My 16 month old will sit for a very short period of time in her high chair before she decides it is time to get up and walk around. Or, it's time to sit in her parent's lap to eat her dinner. Anyone else running into this? How do you deal with it?
Last night the inlaws were in town and I know she was acting out because they were here but she wouldn't eat anything and all she wanted to do was run around the table, laughing and chasing the dogs. 
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Would a booster chair help? Maybe if she felt like she was sitting like the adults she would sit longer? No clue since I haven't had to deal with this yet.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@Smurfette: blah, same thing happens with the booster.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
@mediagirl: Is she able to get down by herself or do you have to let her down? If it is the latter, maybe start to have her wait longer in her chair before you let her get down each night (3min, 5 min, 7min, 10min, etc.) . . . and try to teach her that we sit at the table while everyone eats, we can play after dinner, etc.? That's a toughie!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@MsLipGloss: yep. We have to let her down. You should hear her screams when we don't... But this is a good idea, screaming or not. We're sort of push-overs....
pomegranate / 3729 posts
My only solution to this is more food. Or sometimes I let her color in her high chair. At daycare she sits in a little kids chair at a table and eats, it amazes me that she is that focused there, but not at home.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
@mediagirl: *augh* It's so hard! And the screaming . . .I totally hear you on that. I would let my LO down too! But maybe the gradual approach will work! Sort of like modified CIO for the highchair? 
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I deal with the whining, crying and screaming at home but DH usually takes her out and lets her sit on his lap when we eat at restaurants.
coconut / 8299 posts
My DD does the same but I'm used to it now because my son did the same at that age too! I try to get her to sit there as long as possible by distracting her. So I'll give her finger foods and then let her color or play with some toys. If she's screaming her head off, I'll let her down. But if she's just whining, I try to distract her!
pear / 1723 posts
You might try a toddler table?
My kids get breakfast and dinner in their boosters and have lunch and snacks at a little wooden table and chairs that is also in the dining room. Sometimes sitting there with them helps them focus and eat too. They go through phases where the booster is better and the table is better, and we just try to go with the flow. Sometimes they eat their main meal in the booster and then their fruit at the little table, stuff like that. Good luck!
honeydew / 7444 posts
My 18 month old LO went through that phase, and one thing i did was i let her down, but if she wanted food, i'd put her back in the chair. One night i probably had her back up in the chair 5 times! But it sent a strong message that if she wanted food, she had to eat it in the chair. But i think it worked because for about a month (maybe longer?) she's been really good at the dinner table. I'm more lax about it now because she does stay in the chair for at least 30 minutes.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@MsLipGloss: I hope so, I will try that!
@autumnlove: we do the lap thing at restaurants right now, too. We need to stop being such push-overs. 
@banana: so, you got through it no worse for wear the first time? That's good to hear. As always, I'm afraid we're "ruining" her by letting her get her way.
@MerryC: we have thought about that, too but I don't want her far away from us. Sometimes we let her eat her snack in the learning tower, if we are not eating. She does pretty well with that, standing there and eating. It won't work for dinner, though because we all like to eat (eh hem, my husband and I like) to eat at the table together.
@Freckles: good idea!! I'll try that one, too! Thank you!
coconut / 8299 posts
@mediagirl: Yes, I got through it and you will too! I think at that age, they just have VERY short attention spans.
So like @freckles mentioned, I think the purpose of all of this is to have her associate the high chair with eating (to avoid having a kid who runs around while the mom chases them holding a spoonful of food). But also to get her used to WAITING there. Because at restaurants, you want them to sit there and wait for the food to come. So I sit my DD in her high chair and let her watch me cook. I'll try to entertain her and distract her so that she gets the concept of waiting for food (with snacks or crayons). It's working pretty well so far. She'll wait until I give her food because she knows that it's coming. After she's done eating, I'll put her down and let her play. I can't expect her to wait for food, eat, and still be sitting there while I clean up. That would be a super baby in my book! The most I can expect from her at this age is to wait for her food and eat it on her chair.
pomelo / 5093 posts
Sitting with mine is helpful, as well as making sure that she's actively hungry. But the most useful thing was just waiting it out. Children that age have really short attention spans, and some kids just hate sitting. With my (VERY ACTIVE) daughter, I decided that it better served all of us to just wait for her to mature a bit, rather than turn it into a big power struggle. Now, at 25 months, she'll happily sit for a while if she's hungry, in general.
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