At what age does a child move from a hi chair to a booster"

[lkmiscnet]

I'm presuming a booster seat is what comes next. Just wondering when to make the trade up, though I'm sure it's contingent on a child's personality too.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by lkmiscnet

I'm presuming a booster seat is what comes next. Just wondering when to make the trade up, though I'm sure it's contingent on a child's personality too.

We stopped using the high chair for DD when she was around 18 or 20 months old. She suddenly wanted nothing to do with it and loved sitting with us at the table with the booster.

[RedPony]

I think my oldest was older, but with the baby we switched her out at about 15 months? And she used the booster for maybe 6 weeks. Now she just sits on the chair.

[just_lily]

My kid skipped boosters entirely. We had an Ikea high chair, and at about 14mo or so we took the tray off and just pushed her up to the table. At about 22ish months I picked up a booster seat at a garage sale and she wasn't impressed. She just wanted to sit on the regular chair. So she does, usually on her knees.

From time to time she wants to sit back in her high chair at the table, but she just sits on a regular chair about 95% of the time. She is 27 months now.

[justKate]

My 19 mo DD is in a highchair, and will probably stay there for a while for two reasons:
1) When we tried the booster at the table, she kicked the bottom of the table throughout the meal, scratching her toes on something rough underneath and bothering the heck out of us; and
2) She bangs/scrapes her utensils and cup so much that I'm afraid she'll destroy my table. Guess I could get a table cloth, but that would just be one more thing to clean....

[lyra2007]

Lazy again...2 1/2 and still in her high chair. Never even occurred to me! She's been using a booster in restaurants for about 3 months. Guess she's getting a booster for Christmas

[AFWife]

My 17mo recently stopped wanting to sit in a highchair...

[zebra15]

My son never used a 'booster'. He stayed in a high chair until about age 3. (he was a tiny thing) Then went right to the table and regular chair. DS did the same thing when we were out at a restaurant, never did a 'booster' there either. I had a larger high chair- one of the convertibles that did a whole bunch of things- so it did have a higher weight limit on it- DS is 10 so this was a while ago.... I have no idea about 'baby stuff' today LOL

[butterfly_mommy]

DS has used a booster seat strapped to a regular chair that has a tray that attaches to it since he started eating solids at 7 mons. he still uses this with the tray as we do not have a proper table and just eat sitting at a butcher block and there is not any room for a third plate.

We are getting a proper table soon and when we do then DS will either use his booster on the chair without the tray or we will get a kids chair at Ikea which is a smaller regular chair that has a bit higher seat.

In restaurants he outgrew the wooden high chairs a few months ago and just sits on a regular chair now.

[MamaPhD]

Originally Posted by gbailey

We stopped using the high chair for DD when she was around 18 or 20 months old. She suddenly wanted nothing to do with it and loved sitting with us at the table with the booster.

DD suddenly was into being a "big girl". Also she wanted to climb in/out by herself into booster, rather than have me put her in/out of high chair.

[lookatreestar]

never had a high chair with either kid

[dividedsky]

at around 18mos i bought my boys a kid-size table w/chairs from ikea, they eat at their own table now. which they love. it's REALLY cute

[crunchy_mommy]

I think around 9 or 10 months? We didn't really use the highchair much anyway to begin with... but he hated mealtimes in the highchair (even with it pushed right up to the table). Maybe because he didn't like the 5-point harness or still felt separate from the table? When we switched him to a booster, he'd happily sit with us for the whole meal most nights. We use a booster with a 3-point harness (if we were going to use a strapless booster I'd probably have waited until around 18-20 months to switch to the booster -- he is only just starting to be safe in it without the straps, though we still use them anyway for the time being!)

[justKate]

Originally Posted by zebra15

My son never used a 'booster'. He stayed in a high chair until about age 3. (he was a tiny thing) Then went right to the table and regular chair. DS did the same thing when we were out at a restaurant, never did a 'booster' there either. I had a larger high chair- one of the convertibles that did a whole bunch of things- so it did have a higher weight limit on it- DS is 10 so this was a while ago.... I have no idea about 'baby stuff' today LOL

Yikes, after reading the responses, I felt bad for keeping DD in a high chair, but now that I think about it, it is a big one that converts to a tall booster seat and she is tiny (20 lbs @ 19 mos.) so that will be my excuse...

[heatherdeg]

At home we have one of those portable high chair things that straps to a regular chair and she's always just used that at home.

When we go out, though, we have to have a booth because she has refused high chair and booster since she was about 18mo.

[tankgirl73]

We started putting her in a booster around a year old, I think, but if we have another child we'll probably skip the high chair altogether. I really don't see any advantage of a high chair over a booster seat at the table.

I *think* the ubiquitousness of the high chair came about because of feeding solids to babies too young to sit up themselves. And possibly also with the Victorian kind of ideals of children behaving ultra-politely and therefore needing to be strapped in so they don't get up and down willy-nilly, and booster seats not being commonly available. I'm just guessing at this...

But we wait until babies are old enough to sit up themselves, if they need support to sit then they're not old enough to eat solids. And we do baby-led solids, so there's no need to to have them at separate seating to eat their separate food. It's better to just have them at the table, eating the same food as everyone else, plus observing and later participating in family dinner table banter/etc. We were finding the high chair a real pain to pull up to the table, and she always felt separate from the rest of us.

By the time she was 18mo or so, we stopped using the booster and she just sat on her knees on a regular chair (or in our laps). We felt that rather than strap her in for our convenience, it was better to respect her own impulses of when she was hungry or full, when she needed to get up and run around and take a break before coming back to finish. We also followed a lot of Montessori toddler philosophies, so she was involved in getting her own dishes, serving her own food, carrying her dishes back to the dishwasher, etc. All that is harder when they're strapped in. IMO, as soon as it's no longer a safety issue where they're likely to fall if they're not strapped in, and they can get up and down from chairs by themselves (or mostly anyway), then give them the freedom to use those skills.

[Novus]

16-month-old DS is still in a high chair, for the most part. We have started using boosters at restaurants because he's getting too big for the little wooden high chairs they have at most places. We'll move him to the booster (or just a regular chair, depending on age/size) when he starts being able to eat reliably off a plate. Right now, we still have to put his food straight on the tray because if we put a full plateful of food in front of him, he gets overwhelmed and throws it everywhere.

[peainthepod]

22-month-old DS is still in a high chair (the roomier Ikea kind) because I'm hugely pregnant and it makes mealtimes about a thousand times easier on me. Now that DH is back in town after a very long extended business trip and can give me a hand, I think I'll start putting him in an adult chair at the table, no booster.

[moondiapers]

So far my kids have stayed in the highchair until they are tall enough to sit in a regular chair. I'm not fond of having to remove a booster seat for someone else to use the chair, then having to put it back again. We have a nice wooden highchair that goes well with our diningroom set so it's not a bright plastic eyesore like some of the contraptions out there these days.

[AKislandgirl]

We have always used a booster pulled up to the table. DD started solids at 6 months and the tray was on it for a couple of months but since then she has just eaten at the table. We keep the booster attached there permanently as its her spot so we have not had a need to take it on and off. Works well for us and we can even take it out to dinner if we know the rest. doesn't have a good chair for DD.