My house is STUPID small, so we had to get rid of our dining room table. The girls eat dinner at the bar, my husband and I sit at the coffee table, my son goes in his high chair. Well, he's 19 months old and huge, he looks ridiculous in that thing. I really don't have room for even a kid size table (which is what I'd prefer)... I was wondering, how long can he eat in the high chair? I was looking at those booster seats that slide onto the counter, which would work at the bar, but he's outgrow it too soon, it's not worth even finding second hand. Am I just screwed here? Or is it okay for him to still be in the high chair? How long did you use yours? BTW, the high chair converts into a booster, maybe I could get a high back bar stool? I don't like that idea, I think he'd fall over somehow. What to do?
I can't WAIT to find a BIGGER HOUSE!! ;)
If he's happy in the high chair and not complaining, I'd just let him stay there. My son hated his high chair and refused to eat in it like EVER, but my sister-in-law's son is 30 months and still eats in his (looks ridiculous but totally works for them!).
ETA: What about removing the tray from the high chair, and sliding it up to the bar? Is it tall enough?
How about the booster with safety straps on a bar stool so he can eat at the bar but is safely strapped in. I use a fisher price booster that straps to the bar stool and I can also strap a 2 year old year old in that I watch.
My son was about 2 yrs old when we stopped using it. It just kind of happened on his own, as he climbed into the big chair for lunch one day and I didn't insist he sit in his high chair.
I agree that the high stools just don't feel safe. My son is 3 and still can fall out of a regular chair if he's playing around too much. Kids just don't have that great of reflexes and coordination to stay in seats this young. So if I were you, I'd just keep him in his high chair for now, as long as it's not a problem - he fits, he's safe, he doesn't complain about it .......
We bought STOKKE chairs for all of our kids and our 9 year old is still using it. They match our table and everyone eats together. We first saw these in Germany when I was 2 months pregnant with the 9 year old. Maybe look into them and see if they will work. The come with straps, so you can use them as long as you feel you need to use them.
My oldest used her high chair until she was well over 2 years old - she loved it - and it left us room for 4 chairs at the dinner table. Then, it just became too much clean up (all those nooks & crannys) so I convinced her to try sitting at a regular chair - no problems! I say if your son is not complaining, keep him in it. My daughter who is now 3.5 sometimes "borrows it" from her younger sister & sits in it when my husband gives her pancakes & syrup as a treat in the living room.
heck with tables and chairs......just sit on the floor. :)
man - since you don't have a table....I was gonna say just a plain booster seat...we used the one that hooks to the bar for when we went out to dinner...
Man - it's been a while!! I think Greg was in a high chair for 16 months...and Nicky was in it until he was 2 just because he's a squirmer!!
Since the high chair converts - convert it baby!!! move the stools closer together and convert baby convert!!! :)
I am not a fan of boosters. I found that my daughter would come dangerously close to tipping hers backwards. Instead, I got her a "big girl chair) that she still uses now (at 5). It's a Euro Chair - but I am not sure if it will sidle up to a counter bar???
Anyway, I totally agree with MIchelle. If he isn't complaining, keep him in there. There is something to be said about knowing where you place is. Once you introduce a new seat, you're DONE!! :)
Can he just sit on your lap? Not that you want to always do that...but if he deosn't like it and he's too big - it might be the next best option :).
We still plop the 41/2 year old in one when we go out. He is much easier to manage that way and not get up and wander around.
I used the TRAY for ages... but the chair itself was this bulky pain in the neck thing that I tossed by 1yo (small apartment).
Both of his great grandmothers had these blue "mystery material" and round metal (polished steel) arm and leg chairs from god knows when. They were half the width of adult chairs. They were a good foot taller. They had serious rubber leg protectors on the bottom (aka could be drug across any floor surface without damaging it). They had a 'ladder' front that could be climbed up and down, but only if the chair was pulled away from the table. They were PERFECT. They aren't "highchairs", but they ARE high chairs. 3 generations of kids have used those chairs (My mum and all her sibs used it in the 50's, I and all my sibs and cousins used it in the 80's, my son used it in the 00's).
AWESOME chair. Fits a 1yo. Fits a 9yo.
BOTH my kids... HATED high chairs.
So, we never used it.
They just sat, on a booster thing that STRAPS onto top of the dining chair.
THEY liked that.
MANY kids hated high chairs. And it takes up so much room.
Your child is 19 months.
He'd be fine on a chair booster.
No need for high chairs.
And you have space limitations.
OR, an alternative is, (and many friends I know do this), they have a child sized Toddler table and chair, for their child to sit at and eat at AND to do many other things/activities. It goes a long way and is very practical and has many uses.
But my kids, even at that age, mostly just sat at the table, on their knees etc., at the kitchen table and they ate fine and could reach, just fine.
