Dining table set for toddlers and seniors to share

December 1, 2023 9:32 AM

I’m looking for a dining table and chairs, that my 3-year-olds, and Grandpa, can share comfortably. (Difficulty: No booster seats.)

Hi hive-friends. Currently, we have a kid-sized picnic table, and a regular grown-up-sized adult table. It would be lovely to get one table that works for everyone, so we can sit together at one table and enjoy eating together.

Some considerations:
- Kids must be able to climb in and out of chairs on their own. No booster seats. (Any straps lead to a lot of crying. Booster seats without straps is too much of a fall risk.)
- Chairs must be very hard to tip over. (A bench would be fine.)
- It should be comfortable enough for a senior citizen to get in, and sit there for awhile. (Current kid-sized chairs require too much crouching and bending.)
- The distance between the butts of the kids and the height of the table must be lower than a typical adult table. (This is so that the kids can reach their water independently.)

I am confident that such a thing is possible, because my kids’ preschool has a picnic-style snack table that works for this. The benches are little higher than a kid-sized table, but the table is a little lower. Unfortunately for me, the preschool table was custom made and I can’t just buy a copy.

So… does anyone know where I can get a table like this? Ideally it’s something that I can get shipped to my home in California. If your answer is to get something custom-made, please break down how that would work and what vendors take that type of request.

posted by tinymegalo to Shopping (12 answers total)

My solution was to have the kids use Stokke Tripp Trapp. A coworker was kind enough to gift me mine. They are so sturdy, hard to tip, and adults can use them (up to the 300lb weight limit). Then you can use your existing table.
posted by skunk pig at 9:41 AM on December 1, 2023 [9 favorites]

I was also going to suggest Tripp Trapp chairs to be able to use them at your existing table. They are great.

The seat and/or footrest platforms should be wide enough that the children can stand/sit in them independently and they could set their water on to still be accessible in between meal times. (Or if you have the space you could set up a small table nearby that the children could place their water containers)

Otherwise for table options, search terms like “kids classroom adjustable table and chairs” brings up several results on Wayfair, etc. that might work.
posted by subwaytiles at 10:07 AM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ikea has a "junior chairs" category which have a higher seat compatible with a normal-height table, a crossbar for stepping up/resting feet, and a wide base that should be okay for tipping. They come in a couple of styles that match some of their popular dining chairs.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/junior-dining-chairs-45815/
posted by fountainofdoubt at 10:07 AM on December 1, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I don't know what products may exist, so I'm going to tell you a little about what this might look like to get custom made. Context and caveats: I do a little hobby woodworking, and I own several pieces from folks who do custom work, and I've casually discussed custom projects with some of those folks, but I've never purchased one (yet).

* Find a local custom furniture maker (probably several, this is gonna end up being a lot of quotes and back-and-forth). I'll let others weigh in on exactly how to do that beyond "google your nearest major city plus custom furniture." If it were me, I'd contact the makerspace near me that hosts a lot of woodworkers, many of whom are pro or semi-pro.
* Describe what you want, *ideally* by providing as much detailed measurements of the kids' preschool one as possible since you know that one works. Failing that, your own measurements of what, eg, butt distance you want.
* Clarify for the woodworker what your budget is, and what compromises you're wiling to make to achieve that budget if necessary. For example, you might end up with a much less 'fancy' table or less-expensive wood than you might otherwise choose.

As far as custom furniture goes, this doesn't strike me as a particularly weird request. Frankly, I'm pretty sure I could build this myself if it was kept simple enough (not on a useful-to-you timespan, mind you, never mind I'm in Philadelphia). It's "just" a dining table and bench (or two benches?) with some slightly unusual dimensions for the legs, as far as I can tell.

I also have to point out that this will be an object with a relatively short lifespan compared to typical custom furniture, which is generally designed and built with longevity as a core ethos (especially compared to common mass-market furniture), and the flipside is that "build it quick" is not usually the highest priority. It's not uncommon to be a variant of "We're going to spend some months going back and forth about design and then eventually I'll acutally build it and it might be many months before you actually take delivery," which is fine if you're thinking of this as a high-quality table you'll be eating off for decades to come, but a bit of a challenge if a meaningful percentage of your kids' childhood will be over by the time you take delivery.

I'd suggest being very up-front about wanting this ASAP (and it is ASAP by custom furniture standards), and asking expressly if they can't accomodate if they know somebody who can. Assuming your priority is to get a table with these proportions on the fastest timeline, as opposed to maximizing design etc, I think there's a good chance that the easily-found person with a full-time fully-custom business isn't the right person for you, but instead they'll say "oh, you might want to talk to X, he basically churns out stuff like this and I bet he could just do one for you with tweaked dimensions" or "This is a talented amateur with a side hustle, they might be willing to take it on, it won't be as ultra-lovely as my work but that's not your priority."
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:07 AM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Edit window aside... I actually wonder if you could (yourself or hire somebody to) cut the legs down a bit from an existing stock table, and just get the bench made.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:08 AM on December 1, 2023

I immediately thought of the Tripp Trapp as well. My brother has a less-spendy knockoff they bought second hand and my 3 year old niece has been using it for almost a year now. Her 18 month old brother is now very close to graduating from the high chair into it, and they're gonna need a second very shortly. It's amazing for the kids, and just sits as a chair at the table next to the regular adult sized ones. I don't have kids myself, but it's one of the very few pieces of kid furniture I know about because it is so beloved in my brother's house!
posted by cgg at 10:11 AM on December 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

We got Hauck Alpha chairs to use at our existing table when my kids were babies and they are now tweens and still choose to use them. Very adjustable, kids can get in and out easily, sturdy enough for a moderately sized adult to perch on them. They're an affordable knockoff of the Tripp Trapp chairs and have been in constant use for over a decade and still in remarkably good shape. One of them started to get a bit wobbly once and we tightened things with an allen wrench and it's been fine for years again.
posted by SeedStitch at 10:12 AM on December 1, 2023

We got a Kaboost and our kiddo loved it. It raises the seat height to a functional level for small humans, but without the booster seat experience. It worked great and was plenty stable even with energentic use, until he out-grew it, and we'll probably use it with little brother, when the time comes.
posted by DebetEsse at 11:25 AM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

We got our tripp trapp chairs used from Facebook market place. They will fit in a car with a little work and are very easily resized to everyone's needs. We've had them in the home for about 6 years now, and we've been able to resize them to our child has she grows.100 percent recommend.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:26 AM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Nthing the trip trapp at a regular table. My daughter is two and sometimes I sit on her chair in a pinch (not comfy but it’ll do once in a while) and I regularly use it as a step ladder (I weigh 180ish).
posted by samthemander at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2023

My toddler grandson (2.5 years) also uses the second-hand tripp trap chair I bought via an online marketplace, which is probably easier to find in Europe. I had one for my kid when she was little, it adjusts as the kid gets older, and the adults don't have to change their chairs or table. My grandson also hates straps so we ignore the strap. He climbs up into the chair and then down again. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 1:46 PM on December 1, 2023

Response by poster: About the Trip Trapp: I know this is super popular, and it was something I considered before getting the kiddie table. However, I have a friend whose kid tipped one over while sitting on it (with no straps) and ended up in the ER. Seems like it was probably a very rare accident, but still something I’d worry about.
posted by tinymegalo at 11:16 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]