My baby hates the high chair {video}
and her stroller,
and basically any occasion when she isn’t able to move around freely on her own.
Usually, it’s NBD because I’d rather hold her hand and let her walk around. She wants to move and explore instead of being strapped down, and I get that.
However, there are some times when she needs to sit still -like to eat at a restaurant- and it’s been a little more challenging lately.
Just starting a couple of weeks ago, at home I’d go to sit her in the high chair and she’d shriek like she was on fire. Instead of the high chair, I asked her if she wanted to sit at the table in her elephant chair. (The elephant chair was a gift when Livi was born, and has been amazing for play dates and toddler dinner guests.)
“Yes! Elephant chair!”
She sat happily in the booster seat to eat her meal, and it’s been the elephant chair ever since. Looks like the high chair will be getting cleaned and stored in the garage for kiddo #2.
While we have it figured out at home, I have no idea what to do when we’re out and about. She doesn’t want to sit in a high chair, or a booster chair, and we like going out to eat. I was thinking of getting an extra elephant booster seat and toting it in the car with us? Also, I need to start packing up a little bag of fun toys/puzzles to see if that will distract her enough to sit at the table and forget what kind of seat she’s in.
Recently, we grabbed food from a restaurant but she wouldn’t sit in the high chair or the booster seat, so we packed the food up and came home to eat dinner here. I don’t really want this to become a habit, but I’m not going to make her scream by sitting in something that she hates. Maybe an extra elephant seat is the way to go. Any moms facing a similar situation? Of course, another “problem that’s not really a problem” but I always love to hear what’s worked for fellow mamas. You’ve given me some of the best tips! 🙂
And just for fun, a video of her counting! She does something to amaze me every day.
xoxo
Gina
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She’s a great counter!!! Go Liv!
:)!
My daughter is almost a year and just recently really started fighting the high chair. We had never gotten a bigger one anyways just a booster that strapped to a chair also since our dining room is little. That thing goes almost everywhere with us when we do happen to go out to eat/camping/travelling, etc. I have found that she fights being strapped in less when she is in her familiar chair. Ours came with the tray which your daughter may be to old to need still but when mine has her tray it is alot easier to distract her with snacks and toys.
Gah! That video is so cute!
my cousin lived in a loft apt in Brooklyn where space was a luxury when she had her first baby & never bought a proper high chair. she always used a type of chair that hooked directly onto the table/counter and her daughter LOVED it. at 3 she still loves it! it’s great for restaurants and to take to friends & family’s houses.
this isn’t the exact one she used, but you get the idea:
http://www.amazon.com/Regalo-Diner-Portable-Hook-On-Chair/dp/B0000A1O7P
hope it helps!
Gina,
My 3rd was the same way (just when I thought I had this parenting thing down ha ha!). He just turned 3 on September 26. As soon as he was mobile, he abandoned the happy baby sitting in a high chair eating everything we gave him and became every restaurant goer’s worst nightmare (including his parents) (ha ha). We did the same thing as you a couple of times, grab our food and dash out before we made too many enemies. We tried the special toys that only came out at restaurants and they worked for maybe a minute. Finally, my sweet husband bought me an iPad last Christmas, and I offer no apologies that it has become our restaurant dining savior because he is an active little boy who is outside playing for most of the day, every single day. But for those moments when his older brother and sister have an appointment we are waiting in a waiting room somewhere, or when we head out to a restaurant, the iPad is in my bag. And because we save it for those occasions only and it’s not out for his use all the time, it works.
But also, he has grown out of it for the most part and is so much better in restaurants (waiting rooms, ehh not so much but even I don’t like those!). As I said, he just turned 3 but the worst of it probably occurred from 18 months to 2 1/2. He’s better at sitting, and now although the iPad is in my bag, it doesn’t come out much at all. Hang in there and good luck!
Melissa
P.S. Sorry for this late response, I hadn’t checked your fam page in a while 🙂