Quick I have a dilemma! I think I want to get for H a little table set. He hasn't big digging his high chair (big surprise) and I like the Montessori idea of letting them eat at their own sized table, so I want to give it a whirl. I love the picnic table below, and it is on clearance at my favorite neighborhood shop. But, will H have a hard time getting in and out of that seat for too long? I want something he can use soon. Should i opt for a vintage booster seat (like above) and a little separate table?
*i should note that i am not worried about following the Montessori approach strictly, if so than i would have my choice. i just want to know if you think a little guy like H would soon be able to climb in and out of a bench style seat....
HE WANTS TO SIT AT THE TABLE WITH YOU
ReplyDeletewe've had this issue, too, and i do get where esb is coming from. i'm still too nervous to put cheech in a booster because she is such a MOVER, so (don't laugh), we started eating meals at the coffee table to be down at her level. she eats standing, and is still on the go through lots of her meals, but she does eat better this way, and if she wanders off, i just wait for her to come back. meals do take FOREVER because of this, but i figure meals take forever with babies/kids in general anyway. i think at this age, they just don't like feeling confined. movement is so new, and therefore exciting to them.
ReplyDeleteCELIA you didn't answer the main question, will H be able to work out a bench sitch or does he need a little "chair"?
ReplyDeleteha! the other night i didn't feel like dealing with henry at the dinner table so we had a "picnic" so we could eat just how you described.
anyways, yeah. that is kind of the idea. we would eat at his level, when we are having the same meal time as him. we certainly won't sit at the big table and put him at the little one, ESB. :P
shit, sorry. i'm teling you it's the pink eye. a bench might be harder, but i don't think it would be too long before he'd get it. honestly, i wouldn't be able to keep cheech in either. i don't know what it is about her sitting still in restaurants, but she has NO DESIRE to even attempt that at home. :l
DeleteThe people watching is better at restaurants.
DeleteWe love love love our Stokke high chair, got it used in the Bay Area via craigslist. It has totally grown with the kiddo and allows him to sit at the table with the big peeps and we use it for coloring at the table now that he is 1.5. I also let him sit/stand in in while i cook dinner pushed up against the counter and he totally loves being my little sous chef. It won't tip over ever which is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThe picnic bench seems a little constraining and like he would tip over backwards when trying to get himself out of it and need help getting in and out.
we use a stokke tripp trapp high chair for now (she's seven months). we don't have the tray but move her right up to our table (there's a plastic circular mat for all the spills...and we have a dog).
ReplyDeletei did buy the $20 wood table and mini chairs from ikea. she hasn't used it yet but we're going to encourage that when she's more mobile and standing up. i'd love it if my hubby and i are eating that she's at the table with us. but i don't eat at the same time all the time as ramona (sue me), so i'm thinking her own little table will be great for when she's the only one eating.
we're also letting ourselves be inspired by some montessori ideas. but when i tried to montessorify the whole upstairs i went crazy, realized it wasn't absolutely necessary to raise a well-adjusted human being, and threw a bin of toys in front of her. phew.
That bench is adorable but I know that E wouldn't make it more than 2 seconds on the bench before she realized it was really just a step to the top of the table. I'd also be nervous about them falling off the backless bench but maybe I'm just paranoid...
ReplyDeleteE eats in her high chair when we eat together (like Emily, we don't eat every meal together) and on the days that she's too fidgety to sit in the chair I just figure she's not really hungry then and she'll eat later. We try ("try" being the operative word) to keep meals to the table so that she learns to be a part of the ritual and I don't love cleaning cream cheese off the couch.
FYI, we have a wooden Ikea high chair and it fits right up to the table so she's really a part of the meal. She seems to be more open to the high chair when we're all sitting together.
He likes sitting at our little Ikea table and chairs with the kids but has about the same attention span as the high chair... I think it's a phase. But that picnic table is TDF!
ReplyDeleteHe likes sitting at our little Ikea table and chairs with the kids but has about the same attention span as the high chair... I think it's a phase. But that picnic table is TDF!
ReplyDeleteIf you love it, get it. H will grow into it sooner than soon! I mean, we're talking months here, not years. And honestly, him NOT being able to get in and out of it will be to your advantage for a little while! Just plop him in and take him out yourself, like a high chair anyway.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do agree that H might just want to be at the table with you. It's like how babies/toddlers will eat most anything you eat and just want to be at the center of the action or at least in a spot with a good view. Have you tried moving his high chair to a different spot? The other day Dax refused to sit in his high chair in the kitchen where I put him so I can clean up while he eats a meal, but when I moved it into the living room for a bit by the window that overlooks the street, he was all about it.
I second the awesomeness of the tripp trapp high chair that pushes up to the table with you. It works for my 7 month old. But I'm guessing the high chair really isn't the problem for H.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of moving the chair around. Or, I know my girl won't sit happily in her chair unless EVERYONE is at the table. If someone else is in the next room, or even just up but not at the table, she is distracted and doesn't want to be there anymore.
Anyway, I know the point of the post was about a Montessori table set up, and in that case the picnic bench is totally awesome. Unfortuntely, I have no advice for how that might work. eek, sorry. Maybe a table and chairs set would be more flexible long term?
One of my Montessori books has detailed instructions on how to keep the kiddo at their child sized table... it involves putting the chair against a wall, then using the table to pin them in so they can't get out! (Sounds like a lot of bother to me.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is awesome (if I was rich): http://www.o-ji.jp/works/products/baby-in-table.html