but they really stick well. My two will climb on the bench and get in the boosters themselves.

 

My girls actually still use their high chairs. They don't complain about sitting in them (we don't strap them in anymore) and they also use them for a lot of their art projects. It's nice to have them confined so markers/paint doesn't get everywhere. I'm sure they would be fine if we got rid of them, but since they are still doing well with them, we are going to keep using them.

 

We just took our high chairs to the attic this past weekend. They have been sitting in booster seats for about a week at home and about a month at daycare. They walk right up to the table when we say it is time to eat and we put them in the seats.

 

QUOTE(egoury @ Dec 3 2007, 09:11 AM) [snapback]518645[/snapback]
My girls actually still use their high chairs. They don't complain about sitting in them (we don't strap them in anymore) and they also use them for a lot of their art projects. It's nice to have them confined so markers/paint doesn't get everywhere. I'm sure they would be fine if we got rid of them, but since they are still doing well with them, we are going to keep using them.


Ditto for us too. Mine still use them.

 

We switched to booster seats with buckles at about 16 months (had pulled them up to the table since 12 months w/o tray). At 2 they went to Cooshie seats- love them. Our table is too high for 'nothing' but the boosters were too hard and had gotten broken several times.

Cooshies are GREAT andthey can use them for as long as they want.

KC

 

John did well in a booster by 2. I have no idea with these guys. I am going to wait until they absolutely will not sit down anymore. I can't stand the thought of them getting down in the middle of meals and running around the house. I think I will contain them as long as I can.

 

QUOTE(naomi02 @ Dec 3 2007, 05:10 AM) [snapback]518136[/snapback]
We have 2 of the Fisher Price Healthy Care booster seats......do you think those would work ok at the table without the attached tray?

That's what we had, and I did that for a little while. It works OK, but depending on how high your table is, you might not be able to push the kid all the way to the table. Our table is pretty low, and there was always a gap. We still have a gap with the Tripp Trapp chairs, but less of one.

 

We never had high chairs because we didn't have room for them. Mine have always been in the booster seats. We used the trays that came with them for quite a while, then moved them to our kitchen island bar stools and push them right up to the island. We put them in the kitchen just to make clean up easier. Our dining room is carpeted. They still get strapped in though.

 

Okay, I guess we're strange. At 3 my guys still sit in high chairs pulled up to the table. (We haven't used the trays for a long time). They would be fine in boosters too, but we already have the high chairs, they still work, the boys don't mind sitting in them, so I haven't been in a hurry to change.

 

We only switched to boosters a couple of months ago. We did high chairs pulle dup to the table for a couple of months before that. We've tried ditching the boosters altogether, but the girls just get up and down constantly, so we went back to the boosters.