She really hates her highchair!!

[Shanti]

DD is now 13mths old and the last couple of weeks has really been protesting every time we put her in her highchair for her mealtime. She arches her back, screams etc.... so if she carries on we just put her down and she eats on the floor (from a plastic bowl or plate). There is no point trying to win with a toddler who is like that is there?

sometimes she'll eat while on the floor but most of the time she'll just go off and play and we'll say "don't you want any more food to eat?" and she'll say "nup" and go off and play!! very frustrating.... but what else can we do? If she doesn't want to eat we can't make her can we?

And, other times of the day if I'm offering her a snack or even lunch, is it okay for me to just place it in front of her while she's on the floor playing? I say to her "would you like some lunch, here you go" so she knows it's there and it's up to her if she's hungry to have some. Is that okay to do? OR should I be still putting her in the highchair EVERY mealtime?

Any advice? Ideas? Thank you!!

[Olive]

we have similar issues here, have you tried getting a little table and chair set?? DD2 loves sitting at it! though i persist with the highchair, so you have the ikea one?? have you tried removing the tray abd pushing it right up to the table?

[Shanti]

We recently bought her a new little table and 2 chairs..... hmm thats a good idea!! Thanks! Will try that... as she loves her table and chairs, always trying to climb up onto them!

We have taken the tray off before and let her use the dining table but havent done it for a while might try that again.

Thanks for the great ideas!

[~Minny~]

You can also get some booster type seats that strap onto a chair and they can eat at the table like you do. We got one for DD when she was around 14months old and she loved it.

[Winter]

My almost 1 year old hates her Ikea high chair now too. Its such a pain as I loved being able to drag it round the house and feed her while I was doing stuff like the dishes or cooking.

I've been feeding her on the floor when she stands up in her high chair (stoopid me cut the strap off when she was tiney as they were a pain to clean ) but MIL has a booster seat for normal chair that DD sits quite happily in so I'm going to try and get one of those and start having meals up at the table all the time.

[MantaRay]

Shanti, DS1 was the same from about 12 months. I think he didn't feel part of the family sitting at the table while in his highchair. We bought him a Phil & Ted's Me Too seat which attaches to the table and he loved that. It was more like he was sitting at the table with us. DS2 never actually used a high chair at all - just the Me Too seat.

Now the boys are bigger we have bought them bar stools which actually look almost exactly the same as our dining chairs, but higher. They sit in those at the table and it works really well.

[Sterla]

Like others have suggested, maybe try a booster seat? We got one for DS and he loves it (and looks very cute sitting up at the table with us).

[Shanti]

Yeah our's is an Ikea one too! So easy to clean!!

Winter - i know what you mean about the straps.... we too never liked to clean ours so took it off as DD wasn't going anywhere at the time..... (we never cut them tho they just slide out if you push hard enough..!) and now they are back on because she is constantly climbing out and scaring us!!!!

We do have a seat that attaches to a chair so yeah we might use that for a change... good idea again - thanks ladies!!!! Why didn't I think of all this?? we got it given as a gift at the baby shower and just put it away as I wanted the Ikea one and DD looked too small for it until now.

[AliBaby]

I sometimes put lunch on the coffee table and she will come and get a piece at a time and normally just stand at the coffee table eating. Probably a bad habit but it saves a lot of tears sometimes.

[Shanti]

She's on the floor at the moment sitting in the infant seat that attaches to a chair with a strap... so its on the floor and so far so good she is happy in it eating her fruit for the afternoon! Yay.... i might keep persisting with the Ikea chair for some meals but also use this chair too now.

[*Beema*]

We found that a big plastic mat on the floor and putting the food on there that DD would come and eat when she wanted to, she now sits happily in a highchair I think they go through phases, another friends little girl has refused from the moment she could crawl, they woul put her food on a plate on a coffee table or chair and she would come and go as she pleased

She at a lot more that way rather than forcing the issue, glad the infant seat is working atm I think being a parent teaches us a lot about thinking outside of the square and flexibility

[Shanti]

think being a parent teaches us a lot about thinking outside of the square and flexibility

Oh for sure! I have learnt many 'new ways' since becoming a Mum hehe

We sometimes do the coffee table thing too.... it's a good height for her to stand at too.

[bubno.3]

Hi

I have two children the youngest 21 mths .... I would ignore the 'tantrums' that she pulls when you want her to sit in the chair and just sit her there then distract her ... she will forget all about being in the chair i promise. I just feel if a 13 mths throws a wobbly then gets out of sitting in the chair they will learn to do the arching of the back and more screaming will get her more play time all the time. I honestly would try to ignore be firm and tell he NO mummy wants you to sit here for lunch dinner or quiet time ' So you as mum can feed her or have 10 mins for you to do whatever ... she can still watch you .

Cheers

[~Kim~]

All the other girls have given great advice, but here's my take;
If I'm at the table eating then the kids are more likely to be happy to sit in their appropriate spots to sit and eat too, but sometimes I don''t feel like that and I like to graze or sit outside, or even sit on the floor with the kids. As long as we eat together if that's what I want, does it really matter where they eat?
While I do generally agree with you bubno3 about the tantrums, sometimes avoiding them at all is much more productive.