Giving Baby a Boost

Portable high chairs to the rescue

Eating at a restaurant with your little darling can often be an interesting experience.  And if you are anything like me, you cringe at the thought of your baby leaving a crumb filled battle zone on a public floor. I don't ever want to be that mom. You know the kind… that mom who blindly turns her head as her little commando goes ballistic on a bagel while spewing napkin shrapnel and smearing cream cheese all over anything within a two foot radius. I vow to never, ever be that mom. Ever.

So how do you dine out with your baby? You can start by reading here. There are also so many accoutrements on the market to assist you in this endeavor; however one is a must-have for anyone attempting to bring a baby to a finer restaurant - the portable high chair. Ava and I use the Fisher-Price Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat and it has been a lifesaver on many occasions. Fisher-Price rocks yet again.

This lightweight, portable high chair straps on to any regular old chair. It fastens around the back with an adjustable belt and again underneath the chair to secure the child in place. It's very simple to set up. It takes about one whole minute and is just as easy to take apart. It folds up compactly and the adjustable securing belt turns into a shoulder strap making this lightweight seat painless to carry.

The booster has three adjustable heights to allow your baby to sit level with the rest of the table.  This is a really nice feature. Ava can join in with us at dinner, but it is much more difficult for her to grab dangerous items off of the dinner table since they are out of her reach. She has her own area to eat her food and to play with her toys. The tray contains food far better than just setting bites on the table. She can feed herself and make far less of a mess using this chair. And that helps me in my plight against becoming you know... that mom.

It's also much more sanitary than using the restaurant provided high chairs. The Healthy Care Booster also comes with a detachable tray for easy cleaning and a snap-on lid to keep the area fresh while you transport it. The chair is smooth and very easy to clean. A few wipes and you're done… and it also is dishwasher safe as well.

The tray area has three positions to snuggly fit your baby and also allow a bit of room to grow. And once they have fully outgrown the tray table, the seat can be used as a regular booster for older kids who are ready to join in at the family table.

Fisher-Price also makes a few other styles - our beloved Rainforest line with the attachable Rainforest animals and Learning Set with a snap on book-style toy. For me, the standard booster is all we need. It is well worth the money (about $25 for our set) and also makes a great baby shower gift. We get compliments on our booster chair every time we use it and Ava is a happy girl when dining out.

Please, I beg of you - don't let your babies be restaurant Rambos.  With a little bit of effort we can all win the war on becoming that mom.

For more helpful tips, click here to read Dining Out with Baby.

Comments

[Dave]

I can personally vouch for the easy-to-clean-and-disassemble nature of this little high chair, having observed it being done, and having easily slipped it onto a shoulder to take to the car. It's light!

(Little commando going ballistic on a bagel... I love well-used alliteration...)