Kennedy is 3 and we still use a highchair for her. Was wondering when you all got rid of your highchairs. She doesn't mind it, doesn't try to get out or anything. I can sit her at the table wth us but she does have a tendency to want to get down and not eat her meal. I DO have a booster seat but just got new furniture and hate to strap it to our new chairs, that have padded fabric covers.
This is virtually the only "baby" item I have left, besides her crib. Just wondering when you got rid of the highchair???? I want her to feel like the rest of the kids and eat at the table with us, what do you think???? I now, a sillly question, just wondering ..................

We used a high chair until we moved. Russell was 3 1/2 when we moved. The reason we used one for so long is that his reflux was so severe we had to keep him upright in one place for about 20-30 min after each meal, so we had a high chair with a 5 point harness.

When we moved I gave away the high chair. I then used two little tykes chairs and moved them up to our bench we had with our nook and started the spoon feed stuff with Russell and his younger sister, Reece. It worked great. We then used a Little Tykes table and chairs in our second apartment so they could have something at their level. It worked great for us like this!

Have you tried a child size table and chair? I think it's up to you and where your child is at.. and if you say it's time.. then GO FOR IT! It's time! Won't hurt to try and giving some new independence is always good for growth! It might be a very good thing to do so!

A.

They have the booster seats that strap them in. You might try that and put a towel under it so it doesn't bother your new furniture.

Kayla

Thans guys! I do have a small table and chair set, I guess it is a matter of keeping her in the seat so that she eats her meal. I just HATE to keep her contained in a highchair, I want to give her more independence. I think I will try the small table and aso put her siblings there with her. Maybe that will help her learn to sit there as they do.

Renee...the right time is...when you THINK its the right time.

I put a booster at the table at about 2, it had a seatlbelt so even though it wasnt as containing as the highchair, it did reinforce "sit". Then at about 3, we moved to a small kids table and chairs. Then she started eating with us at the big table. Have fun...and keep your dustpan ready!!

We use a wooden chair that we got from the Right Start catalogue that can be adjusted so that when she gets older it will be the same height as a regular chair. It has a 5 point harness so she is locked in once she is in the chair, but she can climb in herself and it pulls up to the regular table so she eats with us. We can't use a little chair and table because that is the same height as our dog who would steal everything off Anna's plate if he could. The chair cost about $100, but it was far cheaper than those Scandavian chairs which are very similar but cost $400. We also like it because it's wooden and is the same color as the rest of the kitchen table and chairs.

If we aren't at the table we still use Percy's highchair for exactly the same reason. She actually has her own little table but she'll spend all mealtime moving it and not eating!!

We moved Callum to a booster seat, which has a strap to keep him in it, at about 20 months. We needed the highchair for Kieran at that point so switched him. We moved Kieran to the same sort of booster at about age 2.

We don't use the high chair for the pure fact that it takes up way too much room in our small kitchen. Megan sits on a chair and Olivia sits in this:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265739&cp=2255981.2256180.2256183&parentPage=family

We had 2 at one point but the other one got dirty and the clothe ripped so we chucked it, so it has been about 3 months that MEgan has been a big girl at the big girl table.

We have put Abby in a booster seat with a strap... otherwise she wouldn't be able to reach the table sitting in the chair itself. Since the booster gets her to table height, the strap is used to help in her safety. But she does eat with us at the big table. James Thomas is occupying the high chair.

I use to have a home daycare so I have a kids table( like they do a tpreshools). We all sit at it. Abigails been sitting at it since she was about 21 onths old or so. Now she can get on or off her self. When we go out to resturants she sits in a highchair because she would be to small in the chair or boster chiar.

We tried the booster with Lauren (attached to one of our kitchen table chairs). She would push off the table with it though and fell back once. Between that and throwing her plates, we decided to wait on the booster thing. She is still in the high chair. Lauren turned 2 in June.

Cathy

Matt gave up the highchair around 2 1/2 when Hannah started using it. He sits on a booster to the table when we have a meal together. Or on a chair to a small table when just the kids are eating. He does fine on both. And, strangely enough, there's very little mess. Hannah on the other hand ....!

I like the idea of covering your seats with a towel, or plastic sheet, and putting her in a booster - that way she can be a big girl on a big girls' chair and eat with the rest of you, and your chairs stay clean.

Towels work wonders on seat pads (double up if you're really worried) and if you're concerned about a booster seat scratching wood, you can always create a 'buffer' on the back of the chair with, yet, another towel! She'll get the hang of it and love being with everyone else!

I guess I'm the oddball...Ethan is 5 and still uses his highchair. He tends to arch his back to get down without any idea of how far up he is, so safety-wise we keep him in the chair. Plus, he really enjoys putting his cup back in the little cup holder. He's starting to blossom now that he's off chemo!

John just recently started refusing to sit in a high chair so we switched him to a booster, the kind you strap to the chair. He sits right up at the table with his plate on the table. The only problem is that twice he has pushed himself back from the table and the chair hasn't slid back and he pushed himself over falling straight back getting a good knock on the head when he fell. I watched him go over both times and couldn't get to him fast enough to stop him. After the second time, I went on-line and found a couple of chairs that are high but not traditional highchairs. One was $200 and after watching him hit his head so hard I was ready to run out and buy one. But then I found a couple at IKEA that looked good. I ran out to IKEA one morning when John was at preschool, but both the chairs I had seen on-line were out of stock (even though it said they were in stock when I checked on-line). I ended up coming home with a $300 hutch instead - ha, ha, ha!!! Not at all what I was looking for but I really like it. So, we're still using the strap on booster and he hasn't gone over again, but we have to do something different because I will seriously lose my lunch if I see him go back again like he did before.

That's where we are. Not much good information from me, but you should see my hutch!