Hook-On High Chairs? Practical for Daycare Use?

[childcarebytori]

Does anyone have any experience with hook-on high chairs such as the ones below? I'm contemplating getting one and trying one out on my dining room table where my daycare children eat. I currently have a rectangle table that fits six chairs (with five booster chairs attached to five of them for my five table eaters). The chairs are a hassle to sweep under which is why I'm looking into hook-on chairs, and also because I'm getting a seventh kid very soon and I will be out a chair for myself. I can easily fit three of these on one of the longer sides of my table.

Thanks in advance!!

[Michael]

Just make sure the table is sturdy enough to hande the weight displacement.

[momofboys]

I think it would be fine but depending on where you go they can be pricey. I bought one & used it for my own son from the time he was about 6 months - 18 months (I think the one I had could have been used longer if I had wanted to). Make sure it is attached properly & you should be good. It definitely makes cleaning up easier!

[blueclouds29]

I have 2 fisher price booster seats strapped to our chairs. The save a lot of room in our small kitchen and i can take them off the chairs if i need them! Those hanging seats scare me specially if a child is big.

[PitterPatter]

Just make sure the table is sturdy enough to hande the weight displacement.

That's what I was thinking. Plus I have a child that throws tantrums when he can't get down and run around when he doesn't want to eat. Wouldn't work here.

[Childminder]

I use them. Have for years and love them. The kids are right at the table with the rest of us and we don't have to worry about a high chair taking up room in my dining area or using a chair for a booster that I need to use for someone else. I bought mine at garage sales years ago and also I have never worried about them holding up a hefty child.

[DaycareMama]

i just bought one this week and love it. I will be buying two more. Got it from babies r us for $30.00. I did have a 20% off coupon that I used. I do however place a chair under it so that if something happens the chair will catch the seat from falling. I use mine for for space saving with highchairs.

[nannyde]

Yes I have an old school "Tot Loc" from Graco.

We have used it for many years. It's hooked onto a heavy duty Lakeshore commercial kiddy table so it can easily manage the weight without tipping the table.

I was just thinking I need to write a blog on how to evaluate equipment for day care use. When I look at what's available now for equipment there is a striking difference in quality and size when compared to equipment from when I was building my business.

There are things you can look at pretty quickly and tell whether it's designed for a short term use. A lot of kid equipment and toys are designed to look good in the begining but fail with repeated use. Durability has changed drastically just in the last five years... intentionally.

Manufacturers have figured out that it is better to make equipment that DOESN'T last so that buyers don't go into the second hand market to purchase. They want you to buy new from them not used from someone else. They cheapen down specific parts of the equipment that when it fails it renders the piece useless.

[Kaddidle Care]

I never used one - had one but my boys were little chunks and I just didn't trust them. If the child is a bouncer I wouldn't dare use it.
(I didn't know they still made them.)

[Meeko]

Love mine.

I have them on my kitchen counter bar and they are as stable as a rock. The babies can see what I am doing in the kitchen...and it keeps them interested and happy. I talk to them while I clean up after lunch while my assistant gets the bigger kids washed up and blankets down for naps.

[MsMe]

I use two and have for years. They start in them when they first start solids and graduate from them when they are 2ish and ready for a chair with a booster.

[nannyde]

I like mine a lot too. The only thing I don't like is not being able to get the skinny kids "bellied up" to the table. There is a space between their belly and the table edge that is a drop zone for food.

[Cat Herder]

I Love my Tot Locs!!!! I have 4 and use them daily

[Childminder]

I like mine a lot too. The only thing I don't like is not being able to get the skinny kids "bellied up" to the table. There is a space between their belly and the table edge that is a drop zone for food.

Nanny, I use a Styrofoam block in a vinyl pillow case and stick it as a spacer behind the child. Belted in, they are secure and you won't have the messy lap problem. I used the styrofoam lid from a cooler my DH's meds come in but any package foam would work and just made some cases out of oilcloth.

[VanessaEO]

I have two of the Tot-Locs and one similar to one that you posted. I prefer the tot-locs but they are very hard to find.

I love love love LOVE them. I am working on getting rid of my normal high chair - it just takes up SO MUCH SPACE. I also have boosters that attach to chair, that I use for the taller/older kids.

My hook on chairs are attached to my kitchen's bar - so I don't have to worry about weight displacement there.