https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 08:19:49 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2207332 Sat, 13 Jun 2015 06:55:25 +0000 BabyBoecksMom 2207332@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a 2 in 1 highchair where the seat comes off the stand and we can put that on a chair like a booster. It seemed to work much better for us. She loved it so much that she would ask to have it in the living room so she could read books and color in it </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2207227 Fri, 12 Jun 2015 20:47:44 +0000 Mae 2207227@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Would it be possible to slip her into the high chair with the tray on? and is the tray secure that way? Our first high chair was sort of a fail because LO hated it and would hit her head on the back of it over and over until we let her out. She also tended to get fussy while I was getting her strapped in and sliding the tray on (necessary bc the tray was not super secure). So we got her a new high chair with a lower back and a tray that doesn't come off easily. Now I just slide her in/out of the top without buckling her in and I have food ready right next to me so the second her butt hits the seat I can have food on her tray. As long as I get food there immediately she's cool but she gets pissy waiting. </p> <p>I hope you work this out soon. These babies! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203726 Wed, 10 Jun 2015 08:36:28 +0000 Adira 2203726@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think mine was a little older when he started doing this, but he went through the same thing. We eventually decided to stop using the high chair and had him just kneel/sit in a regular chair at the table. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203299 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 17:10:35 +0000 CakeLady 2203299@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is the same way. He is so curious and just wants to explore and play so he hates being strapped into his chair, he'd much rather eat while he plays... We have had a bit more luck with using a clip on chair at our kitchen island. I think it gives him a better view. We also have found that sometimes it helps to offer something he loves - fruit - first to "prime the pump" once we get him eating we can usually get a decent amount of food in him before he gets too mad about being confined. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203214 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:18:13 +0000 ShootingStar 2203214@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would try a booster seat at the table and just keep sticking with it. But for me, eating at the table is non-negotiable. I personally am not a fan of toddler tables or kids wandering around at meals. I want all of us to eat together. When DS is done eating then he's allowed to leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203204 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:10:15 +0000 littlejoy 2203204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is it possible to get a little table/chair (like from IKEA) for LO to use? When our LO is acting weird about her high chair (the simple IKEA one), we try to Keekaroo chair without straps or a tray. That usually helps. When all else fails, we just put her at a tiny table with her little chair. It saddens me to see her eating down there all by herself, but she seems to love it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203181 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:54:13 +0000 Mamasig 2203181@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS2 doesn't like sitting in the high chair. It's often a battle. I just let him wander while we eat. I know - bad habits, but I don't care. He's a grazer - eats a little from all of us. He's eating and trying new things which is was matters to me. He'll eventually outgrow and eat at the table like the rest of us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203124 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:14:56 +0000 blackbird 2203124@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>E was doing this in her high chair, so we moved her to a booster seat just like daycare. No big problems since </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203079 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:33:18 +0000 avivoca 2203079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wonder if a toddler table and chairs might help. H still eats in her booster/tray, but at school she usually sits at a small table and has since she started walking (14 months). A might like it better and may be more inclined to sit and eat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203074 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:30:08 +0000 illumina 2203074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: is she quite clingy at the moment generally? This happens to us when LO is going through a bad patch of separation anxiety. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203072 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:28:04 +0000 Smurfette 2203072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have you tried not strapping her in? We never used the straps on our high chair. She couldn't fall out with the tray and we were right there anyway. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203067 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:15:50 +0000 twodoghouse 2203067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: We will definitely try that! I think the idea of distracting her is a good one. Sometimes I'll ask her what she sees out the window and while she's signs bird or tree I can sneak food in. Hopefully a book will keep her distracted longer. Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203064 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:13:41 +0000 mrbee 2203064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: This may be a bit off the wall, but our kids didn't like to stay at the table either... until we started reading books at the table. It worked out as a good way to get them in the habit of staying at the table, and also to get some extra reading/books in their schedule.</p> <p>If she likes books, maybe that will help keep her distracted until the phase passes? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203058 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:04:04 +0000 catomd00 2203058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter started this around that age. I need to get her a little table to try but for now I just let her sit on the floor or my lap, wherever she wants basically. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203057 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:03:46 +0000 twodoghouse 2203057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@illumina: It's been gradually getting worse over the last week. I haven't tried letting her start he meal on my lap then moving her, although I could try it and see if that's better or worse. I'm guessing she will fight going into the chair harder, knowing her. But it might work! Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203055 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:02:47 +0000 kiddosc 2203055@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would try to ride this one out. Only feed her if she is sitting in the chair. If she won't sit in the chair, she can't eat. She'll get hungry and sit in the chair. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203054 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:01:56 +0000 twodoghouse 2203054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I'd like to stick with the high chair for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I don't believe she's sit still for more than a second to eat at a table and chair where she was "free" either. She's a twin so I'm trying to coordinate getting food into two toddlers' mouths and have no desire to chase them around the house to do so! I'll try waiting it out. I'm glad your LO moved out of that phase eventually! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203053 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:00:51 +0000 illumina 2203053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How long has this been going on for? My LO does this occasionally, like once a month, and she won't eat unless she's on your lap, but we let her do it and the next day she is fine again. What if you start the meal letting her sit on you and then move her into the chair, what happens? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203052 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:59:12 +0000 twodoghouse 2203052@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: she tolerates restaurant high chairs ok for a little while, but usually needs to be held before too long. Plus, she's small and the straps don't work well on her for the restaurant style high chair, so she ends up being able to get up on her knees or turn around, etc. unless we keep a hand on her at all times. She probably likes hat freedom a lot better than her high chair at home, but she doesn't actually eat much when we go out. Just tries to escape. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203048 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:56:17 +0000 Anagram 2203048@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think this is a typical phase. A lot of my friends quit the high chair at this stage and either moved to a booster at the table or a toddler table/chairs set, but I just kept putting LO in her high chair, and she phased right back out of hating it. She still uses it for every meal at home now, at 22 months.</p> <p>We don't have space for a toddler table/chairs set in our kitchen and I don't want her eating in the living room, and the dining table is not convenient to where I have to pack her daycare lunch for the next day, which I always do while she eats--so I prefer the high chair.</p> <p>It kind of depends on what you want to do. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203046 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:54:42 +0000 mrbee 2203046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: How does she do in other high chairs, like at a restaurant? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/refusing-to-eat-in-her-high-chair#post-2203042 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:51:25 +0000 twodoghouse 2203042@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Edit: I don't know how this got into allergies/sensitivities! I'm sorry! </p> <p>My 13 month old is refusing to eat when we put her in the high chair. There's nothing hurting her about the chair. She just doesn't like to be constrained. For a while letting her eat without the tray helped - we just pushed her up to the table and let her eat off a placemat. Sometimes that still works. We also stopped buckling the shoulder straps and just do the waist straps now, but she still hates it. The second I put her in it she starts shaking her head, signing all done, kicking her legs, signing down, and it eventually leads to sobbing if I don't get her out of the chair. Obviously she doesn't get a lot of eating done with this going on. </p> <p>If I let her down, she starts signing up, milk, strawberry, banana, more, nurse. Basically using all her food signs. I think she is hungry, but doesn't want to sit in her chair. She'll eat if she's sitting on my lap, but I don't want to resort to that to get her to eat. I would buy a new high chair if I believed the chair itself was really the problem. However I think it's an issue of her testing me/the rules. What do you think? Is this just a phase I need to wait out? And if so, is it ok that in the meantime she's barely eI'm ating? We're transitioning from formula to whole milk and she's doing ok with that, but it means she's not getting the calories and nutrients from formula anymore and that makes me a little nervous when she barely eats anything at a meal. She still nurses several times a day, but I think it's mostly for comfort, not as a meal, if that makes sense. </p>