The Pool Noodle Hack That's A Game Changer For Your Baby's High Chair

Pool noodles aren't just great for floating around in the pool — they're pretty handy around the house too! Got a high chair and your little one's feet can't quite reach the footplate? No worries! Just grab a pool noodle, cut it lengthwise, and slide it on the footrest. Cutting a pool noodle can be challenging, though. Some of the best tools to use when cutting a pool noodle include serrated knives and utility knives.

Sitting on a high chair is a critical milestone many parents are more than eager for their babies to reach. This signifies that their baby is ready to start eating solid foods and gives parents the freedom to eat with their hands while enjoying the experience of feeding their child face-to-face. However, there are some crucial aspects to consider before letting your child sit on the high chair. Of course, it should be a given that your little one is developmentally ready to sit in a high chair and begin eating solids. You also have to make sure that the seat provides a proper and safe position for eating. This is essential for swallowing safety; proper seating ensures your child can chew properly and use their arms and hands to feed themselves.

Child experts recommend that the baby's shoulders should be in line with their hips, with their back completely straight. Their knees should be bent and able to bear weight on their feet, with their feet pressing into the footplate (creating a 90-degree angle through their ankles). Fortunately, you only need two things to achieve this optimal position: an upright seat and an adjustable footplate. 

If you're using a hand-me-down high chair that's too tall for your child, or have a chair without an adjustable footplate, you'll need to make some adjustments to allow your child's ankles to reach the footplate comfortably. The pool noodle hack works if the space between the footplate and your child's feet is small, but it might not be the best solution if the gap is too big. You can stack some books if the footplate is wide enough. If not, you can slip the pool noodle and reinforce it by wrapping a towel around it to make it thicker. If you're thinking about where to use the excess pool noodle, other ingenious pool noodle hacks you can use around the house include using it for baby-proofing sharp corners and edges around the home and transforming it into a faucet extender when bathing your baby.