I Need a BOOST!

Eating out with young children can be a challenge...with twins it is an adventure! One thing that makes it just a bit easier to deal with is a proper booster seat. Many restaurants have highchairs or booster seats for young children to use, but like all publicly used items they are sometimes unavailable, occasionally broken, and ALWAYS dirty!

We didn't register for booster chairs because we figured we would purchase them when we needed them. My friend Ella gave us a "previously loved" Safety First Fold Up Booster Chair, which is identical to the one my sister had for my niece Elizabeth. I brought it with me to Caribou to use as a highchair at my parents house, along with a Bumpo Chair (with tray attachment). The Safety First seat was great because it could be secured to any chair in my parent's house and it folded up so I could stow it away when it wasn't being used. We have used this seat in many restaurants, prefering our own to the usually filthy ones the restaurant provides. Since this seat was given to us I hate to speak badly about it, but it does have a few flaws that I want to share with people who may be looking to buy one in the near future. This seat folds up compactly, but once it is there is nothing to secure the folded up seat. There is nothing more annoying then holding a baby in one arm and grabbing the booster seat with your other hand only to have the whole thing come apart and crash to the floor in the middle of a restaurant or parking lot! Having learned the hard way, I now put a large rubber band around the whole thing when it is folded up to prevent this embarrassing incident from happening again. Another hick-up in the design of this booster chair was brought to my attention this evening as I fed Tanner and Abigail dinner in my parent's kitchen. While putting a spoonful of food into Abigail's mouth she pushed the tray completely off the chair. I would like to say that I was surprised but I wasn't. She LOVES to push things as I stated in my previous post, "Pushy Broad". It was only a matter of time. I reattached the tray to the seat and continued to feed her and her brother and she continued to push the tray off the seat depositing Multigrain Cheerios and pieces of plum all over my parent's kitchen floor. Towards the end I gave up replacing the tray and she finally held it up over her head before I took it away from her all together.

Once Tanner and Abigail grew out of the Bumpo Chair (thank God!) I went to Walmart to buy a second booster chair to have when we went out for dinner as a family and when we visited my parents or traveled away from home and our Graco DuoDiner Highchairs. I bought a Fisher Price Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat for about $25.00. This booster seat has a dishwasher safe tray with a snap on lid to keep it clean until you use it again. It has three height adjustments to fit to any table, three locking tray positions, and a three-point harness. My favorite feature is that it folds up compactly and securely (no rubber band needed) with a strap to carry it anywhere. My sister liked mine so much she went out a bought one for my niece Emily the very next day. She uses it as Emily's highchair since they are short on space in their small apartment. With Abigail's new tray removal trick I am seriously considering going to Walmart tomorrow and buying another one.