Christina (and everyone else),
My kids were in their booster by the time they were 10 months old and in regular chairs at 17 months (16 for my daughter). I sold my highchair on ebay. If you treat them (and train them to be) like big kids, they will act like it. I go out to eat alone with my children, always get a booth if possible, preview the menu so I can order right away (check it out online before you go), order bread and soup with noodles so it comes fast and they can start eating, lots of extra napkins, go before they are ravenously hungry, and expect them and make them behave - no throwing food, no running around. I don't take toys or snacks, they eat what I order. I never get dessert in house, I always order it when my food comes along with containers to pack up leftovers and leave once we are done eating. I constantly get compliments on how well behaved my children are but that is because I have worked hard to make them that way and I expect it of them.
By the way, my kids are 3.5 years old and 22 months. I also almost never have to put them into time out (once a month maybe). They KNOW when they have been bad and when mommy is mad. My mother never used time out, it wasn't invented back in the 60's when I was a kid. All we needed was the "look" and if that did not work then we got "the stern warning". If mom got to yelling at us we knew we were in serious trouble. That is how I have raised my children and they are turning out very well behaved. Treat them like infants and they will act like it. Treat them like responsible members of society and the family and they will act like they are.
A.