Once your baby is ready to start solid foods, there are several things to consider. Besides what and when to feed them, it is essential to ensure that your child is positioned properly in their high chair when eating. This will keep your baby safe and support an optimal eating experience.
When your child’s body is correctly aligned, gravity allows their tongue to move freely and have more control over the food in their mouth. Food is also more likely to fall forward and out of the mouth, reducing choking risks. If a baby is even slightly reclined, gravity is likely to pull food backwards into their throat, making the food more difficult to manage with their tongue.
Good trunk support allows for proper breathing and better fine-motor hand-to-mouth coordination for eating. When children have poor trunk support, they have to work harder, making mealtimes more exhausting.
These are key things to look for when evaluating your child’s positioning in their high chair:
- Think 90-90-90: hips, knees, and ankles should all be bent at a 90 degree angle
- Baby’s back should be straight with shoulders aligned with the hips, or slightly in front of the hips
- Baby’s weight should push forward through their feet, which should press into a footplate
- Baby should have easy access to reach the food on their tray with their arms and hands
It is also important for babies to remain balanced at midline while eating, without tipping to either side. Ensure that your baby is seated high enough in their high chair. If they are not, you may need to put a book or towel underneath them. When your baby is high enough in their chair, the tray should line up with their belly and they should be able to put both forearms and lean their elbows on the tray. This will increase stability in the upright position. If your child is seated too far back from the tray, you may need to add rolled towels behind their back and/or on either side of them for stability and support.
These IKEA high chairs in particular have a wide chair base, making it difficult for babies to achieve proper feeding position. We offer cushion insert and cushion covers that can be used with IKEA Antilop Highchair and other similar highchair too, providing better core support. Our cushion inserts allow your baby to receive the back support they need to sit closer to the tray and achieve the ideal 90-90-90 positioning. Since cushion insert is inflatable, it can also be deflated to continue to provide support as your baby grows.
Since many highchairs on the market don’t include a footrest, it may seem that they are not necessary. Why do some highchairs include a footrest while others don’t? Is foot support necessary when considering your child’s eating environment? Let’s take a closer look and get to the truth.
