Having babies and bringing them up is joyous but is quite expensive too.
From dresses, diapers to baby gear like strollers, crib and high chairs, the list of things a baby needs is endless.
While as parents you strive hard to give your baby the best in everything, there comes a time when you have to make some hard decisions about what to buy and whether or not you need some things.
Because, let’s face it – the lifecycle of most baby gear is short. They are needed only until your child grows out of it.
So before buying, it’s natural to think twice because you wouldn’t want to spend a fortune on something that will be put away tomorrow. And most baby gears don’t come cheap.
Let’s discuss whether or not having a baby high chair for your baby is a necessity.
Self-feeding is an important milestone for your baby – and for you as parents.
There are quite a lot of advantages in encouraging babies as young as 6 months old to toddlers to eat by themselves.
And a high chair for babies is something that offers safety and convenience in addition to a number of other benefits. What are they?
1. Encourages Independent Eating In Babies
Self-feeding provides developing eaters with necessary motor skills like pincher grasp, for example.
For babies who can sit well, unsupported, using a high chair might introduce them to self-eat from an early point in their life. It also makes it easy for you to make them dine.
2. Helps Child To Quickly Learn To Feed Himself
Children quickly learn to feed themselves when on the best feeding high chair. They can explore, play, grab a mouthful and swallow all by themselves.
And when they’re eating by themselves, children also learn more about the food they eat and tune in to their natural hunger cues and eat only as much as they want – a definite life skill.
3. Makes Feeding Easier
High chairs make for easier feeding too. The food trays on high chairs come with a cup holder to hold bottles or cups to make serving easy and enable you to have all of their food at one place.
And you could feed them without having them move around making you run behind them.
4. Makes Cleaning Easy
As with all new things, it is possible that when babies start eating by themselves, it can be quite messy and for a busy new mother, you could probably do without that additional cleaning task.
With a high chair you can just make sure that it’s concentrated at one place.
And with a spat mat or newspaper spread under the chair, cleaning up can be simple too. Wouldn’t you love that? And most high chairs have an easy to clean design.
The food trays can be removed and refitted without hassle and clean easy. Today we even have dishwasher safe trays for easier washing.
Apart from the food tray, the other parts can also be cleaned with just a wipe with soapy water. Sounds like a charm!
5. Safety & Security
This is one aspect that is indisputable. As parents, the safety of your children ranks high in your list of priorities.
High chairs are something that is designed specifically for an infant or toddler.
They are customized with extreme safety measures for a growing infant to make sure they are comfortable.
They also come with safety belts to ensure they are secure for the duration of the mealtime.
Some high chair models have reclining seats to support very young infants and their delicate backs.
There are a lot of available high chair models in the market from cheap to expensive and you can take your pick based on your needs.
But with the right model it could well be a one-time investment because they may grow with your child (adjustable heights) and with some maintenance, they can be efficiently used for any subsequent children you have.
Also, if you want to go green and avoid usage of plastics, you also get high chairs made with wood. Safe!
6. Enables Inclusion of Babies During Family Mealtimes & Other Activities
Mealtimes are an important time for any family. And there has been quite a lot of emphasis on encouraging family mealtimes, that is, for babies to have food along with the adults of the family.
This helps the children to learn socializing and manners because they can make eye contact with everyone else in the family.
In addition to that, it would also teach your child the importance of family life and makes them feel involved and not left out.
All you have to do is place the high chair at the family table. Simple, no? Consider you’re throwing a party and you have guests.
High chairs can help you to include your baby in the celebrations.
They wouldn’t feel left out, they learn behavioral lessons from watching others and they do not grow up socially awkward.
7. Helps You Manage The Child While Working
When you think of a high chair, the first things that comes to mind is that they are designed for mealtimes.
Of course, they are but your usage of the high chair doesn’t have to be restricted to that.
It could serve as something to put your child safely on when you are busy with some other work.
Give them something to play with, a soft toy or building blocks and you could keep an eye on them without having to worry about their safety.
But again, make sure to always monitor your child on a high chair.
8. Watch TV, Tablets, Books & Other Activities
Also, they can watch TV or mobile without any tension for you. Or you could give them cartoon books to peruse sitting on the high chair itself.
9. It Can Be Used For Reading & Practicing Till They Outgrow The Weight Limit (20 Kg)
As they grow, the high chair could also be used as a place to teach them stuff.
Like puzzles, colors, or the alphabets or just a pen and paper so they could practice with scribbling until they grow out of it. The list today is endless.
High chairs have been around for a long time and not without reason.
Parents have used and relied on them for years because they are versatile, comfortable and have been successful in creating independent children.
Considering all the options discussed, buying a high chair does seem like a necessity in your baby’s growing needs.
All you have to do is to make sure you choose a model that best fits your child and your budget and you probably won’t regret it.
These are only a few advantages that we have covered from pleothra of benefits.
Let us know in the comments How High Chairs Have Been Of Help To You?
And if you are planning a High Chair for Your Baby then tell us what is your motive to get one!!!