My husband and I used to love going out to cafes for lunch - we spent WAY to much money doing so actually. After the arrival of my first son we got back into this trend after a few short months, as Alex was very content to just sit in his pram & play with toys while we enjoyed a lovely cafe luncy. But our second bub has been a different game altogether!
Never content to just sit his pram plus he desperately hates highchairs (his own included) we were never able to go out and have a civilsed meal. Trying to do so always caused screaming, crying and fussing from Jasper, indigestion for us due to rushing the meal plus plenty of disapproving looks from cafe staff and fellow diners! It really just wasn't worth it.... As for home, try feeding a crawling baby...chasing him around, stuffing in a spoonful, chasing again, getting another spoonful in. Sounds hard hey? Well it was better than the screaming match and food throwing fight that ensued each time I put him in his highchair.
But I'm happy to report this has all changed! How, you may ask? The solution turned out to be pretty simple actually. It seems our baby doesn't actually like being a baby! Sit him in the highchair - he screams. Sit him on a chair just like everyone else's - surprise, happy baby. He'll happily eat, drink and be cheerful as long as he's sitting on a "big person" chair. Obviously you can't just plop him on a chair, and one of us can't just sit there and hold him, so I embarked on a journey to find a chair solution.
I tried a hard plastic booster seat thingy I got in Target, but my chubby bubby was too big around the middle for the piddly little strap. I tried a portable booster that looked abit like a box, but he felt so insecure he screamed and complained. A bit more money spent, a few more failed options, until I came across a little gem from the UK....
I couple of clever mums put their heads together and came up with TotSeat - "the washable, squashable highchair for babies who lunch" (love that tag line). Jasper just loved it! The design straps onto pretty much any chair (I haven't found one yet is doesn't work with), a unique cummerbund style strap provides perfect support meaning bub is secure (and makes the TotSeat useable on open backed chairs) plus all the straps/buckles are really hardwaring. It's made of a polycotton so it's washable, and mine's washed up perfectly time and again. Weighs only 260gm, comes in a little travel pouch - so I leave mine in the carboot so I always have it.
So now little Jasper happily sits anywhere in his TotSeat, enjoys meals with the family at the family table (which I think is just devine) and we can actually go out and dine in the real world without utter embarrassment! A couple of the cafes we've been too have been so impressed that they've taken on TotSeat too and offer it instead of highchairs - what a great idea....
The best part - TotSeat is only $59 plus is shipped for FREE Australia Wide! Check it out at http://www.zimmerjee.com.au/. Know someone having a baby? This would be a perfect, and unique, baby shower or new baby gift - something long lasting, useful and trendy - the new mum will thrilled!!!
