The Top 10 Things NOT to Look for in Buying a High Chair
1. A five-point harness strap system that won’t tighten small enough to keep your baby from squirming out and climbing on to the tray.
2. A buckle that hurts your hands when you squeeze the sides to open it.
3. A comfy and cushy seat cover that is Dry Clean Only and requires you to hand scrub every dried spot of sweet potato.
4. A space large enough that your baby can recline and not be able to reach on top of the tray.
5. A tray that is twice the size of your kitchen sink and spills water on your floor every time you clean it.
6. A chair that takes up at least 3 square feet of your limited kitchen floor space.
7. Corners and crevices that attract every crumb and piece of bread to be eaten by baby at the next meal.
8. A seat cover that is difficult to remove and place back in with buckles too large to squeeze through the tiny slots in the cover.
9. A tray with shallow sides that allows your baby to drop food on the floor when they were trying to pick up the food off the tray.
10. An aesthetically pleasing seat that matches your kitchen but makes feeding and cleaning a dreaded experience.
Last week I left my daughter alone strapped in her high chair for a minute. When I came around the corner I saw her sitting on top of her tray. I have wanted a new booster seat and this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I purchased a Safety 1st Recline and Grow 5-Stage Feeding Seat and I love it!
Even though it doesn’t have a 5-point harness it is small enough to keep Ace in her seat. Also, I need to be careful to pick Ace up as soon I pull out the tray, because she leans forward when I pull the tray out. The new booster seat is so easy to keep clean.
I had no clue what to look for when I registered for a high chair. I assumed that all high chairs were the same and I picked the one that matched closest to my kitchen colors. Boy was I wrong!
Here are some high chair buying tips from Consumer Reports.
Do you use a high chair or booster seat? Which one do you use? How would you advise a new mom that is shopping for a high chair?
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We have always used a fisher price booster seat http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2861764 from the beginning. No fabric, no crevices, easily portable when traveling because it folds up, a simple desigh, doesn’t take up any extra space, all parts dishwasher safe….you get the point. We have loved it and have used it with two of the kids. We needed two seats at one point so used a slightly different one with Ewan but it was essentially the same. No complaints from me!
My MIL has a big one at her house and I hate washing the gigantic tray off and cleaning it after using it!
I always thought the big high chairs were too much of a hassle and took up too much room. I had a friend who recommended just getting the booster and it was definitely good advice.
It sounds like your high chair was driving you mad!
Great tips! This will be really helpful for anyone in the market for a high chair or booster.
Our high chair was a hand-me-down, so while I appreciate that it was free, it does have many of the inconveniences you listed here, especially the ginormous size of it all.
We have the Fisher Price Space Saver and we love it!! http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product&pid=35236
The cover comes off and goes in the washer, no drying required either. I just let it air dry for 10 minutes. Very easy to clean and use. We loved the fact that she would be at the table with us, not in a big bulky thing that was higher than our dinning table.
I didn’t realize how much I disliked my high chair until I got the booster seat. I am taking it to my MIL’s house to be used when we visit her. It’s okay to use once in a while, just not every meal, because it is impossible to keep clean.
I think McKenna used a similar one that you use, Amelia.
Trina, thanks for sharing which one you use!
I have a highchair now that I use and I love it because Alex is easily contained within it. But as soon as he’s a bit bigger, I’m going to switch to a booster seat and put him at the table. I’m always stubbing my toes on the highchair legs and it annoys me to no end.
I have no idea what the name of my highchair is, tho.
I have the same Fischer Price booster seat (in a different color) as Amelia and McKenna. Love it for all the same reasons Amelia listed. I bought mine in 2005 and my 4-yr old still uses it due to the height of the table. I will have Ava switch from our high chair to the booser next month and buy the Cooshee booster for Caleb.
I did buy the Fischer Price Space Saver before Ava started solids because I don’t like our high chair taking up so much space. I had to return it the same day because the arms of the chair would not fit under the table. It took up as much space as our stand-alone high chair…totally defeated my purpose of buying it. As a result I had to stick with our bulky, space wasting, stand alone high chair.
Heidi-I saw those Cooshie boosters in One Step Ahead’s catalogue and thought they looked pretty cool. You’ll have to tell us what you think.
I think we graduated the kids from the boosters when they were 2.5 or 3. I have wondered many times if Isaac would not be quite as squirmy at the dinner table if he had a booster but when we moved to Pennsylvania he was over 2.5 and it seemed like a natural transition to let him sit in a regular chair. I can’t tell you how many times he has fallen out of the chair at a meal just from squirming around. You’d think he’d learn!
What a great topic.
I wish I’d had an article like this when I shopped high chairs…
Either way, I lucked into my high chairs…I’ve had the Chicco high chair since Toots was a baby (four years now) and the First Years infant-to-toddler seat since Booger was a baby. Both kids still use their seats…so $$’s worth for sure.
I like the Chicco b/c it’s sturdy, self-locks and has a large detachable large. Also, the seat cover is a durable plastic and stains sponge right off.
The First Years seat has also been great…but we just use it as a booster now. It’s light enough to carry from place to place and the tray locks into place and is adjustable to grow with your child.
We started out with the big Eddie Bauer high chair but when it was time for our son to eat at the table with us we opted for the Eddie Bauer booster seat;
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265794
just a smaller version of the high chair. If we had to do it again we would have just gotten the booster seat. Half the price, can hold baby – well our son is 4 and still uses it. We took the cover off both chairs after the first use. From then on we just wiped it down…and it looks great!!
Aack! It’s been a few days since I’ve been online, so I missed this post. Amanda, I have the same high chair as you (I saw pictures from Ace’s birthday party!)…it was a hand-me-down, and obviously, Addie won’t be using it for quite a while…but I’m sad that my cute high chair has a few drawbacks!