One of the first things everyone usually puts on their baby registry is a high chair. Because you have to have one, right? Everyone knows that after about six months, you need to have a high chair so that you can start feeding your child some slightly solid foods. Maybe everyone is wrong though. High chairs can be expensive, bulky, and potentially dangerous for your child. So that got me wondering if they are really necessary.
High chairs can be convenient. They provide a place where you can strap your child in and it will hold them safely in place while you focus of maneuvering food into their rapidly moving mouth.
High chairs though certainly have their drawbacks. You can easily spend over $100 for one. They are usually not very portable if you want to travel and eat at a relative’s house. They can have potentially dangerous toxins which can leach into food (You can read more about this in the article I wrote here
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I did some searching and found a few alternatives which will allow you to avoid the high chair forever. Be aware though that none of these are perfect replacements. They all have their own special, unique benefits and drawbacks which might make them perfect for you or completely unusable. So take a look below and see what you think.
Booster Seat
Booster Seats can look and act a lot like a high chair. Some people might even consider them high chairs. They are seats which strap onto one your table’s chairs and provide the same features as the high chair. You can strap your child into the seat, and it provides a safe place to feed your child.
Pros
- Less expensive
- Easy to transport
Cons
- Can damage chair
- Still has same risk of toxins as a standard high chair
- Depending on the design of your chair, could be easier for your child to tip over if they get too active.
Weaning Table
Popular among Montessori parents is the weaning table. Basically it is a small table and chair that keeps your child close to the ground. It is a smaller version of a typical dining table and allows your child to sit in the chair and learn to eat just like an adult. This includes eating on plates or bowls and drinking from open cups.
Pros
- Closer to ground so it’s less risk of injury
- Teaches life skills earlier than usually found in a high chair
- Uses kid plates and cups, so less risk of toxins leaching into food
Cons
- Requires a lot of supervision early on
- Likely not easy to travel
- As expensive, if not more so than a standard high chair
Your lap
No one says you need to put your child into a special seat for them to eat. You can definitely hold them, or let your significant other hold the child, while you feed them.
Pros
- Free
- Always with you
- Complete control over safety of child
- Easy to transport
Cons
- Can be difficult to eat yourself while feeding child
- Spills will likely get on your clothes
The floor
Just like I told you in the last suggestion, nothing says you are required to place your child into a specific chair. If your child can sit upright on their own, then you both can sit on the floor while you feed them. I suggest you place a blanket on the floor unless you know for sure that the floor is clean.
Pros
- Free (Except for cost of blanket if you choose to use one)
- Easy to transport
- Very safe for the child
Cons
- Can be hard for us old folk to get all the way down there and back up
- Floors can be dirty places
- Your pets might see an easy opportunity for a snack
- Can be time consuming, you probably won’t be eating yourself while you’re on the floor.
A standard chair
If none of the other alternatives work for you, you can always just use a standard chair. Any of your table chairs will likely provide a firm surface with a back they can rest against. Just know that your child won’t be strapped in, so you’ll need to hold them in place yourself. This might require teamwork. One person makes sure the child doesn’t fall off, while the other handles the feeding.
Pros
- Likely free (you probably already have a chair sitting around)
- Your child will feel like a big kid sitting at the table
- Easy to transport.
Cons
- Higher risk of injury
- Needs teamwork
- Can be time consuming due to need of constant attention