I often drag the food onto the counter or place it in my toddler's inventory. It's much quicker to get them to eat that way. I have difficulty with the high chair.
If the toddler is hungry and tired and I place them in the highchair, the toddler will call another Sim and that Sim will take them to bed and the toddler still hasn't eaten. I prioritise hunger over energy, but the game wants to do the opposite which is very annoying cause I won't lose a toddler for falling asleep, but I will lose them for not eating.
I've also had the issue where the toddler was hungry and I got him in the chair to eat, but his mother kept picking him up. She picked him up, put him on the floor, picked him up, put him in the chair, picked him up and held him. I got the notification that he is very hungry and to feed him or he will be taken away, but I couldn't cause the mother stood their holding him for ages and wouldn't put him down. Finally she put him on the ground, but then picked him up again and put him in the chair. I nearly lost a toddler because the Sim just wouldn't let him eat. That's when I started dragging the food into their inventory and having them eat without using the high chair.