Pikler® eating bench

a single seat attached to a table, created for children learning to eat independently

The eating bench is a bench and table attached to a base, suitable for learning to eat independently and acquiring the habits of clean and civilised eating. Neither the bench nor the table can be moved on the base board. Thus, it can also be used safely by children who mainly move around by crawling.

to whom and When we recommend it

When a child gets to the stage in his motor development that, from time to time, he sits on a piece of furniture or other suitable objects in the playing area, and when he has reached the appropriate stage in his eating development, the eating bench can be introduced. At this point the balance of the sitting child is still unstable and it is important that the eating bench will not tip over or wobble, even when the child enters or exits. The height of the table enables the child to eat without leaning forward. If a child can rest his feet on the base, he will be able to sit with a nice, straight, vertical back. So, for children of shorter stature the base can be elevated by the use of a hard, flat 13 cushion so that they can sit comfortably with their feet down to provide proper support for their body. The sitting surface of the eating bench is narrow: therefore, the child will sit on his sitting bones. This has a significant role in enabling a comfortable posture. In a properly sized eating bench, the child sitting with a straight back can easily rest his lower arm, bent at the elbow, on the tabletop. The tabletop is not too far from the child, but it is not so close that the child can press his chest against it. The backrest of the bench provides security rather than serving as a support for the child to lean on for resting; it ensures that the child doesn’t fall backwards if he should lean back too far when drinking. It is the appropriate height if its top edge is approximately at the base of the child’s shoulder blades, making sure that his bottom cannot slide in between the sitting surface and the backrest.

how we recommend it

Eating in the eating bench is a transition which should be introduced gradually between eating in the lap and at the table. When a child first tries the feeding bench, we recommend that he is offered food which he can already eat independently and is not new to him: for instance, a glass of drink or some finger food. When he is able to manage these dexterously in the eating bench, the introduction of eating with the spoon may begin.

Generally, only one or maximum two children can be accompanied on their way to achieving independent eating at any one time – in the latter case with two feeding benches placed next to each other.