Teddy Decided He's a Big Boy

About a month ago, we began talking about transitioning Teddy out of his high chair. Our challenge was to find a way to get him up to the table where he still had the support (and confinement) of a 5-point harness. Ideally, we wanted something that helped him to contain his food as well, similar to the tray of his high chair.

We put in a request to a donation closet looking for some sort of a positioning chair that might help with the transition. Nothing was readily available, so we waited and debated other options.

Well, apparently Teddy was listening to those conversations.

Last weekend, he began screaming mid-meal. We thought he bit his tongue or maybe had a sore tooth or perhaps was simply too exhausted to function. We pulled him from his chair, snuggled him and put him down for a much-needed nap.

When it came to supper, he began crying as soon as buckled him in his high chair. Uncontrollable crying. When we placed his tray in front of him with his food, he put his head on his tray in tears. He wouldn't touch his food.

We examined his mouth and found nothing. We checked his body for marks, bruises or sore spots and looked for any signs of his chair or his straps hurting him. We eventually held him while feeding him, which is not an easy feat.

Fast forward to the next morning, he ate sitting on a regular chair just fine because we were doing a casual snacking breakfast. Any time we placed him in his high chair, the screaming began. So we got a booster seat, thinking that would be a great way to get him at the table and keep him in place for meals. No dice there. Same instant screaming.

We pulled the booster seat off the chair and pulled his high chair off the chair. He immediately climbed into them and scooted around the room. Great, apparently they're not for meals. They're more like vehicles to ride.

Nothing but class in our house.

We had two days of instant screaming at meals, even when we placed an ice cream sandwich in front of him, if he was in his high chair or booster seat. So, finally we gave up and placed him at the table with a plate.

And he smiled and ate happily (and messily). He sat up extremely straight (for a good portion of the time) and stayed on his chair (a portion of the time) and smiled like he was the coolest thing on earth.

Nothing hurt in his high chair. Nothing was physically wrong. He simply decided he was a big boy who was going to sit at the table like the rest of us.

Ironically, we got an e-mail that same weekend that a positioning chair was reserved for us. We still picked it up. We haven't tried it yet. I'm not too optimistic that Teddy will consider it a viable option, but we'll see.