My wonderful son, at 2 ½, has decided he no longer wants to sit in his high chair for meals. For his entire life, he has been at the table while we ate dinner—first in a portable rocking bassinet, and then his high chair. The only problem we had at mealtime up until this point was the toddler-standard: projectile food, and only when he felt ignored.
For the past month, it’s been a fight and a half to get him in his chair. Out of desperation, we’ve tried bribery, “flying” him through the house to his chair, explaining why it’s important to us, and begging. Some of these tactics worked once or twice, but it’s pretty standard for dinner to start with 10-15 minutes of trying to negotiate and still ending up forcing him in his chair, which results in a crying tantrum. When he calms, he eats well, and we’ve been trying to make dinner more fun and engaging for him, but the fight to get there remains.