I will let DD eat a snack while she plays or run in and out of the kitchen to get bites if she absolutely refuses to sit and eat a meal. This is maybe once every couple weeks, I don't want to make a habit of it. My good friend cannot get her DD to sit and eat, they are constantly giving her food while she is running around. It makes me feel like its not so bad when I do it, but there is definitely still a choking hazard.
All meals and his one "official" snack for the day are at the table, no exceptions. He eats at a little table and chair set, and he is allowed to stand at the table and eat, but as soon as he walks away from the table, his food gets taken away.
While I'm fixing food in the kitchen or we have a little nibble in the middle of the day I'll let him wander around the kitchen with the food. And DH gives him a small snack cup of goldfish to wander around with every once in a while.
Meals are in her high chair. If I give her milk not at meal time she has to sit down to drink it but not in her chair. Sometimes as a snack I will pour some cheerios on her high chair tray and let her eat them when she feels like it.
I've got a little toddler table. ... And he used to be able to eat there just fine, including lunch or breakfast, as I'm busy during those times and not sitting with him. But he's decided he can get up and down off of the chair and makes a mess, so meals are back in the high chair, and he can only eat on the go if its dry snack like cereal in one of those 'spill proof' cups with lids.
Meals are always at the table, snacks usually are too but only because of the dogs. If they are outside or Stella's gone to work with my H then Madeline wanders while she snacks. I usually put her snack at her play table in the toy room and she can grab what she likes and then keep playing.
He eats his meals at his little table now. He'll eat more if he's at his table then he will if he's in the high chair. Breakfast is usually on the go since it's just a waffle or something I just pulled put of the toaster.
Re: Eating on the Go
DS born 6/2013
my read shelf:
For breakfast, he's just too impatient to get something in his tummy so he usually has a muffin while I make my tea.
Lol I had a reading comprehension fail!! We are the same as you @subliminalrabbit breakfast and snack he walks around with.
But he's decided he can get up and down off of the chair and makes a mess, so meals are back in the high chair, and he can only eat on the go if its dry snack like cereal in one of those 'spill proof' cups with lids.