"Dave Golombek" <daveg(at)blackducksoftware(dot)com> writes:
> Is there a way I can reformulate the query to help the planner use the
> indices?
Use 8.2. Also put an index on the base table, not only the children ---
the forced seqscan on the base weighs down the cost estimate for the
plan you would like to have. (With sufficiently large child tables,
that might not matter, but it sure does for this toy example.)
regards, tom lane