My daughter is showing interest in sitting at the table with my husband and I during meals. We have looked at a few booster seats in the stores, but they are more like "space saver high chair" styles. I'm looking for something without a tray that secures to the regular chair. I want to have her start sitting with a placemat using the table instead of a tray. I also don't want an expensive chair because she is already pretty tall and can almost sit without a seat, so I know she will not use it for a very long time.
Any ideas? What are some chairs you Mommies have used with your toddlers? Should I just skip it because she is already quite tall?
Thanks for all the suggestions. We decided to go with the booster seat made by bright start. It was only $12 and has no little areas for food to get stuck. It secures to the chair and best of all my lil girl LOVES to sit in it.
We just got the cheapest Target brand chair that just sits on a normal dining chair, it has two clips, one for under the chair and one for the back, then one for across the child's belly. It stays on well, and does the trick...I think it was $10.
Good luck!
We have loved the Stokke highchair - now called Tripp Trapp (was kinderzeat). The chair is adjustable as your child grows, my 5 and 7 year olds still use them. Easy to clean, very safe (they can't tip it over backwards, and very durable.
Here's the link: http://stokkeusa.com/tripptrapp.htm?gclid=CI6syqyKhpUCFQK...
I have two Tripp-Trapps for my first two kids, and then found a look alike at leapsandbounds.com for our third. It $89, but it adjusts the seat and foot heights as the kids grow, and can also support an adult. We love our chairs, so easy to clean and nice wooden quality to match our kitchen set.
i wouldn't skip the booster chair...especially if she's as busy as you say she is. it's nice to have them confined at the dinner table.
we have the fisher price booster...$25 i think, and it works fine. we used it with both kids. actually my younger son started using it around 5 mo. so that we could all be together at dinner time.
We got one for our son that is perfect. It is by Fisher Price and while it comes with a tray, you don't need to use the tray. We never have to be honest with you. It is nice because the back folds down if you want to take it with you to resturants.
We got it at Walmart for about $30.00.
Good luck
My girlfriend just bought the best thing! She got it at Target.com (not sold in stores I guess?). But it is a chair elevator (meaning it lifts up your regular chair for little ones instead of putting something in the chair). It's not real big & they come in different colors. I wish I could remember the name of it - but it sits under your chair legs (the legs fit into it so they won't slip) and it lifts your chair up for little ones to sit perfect height at the table. Unless you look under the table - you would not even know it's on the chair! It was awesome!! I'm going to get one for our house too. We've been using the one that the last lady wrote you about (multi colored fold up one) but food gets under it & it gets super messy..... I'd like to just wipe down the actual kitchen chair instead of having to clean the booster and the chair both. Hope you like this thing as much as I did!!!
We also have the fisher price booster & just use it without the tray. Works great for our 2 year old & very easy to clean!
We used the Fisher Price booster seat. It's portable, and straps on to the regular dining chair really easily. It has a tray, but is removeable. We have been using it without the tray for the past year because my son wanted to be right up at the table like the rest of us. We just stopped using it last week-he is almost 3 years old, and tall for his age. He still fit in in just fine, but seemed ready to be done with it. Now, he listens and stays in his chair until his meal is over, but he never would have done that at 17 mos, so being able to strap him down was important. I really liked this chair. I even had an extra one to keep at my mom's.
We use the $12 one from Target too. My 18 month old likes it, and it's easy to clean.
We used this... Fisher price Healthy Care booster seat. It is v. portable, easy to clean, has a detachable tray and fits in any chair. It can easily go to a restaurant or grandma's or in your own dining room. Feels v. secure when you use the straps and tighten appropriately. My son also likes to sit in it on the floor sometimes at non-meal time during visits to grandma's house.
I bought for my daughter the cooshie booster at babies r us. It is about $35. It just sits on a regular chair. It does not tie or anything to the chair but with a little bit of the non skid pad from area rugs it does not move at all. It also comes in all different colors, is easy to clean and carry.
I bought a foam booster-seat from One Step Ahead..it's the best purchase I've made...it is SO easy to clean, no straps to deal with and since it is made of a foam it doesn't slide all over the chair. My son thought he was SUCH a big boy with this seat! There is also a travel bag that goes with it and is wonderful to take to restaurants or travelling to friends houses...you won't be disappointed with this one at all..my son is almost 5 and STILL uses it!!
Good Luck!!
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...
The one that goes under the chair legs is called Kaboost. I recently saw them clearanced at Target for about $15 but I think they are regularly about $25 at Babies R Us. It seems pretty neat. But, I would think that you might want to maybe buy one of the cheapies with a strap to use for a little while and then go with one of the other options later if you want. Having the option of a tray is not a bad idea either. We have one of the First Years ones with the yellow tray and it has been handy to use at other people's houses where we might not be eating at the table. We have been able to strap it onto a folding chair and not worry so much about a mess getting on their floor.
Hi C.,
We used one of those plastic, primary color fold up ones. It does come with a yellow 'tray' but it is removable which is nice because then you can use it at your table but also take it with for picnics or other events that might require a small booster, etc.
You can usually pick one up at a garage sale pretty cheap.
Check out this ebay auction, this is what we had: http://cgi.ebay.com/The-First-Years-booster-chair-with-tr...
I ended up getting a super cheap one at Target - only $12 or so! I started off with a Space Saver High Chair (too high chair-like), then tried a different booster (too tall, so couldn't push the chair it was attached to in/under the table when not in use), then I found the Target one and it's worked great. I also think the Baby Bjorn one looks nice, but there are no straps to buckle your little one in & at almost 18 months old, my son still needs that. My favorite, though, is the Cooshie Booster. My daughter used it and as soon as I'm comfortable with my son not being buckled into a booster, I'll move him to that. It's so easy to clean since there are no nooks & crannies for food to hide in (which is also why I like the Baby Bjorn booster). The material it's made of really "grips" the chair well & it doesn't have straps, which makes it very portable too. Sorry, kind of a rambling response but I've just been through the booster search, so wanted to share my many thoughts. :) Good luck!
