What Is a Good High Chair

I have twins, and have the Fisher Price Rainforest high chairs. We LOVE them. They are so practical, easy to use, have a fun toy for the kids, trays that can go in the dishwasher, adjustable everything, and are about $100. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a great chair!

We have the fisher price rainforest chair and it is great. It has different positions for height and for the straps. It also has tilt for younger babies and it comes with a musical toy that attaches to the tray that My baby girl just starting to press the buttons by herself! I belive it wasn't expinsive it was deffenatly worth the cost. WE love it!!! It comes with removable tray that can go in the dishwasher and removeable pads that can be wiped down or can go in the washing machine.

DON'T Buy one of the beautiful wooden high chairs. I have an Eddie Bauer one that looks really nice but is difficult to clea, and from which my 15 month old son was able to escape. (They don't have shoulder harneses.) I ended up buying a Safety First one from Target which is plastic. It does not look nearly as nice but it's safer and MUCH easier to clean.

I have the Chicco and like it - but it was expensive and takes up a lot of room. If I had it all to do over again, I would buy the cheapo Rainforest booster seat (can't remember the brand). My mom has it at her house for when she watches my son and he loves it! It takes up no room at all - it straps to one of your dining chairs, folds up for storage or travel, and has the cutest tray that attachs to it and has toys on it (which my son LOVES!!). You can get it for $30 at Target.

What ever you get, pay attention to the leg bulk for standing high chairs (they are very wide at the bottom for extra stability, which can be a problem in tight spaces.) If you go for a standing high chair, I recommend one with heighth adjustment.

My son is almost 5 and we still use his high chair at the dining room table. It sits at our dinner table in place of a regular chair keeps him at a comfortable heighth.

I'd give real thought to some of the comments about a booster seat, too. I go back and forth between thinking what I have now was the best decision or using our travel booster seat. Truthfully, so much of the stuff they sell for babies is not worth it, but you usually only find this out after you have it for 6 months and realize you've used it once!!

My high chair was around $40 (or a little more) and is an Evenflo style from Burlington Coat Factory. It folds in half for storage, the cover (a safari theme in light blue and green) comes off for easy cleaning, the hieght fo the seat adjusts from you being able to sit on the floor for feedings (great for when little one starts throwing food), the tray has several placement setting, and there is a removable two piece tray insert that I found great for an occational snack on the couch. And, the back adjusts to a couple of reclining positions as well. Its not the prettiest, really, but Burlington sells highchair covers too, if you want a new one. A few of my friends bought more expensive models and all loved my model the best. Its very practical and effecient, especially for the price.

It has been awhile since I used a high chair but I wanted to share with you a really neat feature that we loved on ours. We had one that had a reclining feature to it and there were three settings that you could use. It was a very quiet manual setting so when the little one doses off after eating, you can recline them without waking them! My daughter would sleep for hours in that chair! ;-)

mine is the Ocean Wonders. It works good, and comes with a toy they can play with. My son loved it. It tilts back, I think like 3 or 4 positions, has toys, comes with a dishwasher safe tray on the top, which is GREAT! Didn't have to worry about getting the high chair itself dirty, just took the tray cover thing off and threw it in the dishwasher. And..they aren't that expensive.

We didnt buy a high chair and we wernt going to buy one until we needed it. But by then my wonderful neighbor passed on a "safety 1st" chair that straps onto a regular chair. I love it! the seat adjusts so as the child grows you can lower it to fit the childs' legs under the tray. The tray can come completely off and you can pull the chair up to the table. The tray has another tray that sits on top so when one gets dirty just remove it and you have another clean tray. The entire thing can be put in the dishwasher and the straps can be thrown in the laundry. Its also easy to transport so when we go to other peoples' houses that dont have kids (or grandmas or out to eat), we just strap it to one of their chairs. Its really and truely awsome. I have the older version but i just quickly searched for it at walmart and I think mine is most similar to this one.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5192166

At 6 months old your baby should have no problem in this!

I don't know specifically which brands are best, but I do know that it is good to have one with raised elbow rests. It keeps the child's arms out of the food and mess, and makes it easier to keep clean.

when my son was first sitting up, we lived in a town house and didn't have a lot of room. We bought the Chicco chair that hooks to the table. It has little black Hippo arms that sit on the table and it uses the childs weight to keep it tightly on the table. It worked REALLY well. Then when he was a pro at sitting, we just bought a 25.00 booster seat witha tray from Target and it has lasted us overa year now and still going strong. It has adjustable height so you can use it with the tray as a high chair and take the tray off for a booster seat. You just strap it to your regular chair so it doesn't take up any more space.

We have a baby trend highchair (similar to the safari one on babiesrus.com), and we have liked it, especially the fact that the height adjusts so easily and it reclines. However, the instructions on the cover say dry clean only (but I just wash on gentle cycle and its fine). I think I would just prefer one that I can just wipe off so it will look clean every time and not leave stains.

We had a Baby Trend (the Babies R Us brand) for both of our kids and it was perfect and inexpensive. Keep this in mind.... they will likely only use it until they are 2 1/2 to 3 years old (depending on when you let them sit at the table. If you have the extra money and want to buy it, I say go for it.... if not, I would put money toward something they will use a long time--- like good furniture and a good bed (when the time comes). Just my opinion.

Mel

We like our Fisher Price Space-Saver high chair that straps on to a regular dining chair. One nice feature is that it tilts back so that you can put a smaller baby in before she sits up (we didn't start solids too early, but it was really nice to be able to sit her at the dinner table with us and she enjoyed looking around).

you already have tons of suggestions which is great! the only thing i would look for if i was to get anotehr high chair is one that wipes up easily! we got one with a cloth seat, but you have to wash it so often. kids get so messy, it would be nice to be able to just wipe it down (and wash on occasion!).

Honestly, most people I know that buy a stand alone high chair don't end up loving it no matter how attractive it is, because they take up so much space. We ended up buying the Fisher Price Space Saver high chair that fits on a regular kitchen/dining chair. It has the functionality of a regular high chair (ie. it reclines or smaller babies, has a tray, etc.), but it takes up no space. Regardless of what you end up going with (stand alone or space saver), I highly recommend that you get one with a vinyl cover rather than any form of cloth. We borrowed a regular high chair from my aunt for a while, and it had a cloth cover. I couldn't believe how much messier this made things. Babies are very messy when they eat, and instead of being able to just wipe it down with a cloth I was forced to wash it after nearly every meal. Good luck.

We have the Fisher Price Space Saver seat (around $50.00 at Wal-Mart). It attaches right to your kitchen chair. It's a high chair and then it converts to a booster seat. I love that it has a 5 point harness & also has 3 postion recline. The tray is also one-hand operation which is great when you have a baby in your other arm. DD seems very comfortable in it, too.

http://www.babeetenda.com/
I LOVE THIS CHAIR!!!! I used it for both my kids. It is now a drawing table, since they don't need a highchair anymore. This table does not tip over, it is easy to clean. The kids can not climb out. Well, mine could,because I stoped strapping them in, and had it set to big. But I never worried about it tipping. I bought but did not use the cover. The company has been around 60 years (per the website) and has never had injury or death with their product. Check out the site. It is pretty informative. I used my chair from the 1st day I started feeding them rice cereal.
I bought the crib too (now used as a big girl bed). It is wonderful!!!!
It is a bit pricey, (I do not remember how much (was 5 years ago) but well worth it. We went to a meeting and bought it from a distributer.

We love the SpaceSaver high chair since it grows with the child. It straps to a regular chair and you can remove it easily if you need to use the chair for grown-up events. It also slides easily under the table, or it has a little tray that attaches. I think it was relatively inexpensive, but I can't remember now since it was on my registry a couple of years ago.

Hi K.!
I had the wood Jenny Lind high chair when my daughters were small but now i have a plastic Graco one for my sons, (luckily as one grew out of the high chair the other was growing into it!) and to me they are BOTH wonderful, the Jenny Lind wood was a gift from my mom and cost about $150 and the Graco i bought myself and was about $60. If it helps you can also find some real good deals at www.babyage.com. Hope this littl info helps out! Good luck!

We had one I got at Wal-Mart that was cheap and all plastic, and I loved it because I could put it in the shower to clean it (my child had rotovirus once). I want to say it was a Graco.

also, check stores like Once Upon a Child 2nd hand stores (nationwide, I think) because you can get them at a real discount.

Also, you may want to not even get a high chair (they take up a lot of space) and just get a booster seat like others have mentioned.

A good high chair is called a "Svan" it will work with your baby through to adulthood. It is a bit pricey but you will ot have to buy anything else for your child t use at the table again. The come in some nice shades of wood too.

Research & buy the Svan High ____@____.com - Customer Reviews | Fast Shipping | Photos | Comparisons | Expert Customer Service.
www.highchairs.com/Svan-High-Chair.pro - 83k

Good Luck, Kathy

I haven't looked at what is new in highchairs, but I used a wooden highchair with my 11 year old daughter. The highchair belonged to my Aunt who used it on my cousin. I don't know how old he was when we used it with my 11 year old daughter at the time, but he is in his late 20's or early 30's now and I still have the highchair. I am planning on using it with my 3 month old when she is able to use the highchair. I do know I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a highchair. I didn't have to spend anything on this one and worked great with my oldest and I'm sure it will work just fine now. I did buy a washable cushion to put in the chair this time.

We have the Graco Harmony, which costs $70. It is very functional and easy to use and easy to keep clean. With my 1st son we used a booster seat that hooks onto a chair because we were so limited on space. Both kinds of chairs have been good experiences. I do enjoy being able to adjust the highchair to different heights since during the day I feed my youngest in other areas of the house than just the kitchen.

The two main things I would make sure your chair has is a plastic piece or strap that goes between the legs (to keep your child from sliding down under the tray or table) -- which I think most of the newer chairs have, but I have seen some older ones that don't -- and one-hand release which makes it a lot easier to get the tray off if you are holding the baby in one arm. Both of my kids moved into booster seats at the table with us around 2 years of age, though.

I never used a stand alone high chair. I used the kind that sit in the regular chair. There are some that lean back and sit up straight. That way, she is AT the table, not beside it. And, at 6 mo. she can be sitting at the table eating cheerios while you finish your dinner with your husband. That way, she is picking up good dinner habits already! (AND it saves space!!!)

I hate high chairs. The crevaces get NASTY ! I bought a booster seat with snap on tray for both of my kids. It's easier to clean, portable, and SMALL. Boosters simply snap onto an existing chair. I LOVE THEM! They are also cheaper than a high chair. My 18 month daughter still uses her booster chair to eat at the table. I don't use the tray unless she's playing with toys while I cook. Then I unsnap it and push her up to the table like a big girl for dinner.

Hope this helps.
J.

For my daughter, we bought the type of feeding seat that attaches right to the kitchen chairs and can be used anywhere and can even travel. We love it because it saved space and money, and when she was little we could use it as a reclining feeding seat or could move it around the house and let her just sit in it as a baby seat. When we travel it doesn't take up a ton of room in the car. The one we got is from First Years and you can get it anywhere.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=250800...

we were given this as a gift i wasnt to thrilled when i saw it but after my daughter started using it i loved it!! its small so i can store it out of the way it reclines you can adjust the tray all sorts of ways. and its about 50-80 dollars cheaper than the others. good luck!

Graco Healthy Care high chair with the removable divided tray. You can put the baby's food directly on it, then wash it, and there is still a tray in place to hold the baby in and put toys on.

I guess it all depends on your preference, but I didn't want the expense or bulk of a traditional high chair. I use a travel high chair that straps to a regular kitchen chair. It works great for me. It is not like the kid actually spends a lot of time in the high chair anyway. A lot of the stuff magazines say a child "needs" is more for the parents' sense of aesthetic anyway. The baby won't remember.

I cannot say enough good things about the Fisher-Price Healthy Care high chairs. They come with removable trays you can put in the dishwasher (clean and sanitize in one step!) and it comes apart easily to put straps and pad in washing machine. They usually have some sort of toy, either attached or that fits onto the tray. My kids love theirs. And your baby will spend the next couple of years in this chair - for safety's sake. Good luck.

We have the space saver high chair that attaches to one of your kitchen chairs. Our son has been using it since he was 3 months old. At first we used to put him in it when we ate dinner just so he could be with us. It reclines and converts into a booster. He still uses it at 20 months. Actually now he can climb in it himself because it's attached to a regular chair. It also allows you to sit in a chair while you feed your baby, which is nice when you've been on your feet all day changing diapers and cleaning up messes. It makes feeding time more enjoyable.

We have one made by The First Years that straps to a regular kitchen chair. I love it because it's easily portable, and because now that my daughter is older (15 mo) I can put it on the floor and she'll go and climb in it on her own. It's easy to clean and doesn't take up much space.

I used and liked the Fisher Price Healthy Care highchair. It works for little babies up to toddlers easily.

Hi, I think the best high chairs are the ones that transition from small baby to toddler, they tend to tilt back and have tight cushions for smaller babies and you can adjust everything as the baby grows older. I had a Graco chair but this was about 5 years ago and things have gotten much more futuristic since then , hahahaha.

I have to be honest I didn't use my high chair much, I fed them in their car seat for the first little while and from there we have a chair that clips right on the kitchen table so they could be sitting right with us at the table, the high chair was more of a decoration and I ended up giving it away because I really loved having the kids right at the table with us, those little clip on chairs are great!
I wouldn't spend a fortune on a chair because either way your child will be at the table with you guys eventually, probably on a booster seat.

Sorry I don't have any brand names for you, its been a while, just thought I'd tell you what we did, k.

Bye for now

E.

I really liked my daughter's Evenflo Discovery highchair. BUT, now that she's older and we've traded it in for a booster seat I wish that I had tried just a booster seat all along. Many bookster seats now recline and fuly adjust so they can be used for infants and toddlers. It would have saved money and space! I got our booster seat at a consignment sale (clean, great condition) for about $8.00. One with more features might have been about $15-20, a lot less the a brand new one. If you do go the highchair route - I would suggest that you make sure the seat sits upright enough. The first chair we had didn't sit upright enough. A flaw that Evenflo realized and redesigned. After some fussing and emailing some pictures of my child in the chair they sent me (free of charge) the one we actually loved!

I am the type of mom who wants the most expensive, nicest, best of everything for my baby. I didn't want handme downs, used things, etc. The reason I am saying this is to give you an idea of how well I like the most inexpensive highchair I found. It was at babies-r-us. The Evenflo brand's most inexpensive model $50? I think. It is easy to clean, easy to move around, looks fine. Great choice.

When my little girl was ready for a highchair I was like you. I looked and looked before I decided to go with the Graco version that you strap on a dining room chair. It wasn't decrative like some of the others that I found but I liked the idea that she was at the table with us while we were eating. Even if she had already eaten her meal she could be included in the family together time. I was raised that everyone was home for dinner.It was the one time of day that you could catch up as a family. This chair also reclined a little for little ones that weren't already sitting up well by themselves. Hope this helps.

Like some others, we never used a standard "high chair."

We've had the Fischer Price booster for 3 years now (straps onto regular chair; comes with tray, sectioned tray, and cover that all go in the dishwasher).

It's super easy to clean and portable. It's still going strong 3 years later, and we use it at least twice a day.

She has always loved that she could sit at the table with us and we love that it slides right under the table with the other chairs.

One piece of advice: if you do end up taking this route, consider putting a towel between the chair and the booster to protect your chair from spills, etc. We used to do that but we've got it on a metal folding chair now so we can use all 4 of our wooden chairs for adults.

I have a Graco one with the seat back that reclines, the height adjusts, it has the removable tray that can go in the dishwasher and it folds up for storage. It worked great for my daughter because she could lay back in it and with the height adjustment I could feed her while I was standing cooking dinner or sitting down on the couch. Later we took off the trays and could pull it right up to the table. I really liked that it has wheels so I could move it around the house with me as I went from room to room. It needs some cleaning but if you want it you can come get it. I live in Hermitage, ____@____.com

I personally wish I had never bought a high chair at all. The booster seats that attach right to a regualar chair are so sturdy now and it won't be long before your little one will move to one anyway. Our big high chair was used briefly for both my kids and then just sits in the corner taking up space. I'd recommend checking out the booster seats for one your baby can grow with.

A CHEAP one is the best. Get one off of Craigslist or th newspaper or yardsale. Don't spend money on something like that. He wil only use it for a short time and 1/2 the time he is going to want to sit at the table like a big person. You will also go through a period where he doesn't want to sit at all. 1/2 the time he is going to want to run around. Soon you will be so frustrated because he won't eat that you give in and let him run around and you will stuff food in his mouth every chance you get when he runs by.
Save your money and spend it on something that he can use for a longer period of time like a toddler bedroom when he gets ready for that. If you spend alot of money, I think that you will regret it and wish that you hadn't have spent that money on that. The time that he will spend in the high chair will go by really really fast. I have one in the garage that I wish that I could give you. I bet she didn't use it 3 months. We ended up putting her in a toddler chair at the table..... that is what she wanted and she did better that way.

I also recommend the SpaceSaver Seat that straps to a regular chair...it doesn't take up all that space and grows with the child. We have loved, loved, loved ours!

I love ours...it just fits in a dining room chair. It is the Fisher PRice Space Saver High Chair..it reclines and is very sturdy and my 6 month old daughter seems to like it. Another bonus is that I can take it with us easily when we visit grandparents...

With our first child we had a regular high chair that we got at Baby's R Us. With our 2nd child we got one of those feeding seats as a gift. It is a seat that attaches to your chair at your table. It has a tray, belt, and it adjusts to the level that they need. As an infant it lays back a bit and then as they grow the back can come forward to sit them up more and the seat of it goes down as they grow taller. It is great b/c you don't have to have an extra spot for the high chair, they sit at the table with you, you can take it with you to restaurants, etc We gave one as a gift and they praised us for saving them from having the high chair in the way. You can find them online or in Baby's R Us and I am sure some at Toys R Us. Some are better than others. Make sure to get one that the back moves up and back and the seat they sit on moves up and down as they grow taller. The tray detaches so you can pull them up to the table to eat or they can use the tray. Try it!

W.

Hi! I seem to be the only one that has the chico sahara one- but I love it! It tilts back for smaller babies, and the entire seat moves up and down, making it easy to use at the table when he's ready to have the tray removes. I was looking for a booster seat recently since he's old enough to use a real chair, but I decided to just pull to high chair up to the table (our little table in the kitchen only has two chairs- one for me, one for hubby). Good luck! K.

I actually have 2 high chairs. The one that I used primarily when my daughter was first eating solids is a Chicco, which worked well, except for the fact that it made her look like Alice in Wonderland sitting in a chair that was way too big for her. I now use a Fisher Price chair that snaps onto a regular chair. I absolutely love it! There's no high chair that takes up a ton of room, and when she's ready to eat at the table instead of off of a tray, I don't have to go buy a booster seat. Also, it's super easy to transport and carry to restaurants or on trips!

I REALLY like the Healthy Care by Fisher Price-comes with 3 dishwasher safe removable tray inserts and toys.

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product...

with my daughter i had a little chair that straped to the regular chair. it tilted back for a small baby, and then sat up when she was ready for finger foods. later you could take the tray off, and push it up to the table and use it as a booster seat. for my son i had a graco seat, that folded up almost flat for storage. it leans for small babies and is hight adjustable. after having both, i dont think that i would ever buy a full size highchair again. they are very expensive compared to the ones that sit on a regular chair. i also find that we are all always tripping on the regular high chair, and it is just in the way. there is a new portable one out, i cant remember the brand, that has all of the padding of a regular seat, and tilts back for a small baby, and i think that it runs less than 50 dollars.

I also use the highchair that attaches to a chair. We got if off our registry at babiesrus. I was there last night and I know they still sell them. I think around 50 dollars. I have woven chairs, which it sits on. My daughters feet have scratched up my chair a little bit at the end, but that is to be expected I guess. I really like it b/c I do not like a lot of clutter :) (so the freestanding high chairs did not appeal to me... being one more baby thing sitting around our house.) The tray is also easy to clean. It is also easy to adjust the back of chair.

I highly recommend the Stokke Tripp Trapp. Yes, it is a little expensive but such a great chair that will grow with your child. It is fully adjustable in both height and debth. You child will be able to sit right up to the family table which helps with good eating habits. It has a harness which is what we use all the time. I ordered the cushion and rail as well but I do not use either. I removed the rail at about the 11 month mark and the cushion at about the 10 month mark because my son kept getting food on it; I had to wash it every day. You can find more information at www.stokkeusa.com

I absolutely recommend the Chicco highchair! We bit the bullet and went ahead and got it for our first child and loved it from day one. It kept him secure, was very easy to clean, and was sturdy. We liked how the seat reclined and the height was easy to adjust in case we were sitting next to the breakfast bar or at the table. We never had any problems with it and it was still in such excellent condition that we were able to use it for our second child two years later and it still looks like it has many years of usage left in it.