Finally, i found my solution to the high chair dilemma!

[disneypolybride2008]

Depending on where they are eating, this isn't always an option. DD was 8 months on her first trip, and wasn't sitting on her own yet. There were TS places, like Coral Reef, where we weren't allowed to bring her stroller in, and yet she couldn't sit up in the high chair either. I think at CR, she ended up being passed around our laps during the meal.

BOG was accommodating, and allowed us to bring her stroller in for lunch there even though they usually don't, but they only did so because she couldn't sit up on her own yet.

Tony's was another one we couldn't bring her stroller into. She did end up in a high chair that night, with all of our jackets piled around her to help her sit up as best she could. It worked OK, until she found the ceiling fans above her...as soon as she found those, she spent the night laying back watching them

I know the DD's child is sitting up and such so that's not the issue... just sharing our experience with where we were allowed to bring in the stroller and where we weren't.

if we could bring the stroller that would be great. at the bottom of the article a recent person posted it said "Last year, some 1.5 million Graco strollers were recalled after reports of children's fingertips getting amputated by the stroller." So nothing is safe.

as in your case, i read an article about being able to bring in the car seat attachment from the stroller into restaurants for when baby is too young to sit up.

to avoid all the high chair issues, we were planning on mostly QS places so that we could bring her stroller along.

i wish i got it when i saw it, it was a Fisher Price high chair cover that was cloth. it wasn't bulky like our cart cover. now i'm on ebay looking for one. i'll wipe the chair down, put on the cover, and eat.

 

[Angel Ariel]

if we could bring the stroller that would be great. at the bottom of the article a recent person posted it said "Last year, some 1.5 million Graco strollers were recalled after reports of children's fingertips getting amputated by the stroller." So nothing is safe.

as in your case, i read an article about being able to bring in the car seat attachment from the stroller into restaurants for when baby is too young to sit up.

to avoid all the high chair issues, we were planning on mostly QS places so that we could bring her stroller along.

i wish i got it when i saw it, it was a Fisher Price high chair cover that was cloth. it wasn't bulky like our cart cover. now i'm on ebay looking for one. i'll wipe the chair down, put on the cover, and eat.

You might want to check out etsy for a chair cover that's cloth and less bulky. I'm sure you'd find something there. Maybe something like this? I know it's a cart cover, but most cart covers work as high chair covers also. Many etsy sellers will do something custom for you also, so you could tell them you want something thin.

We never brought DD's car seat in when she couldn't sit up..she was fine to be in her City Mini during the day, it just posed a problem at meal time because she wouldn't sit up in the high chair We have never used a tray attachment on her stroller, though, even at the QS places. But she wasn't feeding herself at that point, so we didn't need to have one.

We're about to take her to DLR, and now she's a toddler. She'll still be in a high chair, but we'll still bring along those disposable placemats. She likes to pick up her plates and turn them over...no one needs to deal with that on vacation

 

[mom25kiddos]

Sorry your plan didn't work out as you hoped, it sucks to think you have solved a problem to find out the solution is not so great! I think we overthink these things too much. As a scientist and a parent of five I know that we can be 'too clean' with kids, meaning they aren't exposed to enough germs and it impacts their immunity. I think we are better to clean the table top (and I don't think it needs to be with Clorox) and wash their hands before and after meals, maybe use a disposable placemat, but as much for mess as anything. Honestly, kids are kind of gross and put all kinds of stuff in their mouths and do just fine, in fact it does make them stronger have a fantastic trip!

 

[Sparkly]

I'm pretty sure my Mum just put me in the shopping trolley/high chair without worrying about it.

 

[scrapquitler]

the clamp if installed correctly and tight would not break loose from my point of view. i didnt know about restaurants not allowing it. hmm.. going to go search

well even though the design of the most dangerous one had the bar across the front, which amputated fingers when it fells, and or others that did not have rubber grips to the flat part of the clamps, and the one i picked out has no bar, and has rubber grips, it's all too concerning, so i'm taking the darn thing back.

why do they make such seemingly good products that are not safe. oh well. we'll lug around the booster seat/tray. we were at disney with my older daughter, who was 2 and we'd walk past the high chairs and Tusker House specifically they looked so cruddy. I never put her in one anywhere. she was able to sit w/o one. However, DD 13 months has to use something. I don't want her around clorox 4-5x a day or those cruddy straps.

thanks for heads up on safety everyone.

Clorox wipes don't actually contain bleach unless you specifically buy the ones that say "with bleach" (and I've found that those are hard to find, at least in my area).

 

[luvpooh]

We used the cart/high chair cover with DS for awhile, when he was very little, like a year and under. I never wipe down the cart, but wipe him off afterwards (especially now that he has discovered the evil invention that is the car on the front of the shopping cart).

We still put him in a high chair most times in a restaurant even though he is almost 3 (he won't always stay put in a chair/booth). I just wipe down the high chair and the table and haven't had any issue with them being too, too grimy, luckily.

 

[robinb]

I never spent a single brain cell worrying about a "dirty" highchair. It seems to be to be much ado about nothing and attempting to control things that really don't need to be controlled. Unless your child is immunocompromised a simple wipe-down that the restaurant does is sufficient and you don't need to drag along your own highchair, covers or Clorox wipes.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Okay, this will totally gross some people out, but..... I actually put my kids in shopping carts, high chairs, booster seats, etc....and never wiped them down! I never covered them with anything. I didn't have a bottomless supply of antibacterial gel. No hand sanitizer, no Lysol wipes. I even let them--gasp!--play in ball pits and climb through tubes at Chuck E Cheese!

You know what? They lived. They survived. They're 13 and 15 and are sick a whole lot less than many of their friends. If they ever missed more than 2 days of school in a whole school year, it was a lot. They never caught any horrible disease from playing at the playground or eating in a restaurant.

If we let them be, kids are whole lot more resilient than we give them credit for.

 

[bpadair32]

I never spent a single brain cell worrying about a "dirty" highchair. It seems to be to be much ado about nothing and attempting to control things that really don't need to be controlled. Unless your child is immunocompromised a simple wipe-down that the restaurant does is sufficient and you don't need to drag along your own highchair, covers or Clorox wipes.

Yep.

Okay, this will totally gross some people out, but..... I actually put my kids in shopping carts, high chairs, booster seats, etc....and never wiped them down! I never covered them with anything. I didn't have a bottomless supply of antibacterial gel. No hand sanitizer, no Lysol wipes. I even let them--gasp!--play in ball pits and climb through tubes at Chuck E Cheese!

You know what? They lived. They survived. They're 13 and 15 and are sick a whole lot less than many of their friends. If they ever missed more than 2 days of school in a whole school year, it was a lot. They never caught any horrible disease from playing at the playground or eating in a restaurant.

If we let them be, kids are whole lot more resilient than we give them credit for.

We are really doing our kids a disservice in many cases by not exposing them to germs for them to build up their immune systems. Additionally, the over use of disinfectant and anti-bacterial everything is causing a surge of "super bugs" that cannot be killed with standard antibiotics and are incredibly dangerous.

 

[wilkeliza]

This is what my nephews use http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/pro...r-in-dots/1041759769?Keyword=high+chair+cover

It folds down pretty well enough to throw in a back pack and works on high chairs and carts. It was less about germs for us and more about someone else's mess not getting all over his clothes. He is very picky and does not get dirty himself so he would have had a melt down if he got up and something was on his pants from the previous toddler.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

When my DS was little, I would carry around the Seventh Generation disinfectant wipes (less toxic than clorox) and the disposable placemats. Easy peasy.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

be prepared to not be able to the booster with a tray as it moves the chair far from the table making hazard for those walking by plus booster being knocked off chair. my guess is just like the clip on the booster is not going to be allowed either. I would plan on the placemats and a cover for the highchair. would not plan on a stroller allowed in either at most Table Serve places without it being most of way under table so it is out of way of people walking by

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

Wow, surprised at all the folks warning you off a hook-on. We used an Ingelsina hook-on on at least a weekly basis with my oldest for a long, long time and never had any issues. Sure, we were careful what kind of tables we put it on and where on the table it was (middles, not ends, etc), and also how we clamped. It does have big sturdy rubber grips and such. My daughter was tiny and normal high chairs were just ridiculous (besides it being scary big for her in terms of slipping out, she would also be eye level with the table usually -defeating the whole point). We loved that high chair so much we got another for my second (we used it THAT much, it was ratty and worn since we had washed it so many times). Now, he is a big, big boy and around the time he was ready to sit and eat a normal high chair fits him just fine so now we're in the placemat or suction mat/plate camp (since who wants to lug the hook-on when its not really needed). But for my daughter - it was quite definitely one of our favorite baby gear purchases of all. We were thoughtful about how we used it and I did not believe it was a safety risk with proper use.

Also - not once did a restaurant refuse to let us use it. I never even heard a question about it. And we went everywhere with that thing - we traveled to a few other regions of the country and all sorts of types of restaurants. I even remember feeding her off a coffee table in a hotel in the chair for a few days. We never went to Disney when she was in that age range so I do not have any experience with Disney in particular. But I'll be honest - with her, I would have brought it to Disney if we had been going.

Since it sounds like you're adjusting your plans already this might be moot, but I guess I want to make sure if it really works for you otherwise you're not scared away.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Get a shopping cart/high chair cover and some disposable place mats. Way easier than dragging a booster around. We did this with my 13 mo th old and it was fine.

Your children are going to be exposed to way worse germs on the rides and in lines than what they pick up in a restaurant chair.

 

[Dayzy]

We would bring the Munchkin Travel Booster with us everywhere. It straps onto dining chairs, fold up compactly, and doubles as a small diaper bag.

 

[kayemgi]

Wow, surprised at all the folks warning you off a hook-on. We used an Ingelsina hook-on on at least a weekly basis with my oldest for a long, long time and never had any issues. Sure, we were careful what kind of tables we put it on and where on the table it was (middles, not ends, etc), and also how we clamped. It does have big sturdy rubber grips and such. My daughter was tiny and normal high chairs were just ridiculous (besides it being scary big for her in terms of slipping out, she would also be eye level with the table usually -defeating the whole point). We loved that high chair so much we got another for my second (we used it THAT much, it was ratty and worn since we had washed it so many times). Now, he is a big, big boy and around the time he was ready to sit and eat a normal high chair fits him just fine so now we're in the placemat or suction mat/plate camp (since who wants to lug the hook-on when its not really needed). But for my daughter - it was quite definitely one of our favorite baby gear purchases of all. We were thoughtful about how we used it and I did not believe it was a safety risk with proper use.

Also - not once did a restaurant refuse to let us use it. I never even heard a question about it. And we went everywhere with that thing - we traveled to a few other regions of the country and all sorts of types of restaurants. I even remember feeding her off a coffee table in a hotel in the chair for a few days. We never went to Disney when she was in that age range so I do not have any experience with Disney in particular. But I'll be honest - with her, I would have brought it to Disney if we had been going.

Since it sounds like you're adjusting your plans already this might be moot, but I guess I want to make sure if it really works for you otherwise you're not scared away.

I believe, from reading the article that a previous poster shared, that the issue is with the specific phil & ted's clip on chairs because the part that clips onto the table is plastic. We have an Ingelsina as well, and the clip part is heavy-duty rubber, and it screws tight rather than just clipping onto the table. I've never seen the phil & ted's version in person, so maybe I'm mistaken, but from the article, that's what it sounded like. I personally wouldn't trust a high chair of this style if it didn't have rubber grips and a screw mechanism.