High chair refusal

[ladyPMD]

My 19 month old used to be very happy in her Ikea high chair. Now more often than not she throws a massive leg kicking tantrum when I try to put her in it. Even tempting her in with a big pile of goji berries has stopped working. If we put her in against her will (2 person job) she just screams, head bangs, tries to climb out and refuses to eat. If she agrees to go in she quickly asks to sit on my knee when she tries to throw my food on the floor or feed it to me with a fork... Her preferred option is to run around the kitchen occasionally grabbing a mouthful on the go.

None of these are ideal.

I'm not sure if this is just one of those pesky phases or if we need to think about alternative seating arrangements?

Has anyone got any wisdom to share about high chair refusal and what alternatives might work? She is too small to use a normal chair and tends to topple off.

Thanks in advance.

[catkin]

We persisted for a while with mouse at a similar age but he just didn't like being captive.

Then we got a step chair (ours is Hauck, it's like a cheaper version of a TrippTrapp) which we used without the harness bit so he could just climb on and off. As soon as he was "free" he was happy to sit at the table for longer again. That is adjustable to height, though I guess it wouldn't help with the toppling off bit.

He still uses it sometimes now so we got a second one for hamster for a bargainous 99p on ebay!!

[FestiveTidings]

Oh yes, I remember this phase. It resulted in the high chair being relegated to the garage.

I picked up one of those booster chairs that strap to a normal dining chair at an NCT sale (though to be honest they aren't that expensive new and sell on well) and that resolved the problem for a while until he was able to sit on a normal chair unaided. He was happy with a waist strap rather than the harness.

[StJuniper]

We moved to a booster seat at about that age. He was fine being in the high chair but always climbed and squirmed all over the place once in-- he was an expert at slipping the buckle-- and things were greatly improved by moving to the booster seat.

[GHJingle]

Phew! We're not the only ones!! A has started insisting on sitting on my if Dh's knee for meals which is really annoying!!

[DandelionFrosting]

That was us, too. We have a climbable high chair, though, so for us it was easy -- just let him climb in by himself, and magically he's happy and content! Pick him up and put him in at your own risk. For a while he also insisted on fastening himself in with the belt, but I eventually just took the belt off because I was too pregnant and lazy to get up and unfasten him when he wanted down.

[mamapup]

Same here. We have a Tripp trapp so just removed the baby bit and now it's just a seat. Info remember we take a booster seat when we go out but to counter arguments in restaurants the puppy is offered a 'normal chair ' or a 'special chair '. More often than not he'll choose the latter. As long as he's chosen it he doesn't tend to argue about being strapped in or unable to come ans go as he wishes.

[ladyPMD]

Thanks for all your useful replies. Glad I am not alone, but not glad that this may not just be a phase!

I am aware of the Tripp trapp chair and other similar wooden ones that convert. I now wonder whether I should have invested in a second hand one earlier on...

Any suggestions for the best brand of booster seat?

[mamapup]

We have a cheapy mothercare one that does the job. I know there are slightly more expensive ones that have space to carry stuff in them too but for the number of times we have actually used ours I'm glad we didn't spend much.