Correct mealtime posture + choosing a highchair

Choosing a highchair seems as though it should be such a straightforward process – there are so many options available, why wouldn’t they all be suitable. Well, plot twist, most of them aren’t actually conducive to setting your little one up for a successful mealtime.

One of the biggest myths of feeding your little one is that eating is the body’s biggest priority (we’d die if we didn’t eat, right?). However, eating isn’t our body’s first priority – rather we have two far more important priorities, that if aren’t met, eating will become incredibly difficult. Our body’s top three priorities are:

1. Breathing

2. Posture**

3. Eating

In this article, we are going to chat all things posture and the drastic difference a great seating set up can have to mealtime success – so many “picky eating” behaviours will be completely fixed, when children have the correct posture. Do you have a little one that just doesn’t want to sit in their highchair? Checking that they are actually comfortable and stable might just fix this issue!

Why is posture important?

Postural stability, at the most basic level, help protect our brains – the purpose of being upright, is to ensure we don’t fall over and hit our head. Postural stability also supports our breathing muscles – our number one priority! Being stable, allows our body to focus on the task of eating, something that takes a lot of effort for our little people as it is so new and unfamiliar. Finally, being stable, allows for better hand to mouth coordination and range of motion of the jaw, required for chewing.

Try this…

Sometimes it is hard to conceptualise the importance of posture. So, I would like you to try this exercise.

1. Sit up straight on a chair

2. Take your feet off the floor

3. Round your pelvis/hips (hunch from the hips) and pull your shoulders back

4. Now, round your pelvis/hips (as above), slouch through your shoulders, and straighten your head/neck as if you needed to eat

5. Pretend to chew three times

6. Swallow

—> That is how your child feels in an unsupported highchair – see how difficult eating would be? Crazy hey? This is made even worse, if your little one has any compounding muscle issues like low tone.

What is the correct posture?

We are trying to achieve a 90 – 90 – 90 position

• Back is up lovely and straight, we want to achieve a 90-degree angle at the hips, knees and ankle.

How do we achieve this?

Ideally, we would have a fully adjustable chair, that can be altered as your little one gets bigger (adjusted every 3 months – that’s how quickly our babes grow!!). I will make some recommendations as far as my favourite highchairs that effortlessly create this ideal positional stability (both affordable and more expensive options), however, if you don’t want to rush out and buy another highchair, I will give you some strategies to modify your current set up, as well as how to modify seating for those of you with older babes that are sitting at the table.

Upright Positioning

We want our little ones to be sitting with a lovely upright, straight back – many highchairs are sloped and aren’t conducive to this upright positioning. If this is your highchair, you can instead, roll/fold a towel up and place it behind your little ones back to have them sit upright. If this something that you need to do, you may need to place a non-slip mat under their bottom to help keep them in this position.

90 degrees at knees

In order to achieve this 90-degree angle at your little one’s knees, they will need to be sitting forward enough that their knees are at the edge of their seat. This is where shallower seats are good, however, this can also be achieved using the above method for achieving an upright position.

90 degrees at ankles

In order to achieve this 90-degree angle at your little one’s ankles, they need a foot rest. A foot rest that can be adjusted based on leg length as they grow. This foot rest ideally, needs to be wide enough that their whole foot fits on the rest, to ensure they get that full support and proprioceptive feedback (feedback through touch, feel and pressure). If you don’t have a highchair with a foot rest, you can easily create one with a nappy box, or books. The caveat here is that you want the foot rest to be stable and heavy, so that your little one can’t use it to play/kick.

Trunk stability

We also want our little ones to be stable through their trunk and to feel supported through their sides, particularly if they have lower muscle tone. This isn’t as essential for all children, but can be helpful if you notice that your little one is a bit wriggly, or a prone to leaning over the sides of the chair. Also helpful if you have a particularly wide seat on your highchair.

Table/Tray

Ideally, our little ones are up at the dining table so we can eat together – this also helps to minimise food dropping and throwing as they have the wide surface of the dining table to reduce the likelihood and make it less easy to drop or throw food off the side of a narrow tray. Either way, we want the tray or table to fall between your little one’s belly button and breast level.

REMEMBER – your little one’s seating arrangement will need to be adjusted every three months or so, to keep up with the rapid way in which they grow. This doesn’t mean every component will need adjusting, as our little one’s body parts grow at different times, but keep an eye on each of the components to the 90 – 90 – 90 positioning.

Highchair Recommendations

I thought I would offer you some suitable options along the spectrum of affordability and include any modifications that may be needed.

Kmart Prandium Highchair/Ikea ANTILOP | $29 each

• These are a great low cost option, however, modification is required to ensure adequate posture.

  • You will likely need to roll/fold a towel and place behind your little ones back to ensure they are upright and forward enough that their knees can be at 90 degrees

  • You may also need to use yoga blocks or towels either side of your little one to keep them from slumping/sliding to the sides

  • Use a non slip mat under their bottom to keep in place

  • Use a footrest - this can be some weighted boxes, or you can purchase a foot rest from places like Nibble and Rest that can slide up and down according to leg length

Mocka Soho/Original Highchair | $129-$159

• This is a cheaper version of the Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair, is almost fully adjustable and will suit your little one right into toddlerhood.

  • The footrest must be placed at least three rungs below the metal rod, so may not be suited to little ones with shorter legs. If this is the case, you may need to place some books on top of foot rest until bubs legs are long enough

  • You may also need to pack out the sides with towels or yoga blocks to avoid slumping

Stokke Tripp Trapp | $586 (chair, seat + tray)

• This is arguably the best highchair on the market, however, it is really expensive. The only modification you may need to make is to the sides, but it often isn’t required unless your little one has low muscle tone, or is super wriggly and needs a reminder to stay still!!

  • You may need to pack out the sides with towels or yoga blocks to avoid slumping/wriggling

Phil & Ted Lobster Hook Chair | $129

• This is a great option if you have a tall table, or no table at all, and need to sit at the bench. The only negative to this is you will need to make some modifications

  • If you purchase a similar hook on chair, ensure it has a flat, solid base, rather than a sling base AND ensure you place an adult chair below, in case it becomes unclipped

  • You will also need to create a foot rest - stack some boxes, use shorter chair or stool as a base and place some books on top etc.

If you would like some feedback on your highchair, or how you have modified your chair, please don’t hesitate to reach out either privately or via the FB group.