highchair help

what characteristics are important in determining what highchair to purchase? ive seen some that are wooden, some recline, some look like they attach to your dining room table seats, etc.

 

i have the fp space saver high chair and i think they are great. when i was deciding on what high chair to get i knew i wanted one that attached to a regular chair and was easy to clean. i like this one because the cover is soft and comfy and easily removable for washing in the machine. i never used the recline function, but i know some moms here have used these chairs to bottle feed their LOs in with it reclined.

i think that the only drawback to this chair is that it won't fit under the table when using it for a booster seat, the rails that the tray attaches to are too high for it to slide under and they are not technically removable. when it is time for us to switch to the booster i will probably break the rails off somehow instead of buying a different booster... but, i was also thinking of getting those restaurant highchairs for that time too, that way we can have all of our dining chairs back.

 

I wish i'd asked this question as i ended up returning my first one's because they were too large even when folded up and difficult to open up.

For me a very high priority is ease of life!!!!! So we needed them to be easy to use, folded away, cleaned and stored. We got that in graco stand alone seats, it's fab! It's not too babyish, it fits nice around the table but can also be folded up easily, it folds like an ironing board would. The girls love being the queens of the castle in them. Good luck in your search.

 

For me personally my reasons where silly. I like the fisherprice rainforest collection so I wanted stuff to match. Also my husband takes awhile to get the food ready and I could see it being a disaster with them both screamming while he was getting everything ready and toys falling on the floor. This one had one of the best toys that nap right into the tray that gives you a good 10-15mins to keep them occupied while you get everything ready and it doesn't fall off the tray. It also folds up nice. I really like fisher price out of all the companies because they are the best with replacement parts and keep the parts in stock for awhile after the product is sold whereas other companies take the replacement parts out of their inventory once the product is no longer available in the store. Fisher price also has the best comstumer service out of the other companies. They were really easy to find on craigslist since the rainforest collection was so popular and I had to have ones that match. I got one for $25 and one for $40 both in great condition. They recline and have different height levels. I can't see spending a lot of money on something they will outgrow so fast, seeing as they go for over $100.

 

I had these too & really liked them. Once they were bigger, I took the covers off & we used them for boosters for a long time. Easy to clean too.

 

for my first one I used the bumbo and then a chair that goes on the table. Now for my twins I am still using the bumbo but am going to purchase the graco blossom chair. It is good from infacy to 80 lbs it has so many uses and we can use it as extra chairs at the table for the boys when they are older. I think it depends on what you are looking for and how much room you have. Good luck with your search

 

We got the graco harmony highchair for a shower gift with our oldest and of course I had to have a matching one so I never looked into other ones. I do like ours though, They come with 2 tray covers which is get if one is in the wash and they don't take up as much space as my SIL evenflo. I do like the FB space saving high chair - good idea

 

We have these as well and they are very nice and work well for us. I can't comment on the under the table part yet but so far i am liking them.

I did some research and read reviews, and decided on the fisher price one instead of the first years brand because the ease of being able to recline and adjust the seat.

I really like not having to have extra room taken up by high chairs

 

We went for two high chairs because we didn't have any regular chairs to spare (plus you can't really slide them under the table with the boosters on top anyway so it still takes room). We got some graco ones which we really like, from the recommendation of a friend (they don't make the exact same models anymore but I think it's close to the Harmony ones). We still use it at 18 months and probably will for a while.

We got two of the rainforest boosters/space saver chairs too for trips etc and like them also, although they make me more nervous because you really don't want to leave your kid unstrapped a minute in there.

 

I totally agree with everything above! I started using them on the floor when the boys were 6 months so I could bottle feed them both. They were flipping over if I fed them in the Boppy. My boys recently went to booster seat and since they don't fit under our table, I bought $10 booster seats for our chairs at Walmart. I do love that they reclined and the boys used the reclining feature past 18 months. IKEA also has some really great (and small) high chairs but none that recline.

 

I know that everyone will probably think that I am crazy but I like the wooden ones. We had a hand me down wooden highchair for my older DD and got two new ones for the twins because I didn't like the tray attachment on the old one. I like the look and the quality of them. I just bought a cloth seat cover to provide some padding and I can just take it off and throw it in the washer. They don't recline but I never really worried about that - we use the boppies and/or the vibrating chairs to feed them until they can sit in the highchair.

 

Space is a major issue in a small house with 6 people. I had bought a Graco Contempowith my older dd because I loved that it folds up to just 8 inches wide. I can fold it completely and slide it against a wall, out of the way if we have company over. So I bought a second one for the twins to use and LOVE them! The graco toys snap into the tray table, it has the extra tray "insert" that's removeable, the ONLY thing I didn't realize is the style I bought, the seat is not machine washable. The style I had from my dd was washable, my new one isn't. I just figure I'll wash it in cold on gentle cycle anyways and hope for the best! If I can't sell it when they are done with it, oh well! ;P But otherwise it has the 3 position recline seat, 5 pt harness, 4-5 height settings, one hand tray removal...and it folds up tiny!

 

I have the chicco polly ones, and do NOT like them...

but my reasons might be different than what you need. I didn't start using mine until the babies were almost 8 months old and they caught on to feeding quite quickly and started hand feeding themselves... and that's when I started not liking them.

#1 the seat back on the chicco polly's doesn't sit totally straight up. its leans back and seems like the babies are still lounging...

#2 b/c it leans back the tray doesn't come right up to their bellies and then it means the lots of food falls down into the seat and even though the seat is vinyl it still was hard to clean.

what I do like is the plastic tray and the extra trays that you can wash easily.

I finally got a wooden high chair that doesn't fold, but sits straight up, and my 16 mo. boy that is so skirmy is great and sits perfectly in it. for my dd I recently got one of the restaurant style chairs and hope it will work for her.

If you need one that leans back, then you'll want to get that, I just didn't end up using recline feature... but who knew what I'd need when I registered for it at my shower.

good luck figuring out what you need.