Seeking Advice About When to Move Son from High Chair to Booster Seat.

My daughter is about the same age (born may 07) and she is very tall (like her daddy) at 37 inches and she weighs 30 lbs. She recently has become too cool ;) for her high chair and any high chair for the matter. Booster seats at restaurants don't have straps which sucked so I found a booster seat that you can take with you (as well as strap to your home dining chairs) at Babies R Us. Now she feels like a big girl. Before we made the switch about a month ago, I just had her strapped in her high chair and scooted up to the table and that worked for a few weeks. Hope this helps :)

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Hi! I have 3 boys and I was all about the move to the booster chair. The best advice I can give you is to practice, practice, practice at home first. The hardest part is when they realize they CAN get down when they want so it was important to praise for the desired behavior. Also, begin at restaurants that have faster service so that you aren't putting unrealistic expectations on the child. Good luck!

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My daughter will be 3 in A.. I still put her in high chairs at restaurants. If I don't, then it is too stressful on me. In the high chair she is pretty content to eat or color while we are eating. The boosters at restaurants do not have seat belts. In a booster she is constantly trying to get up and move around, and she is not even an overly active child. It is so much harder to keep her still. It makes going out to eat not even worth it. I think that once you try it out, you will quickly decide if you want to continue the booster or not. I have tried boosters a few times, and almost everytime have ended up asking for a high chair.

At home it is a lot easier. Boosters have seat belts, and a lot of them strap to the chair. I still use the high chair at home too, but that is just b/c it is a lot less messy.

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You know your child best and this is one area where you can totally follow his lead and not worry that he's behind or anything!

Lots of people have mentioned that restaurant boosters are unstable, and I agree. My daughter just turned 5, but she's tiny, so she STILL uses a high chair at restaurants because she feels stable and can reach the tables easier. We give her the choice at this point, and she chooses the high chair, and we don't make an issue of her being too old for it.

At home, it's easier to try things out and see for yourself if he's ready. This one is up to you though...no age guidelines to worry about this time!

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I, personally, dislike restaurant booster seats. They are wobbly, and everytime I've used one, my dd has fallen forward, backward, sideways or completely out. She will be three soon, and I still use the highchairs. (She's small for her age, so they fit her well.) With my older dd, I just had her sit on her knees when she outgrew the highchair.

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We still use a restaurant high chair occasionally when we're out. My son is around 37 pounds (and very tall for his age), but I agree with Denise about their booster chairs being so wobbly! Most of the time he sits on the seat next too us, but if he gets too wiggly or won't behave, we make him sit in a high chair. Once he does, he's very well behaved!

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Why don't you just try it and see how he does? I think every kid is different and age doesn't have anything to do with it. Sometimes he will do fine in a booster and other times he will need his high chair. Our son rarely used his high chair at home, but at restaurants he would use a high chair.

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we used a booster at the table and all sat together from about 6 months at home. They sat in the high chair for their daytime meals and snacks but when we sat together for dinner in the evenings we always had our kids sitting at the table with us. The booster seat needs to have straps on it to tie it into the chair and also have straps to hold your baby in the seat. Our third child we didn't have the big high chair. We bought a booster that was like a high chair with the tray but buckled into the chair instead of having it's own legs like a regular high chair. I really liked this all in one seat because it was a lot smaller than the high chairs and it was all plastic and the bottom of the seat slid out so you could put it and the tray in the dishwasher and was small enough that they fit in with the rest of the dinner dishes. I liked it so much I still have it so that when we have kids over that age we can just pull it out and use it and will probably keep it for the grandkids we may have someday. I don't know if they still make it but it is wonderful. The seat even had adjustments to recline it from when the baby is like 4 months to sitting up straight. I didn't really use the reclining option as I started using it around 6 months. When we bought it 9 years ago it was 25.00 and was definately worth the money and a lot cheaper than the big high chairs.

As for restaurants, I didn't use the boosters much. If we were in a booth and the booster would pin itself in without wobbling then we would use it or would make sure he was next to the wall where it wouldn't move as much but would have to move all the condiments out of reach and usually put them on another table. If at a table and chairs always use the high chair because the boosters aren't safe in the chairs.

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When I felt my son was ready, we did boosters only in booths at restaurants where we could kind of "trap" him in. I was fearful of him running around the restaurant (not that he is a wild child but ya know). This was about a year ago. He is 3 now and fortunately it has been only recently that we could only get a table and he does just fine.

As far as at home, I bought a booster when he was a little over two and told him it was his big boy chair. I strapped him in for a little while but he soon learned that he could fall and from then on, no straps necessary.

Hope this helps.

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L.,
my son is 28 months, and is in the 97% percentile for both height and weight. i can't remember exactly but at his two year old check up i know he was over 35 lbs. he looks like more of a three or four year old! he is also very advanced in vocabulary and social skills, etc. point being, i will not trust my little wiggle worm to those restaurant booster seats. we tried one time, he was probably 18-20 months old, and i did nothing but "rescue" him from tipping over, "rescue" the salt and drinks, etc, the entire time. it didn't last long! 1. he's not secure, and 2. he can reach everything! so i haven't put him in one since. my criteria will be when he is mature enough to sit still somewhat, and not destroy everything in reach. don't know yet when that will be! and it might be unrealistic. but for now i stick to the highchairs. don't worry about height/weight restrictions. as long as he's not breaking the seat i think he's fine!

oh and at home we don't use the highchair as much - we have a corner kitchen nook with the L-shaped bench, and he sits on that just fine. kids can reach the table fine, it seems, when food is on the line! (at least my little tank can!) lol. do what works for you.

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Hi L.,
I have a 2 year old son so I know what you are going through! We still keep him in high chairs at restaurants because the booster seats do not have any straps so he will wiggle out (and has wiggled out of them) in the past. I think we are going to have to make the transition to the booster seats soon, but for now I am quite content to keep him in the high chairs when we are out. At home it is a much different story. We switched him into the booster seat at home when he was about 15 months or so. We have the booster seats that strap onto the chairs and have the straps to keep him in the chair. Those booster seats are the best. They are portable so if you go to a family function, he has a chair to eat in! We have one of those booster chairs at my parent's house and the straps to keep him in the chair have actually broken so he has been "free" in his booster chair over there for a while. He likes eating so he doesn't try to get out of it there. I am just not ready to make the jump to the restaurant boosters yet. Good luck and I hope this helps!

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I think somethings you just have to evaluate yourself since all kids are different. If he seems to big for a highchair then transition him to the booster seat. Now in this he will have access to get away easier. About this age I feel is right anyway or leave the tray off and pull high chair to the table to get him used to not being restained.

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The two things to consider are your son's size and ability to sit. All retaurant/movie high chairs and boosters are not created equally. If your son will sit still better in a high chair and it fits, I'd keep him in a high chair. If the high chair is too small or he's OK with a booster, use a booster. Good luck!

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My son was around that age when I took him to the next step. Follow your Motherly instincts and everything will be just fine!

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My daughter is 2 1/2, and we mostly use a highchair in restaurants. It seems like she can't really reach the table if she uses a booster seat, at least in a booth.
We never used a high chair at home, just a booster (the Fisher-Price something seat) with a tray until she was using a plate well, then we pulled her up to the table.

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We put our very tall 2 year old in a high chair if we can, but I have also brought our booster chair from home at times. It makes it pretty easy because it is stable, straps to the chair, and has a seat belt. You can see it from this link:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product.... It travels very well, and it's familiar, too, so even in a brand-new environment on a long trip, the booster is a welcome sight for my son.

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As long as he sits up well on his own, you're probably okay starting him with a booster seat anytime now. Most likely, booster seats made for the home are more secure (pick something you feel good with if you don't have it already, or-some home high chairs used to have conversion options).
I'd strongly recommend starting the booster thing at home to see if he's ready and gets comfortable with it so there's no scenes when you do it at a restaurant. Home is an environment where you have more control.

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