Katie Ferraro (0s):

2024 is here and my favorite feeding gear company EZPZ is having a quick sale. Right. now you can get 24% off everything on the EZPZ website with my affiliate discount code BLW24. So this code BLW24 works now through January 9th for US purchases of $75 or more. If you're just starting out with solid foods, I love the EZPZ first foods set. It's just one of the EZPZ tiny bowls. They're tiny cup and a two pack of tiny spoons. But If, you have baby showers or one-year-old birthday parties to buy for quality developmentally appropriate feeding gear is always a welcome gift. My regular code for EZPZ KATIE10 that always works for 10% off, but there's a bump right now up to 24% off with that new code BLW24, which is pretty nice.

Katie Ferraro (48s):

Shop now through January 9th at ezpzfun.com using the affiliate discount code BLW with the number 2 and the number 4 and happy 2024. Your baby choking on food is a very rare but real risk and CPR can save your baby's life. I think it's very important that every parent and caregiver take an infant refresher CPR course before their baby starts solid foods. I know in our house everyone involved in helping with our kids and who helps to feed babies needs to know CPR. And there's a fabulous online CPR course that I take every quarter and that I recommend to parents and caregivers and right now you can get the same online CPR course for free when you sign up for my Choking Prevention and Response Course.

Katie Ferraro (1m 29s):

So I developed the Choking Prevention and Response Course. I co-teach it with Brandon Doerksen. He's a certified CPR instructor from Thrive Training Institute. We also co-teach with the speech language pathologist who specializes in pediatric swallowing. So this course is for parents who are particularly anxious about their baby choking on food. If that is you, I created the Choking Prevention and Response Course for you. And inside of it I'll show you how to stop unsafe seating situations. We have a posture checklist proven to protect your child's airway. I'll show you how to modify choking risk foods. It's so important to facilitate safe swallowing for infants. And then we'll troubleshoot feeding difficulties that can impact safe swallowing at mealtimes. Things like pocketing and overt stuffing and excessive gagging. We cover all of that and you get free lifetime access to the online CPR course when you register for the Choking Prevention and Response Course.

Katie Ferraro (2m 17s):

So in order to sign up for this special, you go to the website bit.ly/cprchoking. So I'll spell that out. It's bit.ly/cprchoking in order to get free online CPR when you register for the Choking Prevention and Response Course. And, if you take into consideration the size capacity of your typical highchair that is designed for a toddler, but you are trying to feed your infant in it If you look at where the tray lies, oftentimes the tray will be above your baby's nipple line. That is a level at which they don't have the full range of motion. They're not able to adequately cross their midline.

Katie Ferraro (2m 58s):

The skill sets that we need in order order to promote independent eating the tray is essentially preventing them from doing that. Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in Baby-Led Weaning here on the Baby-Led Weaning made easy podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding leading you with the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using Baby-Led Weaning. Does the highchair that your baby currently sits in when they eat meals, does it have a tray? There are a lot of benefits to ditching the tray when you are doing Baby-Led Weaning.

Katie Ferraro (3m 42s):

And in this episode I wanna share 3 Reasons to Ditch, the High Chair Tray and then 1 Reason Not To now a lot of parents think by default, oh, all highchair come with the tray, but they don't. And actually the two highchairs that I use and recommend both were designed by the same designer and initially, originally intended to not have a tray. So I'm talking about the ska Tripp Trapp highchair as well as the Nomi highchair. They were both designed by noted Scandinavian designer Peter Opsvik. Now we had one of Peter's ergonomics on the podcast way, way, way back in episode 92.

Katie Ferraro (4m 23s):

Kirsti Vandross is an ergonomic who helped design some of these chairs and she's talking about how to choose a safe seat. And she went through some of the history of this with me explaining why Peter designed these chairs to not have a tray. And the notion being that it allows the child to sit in the chair but be pulled up to the table and participate in meals from their first bites. So those two chairs, the Tripp Trapp and the Nomi, sometimes parents get annoyed 'cause they'll get the chair and be like, dude, but it doesn't have a tray. Like yeah, you have to buy the tray separately. Now the manufacturer has gone and added a tray because there is one particular situation when you would need the high chair cherry and we'll talk about that today.

Katie Ferraro (5m 3s):

But originally again those Baby-Led Weaning high chairs designed not to have a tray. If it has a proper design, your baby can safely get away without a tray. Sometimes the parent's like, well, well then what holds the baby in the tray is not a safety mechanism. Okay? The tray is oftentimes what parents think. Oh, that's what I put the food on. But I wanna share three reasons why you might consider ditching the tray If. you have a chair that's safe for your baby to be pulled up to the table. The first one is with regards to your baby's range of motion. If you've noticed with most highchair, they are too big for early eaters. They are purposely designed for toddlers because if the highchair fit your infant, okay, who at six months of age is starting solid foods, they would grow out of it so quickly and you would be so annoyed 'cause you're gonna have to go out and buy another chair that fits them.

Katie Ferraro (5m 52s):

So manufacturers make high chairs that are for toddlers and then you say, oh, I'm gonna put my baby in here. But you have to do some modifications. So we share how most times your six month old is gonna be swimming In a typical highchair, even the Nomi and the Tripp Trapp that some of the tiniest babies that I've worked with, you have to roll up towels or receiving blankets to prop the baby. You have to add something sometimes to the foot rest so that their feet can be resting flat. Like these chairs are not designed to perfectly fit your baby. But the chairs that are so big where the baby is swimming around in them and that have the tray on them, oftentimes the tray is going to be at the level when the baby is sitting in the chair where the tray is above their nipple line. Okay? If the tray is above your the baby's nipple line, the baby does not have the ability to have the proper range of motion in order to adequately participate in self-feeding, which is the crux of Baby-Led Weaning.

Katie Ferraro (6m 43s):

So if we can take the tray off. Okay, And, if you take the tray off, it's imperative then if it has a strap system that the baby is strapped in so that they don't fall out in the Nomi high chair and the Tripp Trapp. You don't need the straps early on in self-feeding because your six month old baby is not crawling and they're not gonna go anywhere and they're not gonna climb, climb outta that high chair. They also have a plastic guard that restrain the baby. Some of the other chairs If. you take the tray off and then you don't use the straps. The baby could fall out 'cause there's not a plastic restraining guard. The little, I call it the baby jail, but it's the little plastic guard that keeps the baby in when you don't need the straps. So If, you can take the tray off and a lot of times I'll do zooms or I'll do FaceTimes with parents on parent calls and they'll show me their highchair set up and the baby sometimes is barely able to get their their head above the tray.

Katie Ferraro (7m 31s):

There's no way that they can reach their hands up and eat adequately. We need your baby to be able to cross their midline, and that means that the eating surface is needing to be at or around their nipple line or even slightly below. So you can always prop the baby up to elevate them. So put them on pillows or books or whatever the case may be so that they get up there. If, you absolutely have to use the tray or in many cases, take the tray off, bring the baby up to the table, keep them strapped in so they don't fall out. So the first reason to ditch the highchair tray is that that tray can prevent the adequate range of motion that we know babies need in order to succeed with Baby-Led Weaning. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

Katie Ferraro (8m 12s):

The second problem with the tray is that in many cases a baby sitting in a high chair with a tray on it is isolated to meal times on their own so this prevents family interaction, And, it actually promotes isolation at meals.

Katie Ferraro (9m 45s):

And, it breaks my heart when I see setups or pictures or families will send me, okay, this is my current feeding situation, and the baby's over in the corner of the kitchen by themselves with a tray on the high chair and mom is somewhere else and the rest of the family is somewhere else eating. One of the benefits of the Baby-Led approach, of course, is that the baby can participate in mealtimes from their first bites. We of course never want to leave the baby unattended, right? If your baby is going to choke on food, it will be silent. No air is passing through. They will turn blue or purple and you will not hear them choke. You need to be observing them so when they're all sitting at the table, your other children, the other people in the family yourself, you're more easily able to observe your baby for any potential signs of choking.

Katie Ferraro (10m 29s):

So we want that family interaction at mealtimes, not to mention greater chance of you being able to adequately observe your baby if you're sitting at the table with them and not having them isolated by themselves in the chair with tray over on the other side of the room. A third consideration for why you might want to ditch the high chair tray is because many of the newer high chairs, which are really focusing on having smaller footprints, so taking up less room in your kitchen, like have you seen some of the old school high chairs they like, they're like, oh my gosh, this's taking like half of my kitchen. The smaller newer ones also come with smaller trays. Now, in that podcast episode that I mentioned previously, episode 92 where we talked about How to Choose, a Safe Seat for Your, Baby to Eat with Kirsti Vandross, we talked a lot about the tip test, which is what highchair in the United States need to pass in order to be approved for safety so that they don't tip over backwards.

Katie Ferraro (11m 19s):

So there are newer chairs that have slightly smaller footprints that also pass the tip test, but as a result, the trays are often smaller. So sometimes there's trays on the highchair that can't even accommodate the suction mat or bull that you're using, and we want the baby eating out of the suction mat or bull from the Baby-Led Weaning standpoint. There are many benefits to using a suction mat or bull to promote independent eating if you just put the food directly on the tray or the table. Your early eater who does not yet have their pincer grasp, they don't have any barrier against which they can use their whole hand grasp to rake or scoop that food up and into their mouth.

Katie Ferraro (11m 58s):

They just smash the food down with their little dinosaur hands and they rub it all over the table or the tray and they get frustrated because they can't pick the food up and feed themselves. And then the parents get frustrated like, what's happening? The baby can't even pick this food up. This isn't working I'm just gonna go back to spoonfeeding. We don't want that to happen with the suction mats or bulls. I like the ones from the brand EZPZ. They make the original silicone suction mats and bulls. The easy-peasy products have pliable silicone barrier. It's very flexible so that the baby can rake and scoop that food out and up and into their mouth. But If, you tray isn't big enough to support those and and they're relatively small the tiny bowl is a very small five ounce bowl. The mini bowl is an eight ounce bowl and the mini mat is quite small.

Katie Ferraro (12m 38s):

It has an oval footprint, but on some of the newer highchair trays, they don't fit especially on the portable trays. But that's kind of a different story. And we did a whole different podcast episode on portable highchairs if you guys are interested in that. The portable high chairs are a little bit different, but a lot of families end up using them either when their baby is growing into their current highchair. It's way too big, And, it doesn't fit or if they need like a temporary highchair that they're using at grandma's house or whatever the case may be. So If, you wanna learn more about portable high chairs. I shared my favorite portable highchair for feeding on the go. That's in episode 379. Another consideration with regards to the suction mats and bulls is that some of the trays, the manufacturers put a lining on the tray that prevents the EZPZ products from sticking to them.

Katie Ferraro (13m 24s):

So I don't work for EZPZ, I'm an affiliate for them. But people will write and ask questions and say, well, what if my EZPZ products are not sticking on my tray? They did a couple of adjustments to some of these trays from some of the bigger brands recently, and the products don't stick well. There's a thin film on the tray that prevents the sticking If. you take the Tray off and you bring the baby up to the table. If you have a clean, flat, dry surface on your table. The EZPZ products will stick to them. Now, I know that's easier said than done, right? We're talking about Baby-Led Weaning. It is neither clean nor dry, but If, you can get the surface clean and dry. Then the suction will help If. you have a distressed tabletop. So let's say you have like a cool wood tabletop, but it has like divots and grooves in it.

Katie Ferraro (14m 8s):

The EZPZ products, nothing suction is gonna stick to that because you need that flat surface. So what I'll do in that case is I'll take a large cutting board that is a smooth, flat, dry surface and put it down on top of the distressed wood table and then put the EZPZ products on top of that. Pull the baby up to the table. If it is a chair that doesn't have a plastic baby guard, the baby would need to be strapped in so they don't fall out. If it's the Tripp Trapp or the Nomi or some of the other brands that do have the little plastic baby guard, then you don't need the straps for your earlier eaters. The high chair brands always tell you, oh, strap the baby in at all times. But my recommendation is when you are just starting out with solid foods and your baby is six months of age, hopefully you've taken an infant refresher.

Katie Ferraro (14m 48s):

CPR Course choking is a very rare but real risk. And if your baby is to have a choking incident, you wanna be able to extract that baby very quickly from the high chair, right? You do not want to be fumbling with the straps that they don't even need, by the way, because they can't crawl out of the chair yet at six months of age. Okay? So if they're restrained by the baby guard early on in self-feeding, that's perfectly acceptable without using the straps. Now, as soon as that baby starts climbing and crawling, yeah, you gotta put the straps on for safety purposes. But at that point, you're much, much more confident in your baby's ability to self feed. And the risk of choking has gone down a lot because your baby has had significant practice with different textures and foods by that point. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

Katie Ferraro (16m 43s):

So 3 Reasons to Ditch the High Chair Tray prevents the range of motion, prevents family interaction and promotes isolation. And then the third one is that because of the limited space accommodations, in many times the tray will interfere with the ability to have the suction mats or bulls adequately fit and or suction, which we do recommend in order to promote independent eating. Now, the one reason when you can't or would not want to ditch the high chair tray is If. you have a counter height or bar height table. Okay? I mentioned the tip test earlier that highchair pass the tip test, and when they do, they are allowed to be sold in the United States.

Katie Ferraro (17m 26s):

And the EU has different requirements with regards to safety in highchairs. And so some of the highchair brands make different modifications when they bring the chair to the United States, but no highchair would pass the tip test for a counter height or bar height table. The footprint of that high chair would be so big that nobody would ever buy that high chair. Let's say you have the Tripp Trapp or the Nomi high chair, they don't elevate the seat. They have an adjustable seat, but it doesn't go so high that it would fit to your counter height or bar height table, which is higher than your traditional standard height table. And as a result, the baby wouldn't have that range of motion. They can't reach the table to eat off of the table. So in that case, you would need to get the tray. So If, you are looking at purchasing a Tripp Trapp or an Nomi high chair know that they come standard without a tray.

Katie Ferraro (18m 10s):

If you want a tray, you have to pay extra for it. And I know parents get so mad about that, but the point is, with those chairs, If, you have a regular height table. You don't need a tray, right? You just pull the baby up to the table and eat with the family from the first bites. But If, you have a bar height or counter height chair, then you can't work without the tray. For families that have bar height or counter height tables or like we're only gonna feed the baby at the counter. Then those high chairs, the portable ones that either clip onto the counter or that you would put onto an adult bar stool where you affix the portable chair with straps to the back and the bottom of the bar stool. Those can be made safe if the baby's feet are resting flat to bring up to the counter height or bar height table with the ones that are dangling.

Katie Ferraro (18m 50s):

If the feet are dangling, like when you clip the high chair onto the counter, you sometimes have to put your adult bar stool or chair underneath the baby's feet and then stack boxes or books. So you can make a foot rest, but you can get a baby to safely eat at a counter or bar height table, just not with a standard high chair. You're gonna need the tray for that. So I hope you guys have some new thoughts about the highchair tray. I would love to know more. If you are bringing your baby up to the chair, or if you're using the tray and what's working for you, send me a dm I'm on Instagram @babyledweanteam. I'll put the Shownotes for this episode at BLW podcast.com/399. I'll share a bunch of other highchair related episodes there as well. I'll also link to the Nomi highchair and the Tripp Trapp if you want to check them out.

Katie Ferraro (19m 33s):

And I wanna say a special thank you to our partners at AirWave Media. If you like podcasts that feature food and science, and using your brain. Check out some of the podcasts from AirWave or online at BLW podcast.com. Thank you so much for listening.