Hey guys and welcome back! Today I’m going to talk about our current “weaning”, that is actually a bench, LOL. Here’s the deal, since this is our last kiddo (fingers crossed), I didn’t want to invest in a weaning table unless I could get one second hand or significantly marked down. I am constantly on the lookout for Montessori furniture and materials, but this one just hasn’t materialize yet. 

Necessity is the mother of invention right?, so I decided to improvise (which I guess isn’t inventing) and use the bench from our dining room table. The height of the bench works well with the height of his chair, so at this point I’m satisfied. 

Weaning Table VS. High Chair

The purpose of the weaning table is for the child to be able to access food or whatever is on the table independently. The child should be able to sit independently and move into and out of their chair without assistance. You can also invite the child to set the table and help clean after meal time. My little guy uses his weaning table for at least one meal each day and all of his snacks. Using a weaning table definitely requires more interaction on my part, as I am constantly walking him back to his table to finish his meal or I’m removing his food when he insists on walking around with his food instead of sitting. The language I use sounds like this,

“we eat our food at the table”

“we sit down to eat”

“please sit on your bottom”

“You’re walking around with food, you must be done eating”

“mommy is putting your food away because you are done eating”

Removing his food because he is walking around is not a punishment and he’s not in trouble at all. He simply must learn that the place for food is at the table, not every other room of the house. When he returns to his table and sits in his chair I give him his food.

Another area that is challenging is that he loves to stand in his chair. Because this isn’t safe I constantly am asking him to sit on his bottom, and there are times that I remove the chair and let him eat standing up, if I observe that he is hungry and the chair is a distraction instead of a tool. 

We also use a high chair in our home for some meals because it simply makes sense for us. Because high chairs use restraints for safety reasons and my child cannot get into and out of his high chair independently, it is not considered “Montessori”. But as I said, for functionality purposes we do use the high chair during meal time as well. He knows a few signs, so when he is finished eating he can sign “finished” or “all done” then I take him out of his high chair. Giving him the tools his needs to communicate help tremendously during the times that we don’t operate as a purist “Montessori” household. 

Independence and Freedom of Movement are pillars of Montessori in the toddler community so looking for ways to instill these is always my goal. 

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