Ladies, I'm running into big issues with my 20 month old and her highchair. She will not stay in her chair. I have tried to switch her into a chairseat instead of the highchair but she screams bloody hell when I put her in either seat. Actually, she only screams at dinner time. It's impossible to enjoy dinner. If I let her down, she climbs on the other kids' chairs and distracts them during dinner. Any thoughts or ideas of what I can do? Right now we strap her in and let her cry for a few minutes before we let her out. This turns into her throwing her food on the floor and ruining dinner with her loud cry, etc.. This is new... it has only been happening for about 2 weeks. I really need some help before me or my husband lose our minds. I think it's important to understand that we sit down for dinner, etc..

Looking forward to hearing your responses.

depends on what time you are eating, I always feed dd who is 14 months earlier... and give her a small snack while we eat dinner. is she hungry before this, or tired? cause it seems that they throw a fit when tired....

at this age, I would let it go and enjoy dinner... I am not sure if they really grasp the whole sitting down as a family at this age.

kids are strange, she'll be doing this for 2 weeks then end of phase! LOL just enough to get us to the losing our mind, then on to something else to pull our hair out over.

sorry, not much help!

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married 9 years to a crazy Brit, mommy to a banana, she is 5 a pineapple who is 2 and a newborn sugarplum, mommy to 4 ~angel~ babies

I would make her sit for supper, regardless of her screaming. You don't want to teach her that she can get out of things by throwing a fit.

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My dd did the same thing I think around age 2. The only thing that seemed to stop it was to completely ignore her. It sounds horrible but it only took a few days to break her of it. Good luck!!

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"When people can walk away from you, let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anyone that left." Jakes

DD went through this stage. One of us - either hubby or me - would pick her up and walk her away from the table. We'd sternly talk to her about her behavior and point out what she was missing by being away from the table - fun talking to everyone else, no dinner, etc. When she calmed down, we'd ask her if she was ready to behave then take her back (I never used a high chair and never strapped her into any chair except a carseat). If she acted out again, we'd take her immediately away from the table again. It took only a few days of doing this before DD understood that she had to behave while at the table.

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have you thought about a mini magna doodles if she is not going to eat she could sit quietly and do that. if she is hungry before dinner time or tired its going to be a little tougher to get her to stop. have you tried a special cup or plate. my dd 2 has a special pink plate a cup with no lid(thats only used at dinner) and dora silverwear. she thinks she special and keeps her quiet and sitting.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

I make M sit in her chair if she's screaming too. It's easier to enjoy dinner during screaming than while she's trying to climb on my lap.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

She will continue to scream if she thinks she gets out after a few minutes of it. You have to hold your ground if this is important to you.

we all eat between 17:30 - 18:00 EVERY night - I found the routine does help.
DD who is now 19 mnths sits at the kitchen table between me and dh on a normal chair with a large book under the cushion( she does not know the book is there). She feels part of the table now - as we had this problem you had as well.

As for the throwing of food, the moment she does it - repremand her, pick it up and put that food to the side. Just carry on doing it - dont let her get away with it ( dd had a spitting problem - food in the mouth and then spat it out on the plate - we had to do the same thing to stop her).

As for screaming tell her its not allowed or accepted at the table. I normally take dd and put her in the kitchen corner and tell her she can come back when she stops. It seems to work - we dont have a problem anymore.

E.T.A I have a rule - if you walk away from the table you are finished with the food, and you wait for next meal to eat. I dont like dd running around grabbing mouthfuls when she feels like it - which happens in SIL house with her son.

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