High chairs

[lukaelmo]

Hello all,

I have been playing on ebay and am trying to decide between buying a high chair that stands alone, or one of those chairs that you strap to a normal chair.

It is a bit hard to decide without having any idea of what feeding little dude is going to be like...

Soooo what do you guys think? What do you have? Does anyone have both and can therefore tell me which one they prefer?? Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp me... :D

[lukaelmo]

Hmmm dodeedodeedodeedum bum bum...

Am still looking on ebay and am itching to bid...I've got the ebay fever...

isthereanyoneoutthere?

amialone?

Am I doomed to make the highchair decision alone?

[tickle]

I would get a free standing high chair.
I just found that they are easier to clean because my dining room chairs have fabric on them which is hard to clean.
Depends on what you've got though. The strap on ones are easy for travelling to the grandparents etc though.
Good luck!
E:)

[draught]

I have both. I prefer the free standing one as it is more solid and withstands being bashed by a toddler etc - the smaller one I have for travelling is flimsier and showed signs of wear after the first outing.

One tip - look for a chair that has the centre bit that goes between their legs - that way when you havea wriggler they can't slip down out of the chair when you turn your back. (which they manage to do despite a harness sometimes if they are determined!!)

[Foxy]

Hi Alison

We bought a Love'N'Care highchair which has been excellent. It has two trays so you can take one off the tope for cleaning and one can stay on there. It is on wheels, has the 5 point harness and has adjustable heights. It also has the centre bit that goes between their legs.

I got it on sale for around $150. It does collapse fairly well and we have taken it to other peoples houses to use. The only problem is that it does take up quite a bit of room in the car and when you also have to pack a travel cot, numerous bags and the kitchen sink, it's hard to fit it all in!

We ended up buying a Safety First chair that you can put onto another chair for over Xmas when we knew we would be out alot. It has been excellent and I'm glad we got it. It was $65 from Kmart.

If you go out often, I would recommend getting the seat-chair, but if you can get both, a highchair is good for home - for some reason I feel that it is a bit safer. If you do get a highchair, try and get one on wheels - it makes life sooo much easier.

Good Luck :)

[the_queen]

I have a free-standing one, which was good - except for the multiple times of walking into the kitchen at night time and stubbing toes on the bottom of it...... :mad: Coz the legs are spread out more than normal chairs, you know what i mean.... Also I wish mine had wheels.

I saw a very cool one the other day, black with black leather seat .... very very cool (not expensive either) it was at toys r us.

[tickle]

One tip - look for a chair that has the centre bit that goes between their legs - that way when you havea wriggler they can't slip down out of the chair when you turn your back. (which they manage to do despite a harness sometimes if they are determined!!)
Oh, this is absolutely necessary!
Good tip Theresa!;)

[Ky]

A freestanding one that folds small and is easy to clean ... ie, not much padding that will trap food, tray that removes easily.

Make sure that the tray can be removed by sliding it off or unclipping it, not by passing it over bubs head. I had one that went over bubs head and was also very padded/several different recline positions.different heights and found it to be an absolute pain in the butt! Food kept getting trapped under and around the seat, it took ages to clean, if bub wasn't sitting exactly straight it was hard to move the tray and it had a sortof loop arrangement that the tray clipped onto that bub could slide under and hang by the neck!

I now have a steelcraft avalon ... perfectly plain, easy to clean, easy to remove tray etc. I do also have a tie-on booster but this was given to me and I have only ever used it without the tray as it was missing! The hook onto the table highchairs are great, but don't fit all tyoes of tables - I had one, but found it's used very limited ... the one I had was plastic, so easy to clean.

OK, so I have a theme going here ... believe me, after 2 kids (messy ones at that!) easy to clean is top priority!

This is the same design (I have a navy blue with green frogs) as the one I have at the moment ...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Blue-Steelcraft-High-Chair-fold-up-Sydney_W0QQitemZ7729086791QQcategoryZ2986QQcmdZVie wItem

This item has ended bidding, but I just wanted to show you what a good practical highchair looks like!

Another great highchair is the Ikea antilop. You buy the chair and the tray seperately, it breaks down to a few small pieces and is incredibly easy to clean and light also. The website says $39 for the chair and $10.95 for the tray!

have fun chosing ... I would wait until something completely right comes along though!

[Ky]

Just wanted to add ... our church has several of the ikea chairs in their cafe and they get an absolute beating and they still come up clean and are still stable etc after a couple of years almost constant use!

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=18&catalogId=10103&langId=-26&topcategoryId=15567&parentCats=15567*15659*15667&categoryId=15667&cattype=sub

[lukaelmo]

Oooo bugger how practical things are; I want the cool black one from Toys r Us :p

Okay, now I am serious. It looks like I need:

wheels
two trays
dooberwhackey between legs (or straightjacket?)
easy to fold/clean etc
tray that lifts out, not over head
cool black leather seat

Kyra, i just looked at the one on ebay - it sold for only $11!!

Am going to look at IKEA now... ah the Swedes, the epitome of practicality (hopefully combined with black leather).

[wattle]

We used the ikea one at a restaurant recently and was terrific. (So good I had to ask where it came from.)

We have a fisher price portable one which is super fantastic. Great to take to the grandparents, and we have that one set up in the dining room on a vinyl chair (easy to clean). I looked very carefully at all of them on the market, and this one seemed the best by a mile - sturdier, stronger tray clips, harness, bit between the legs, adjustable height etc.

We also have a swing that converts into a highchair. It's so fantastic. Lovely for him to swing in, and is great as a highchair. Not on wheels though.

[reAllytee]

I have the Fisher & Price Linkadoos & i love it even though its a bit frilly lol !
The tray has 3 changeable tray inserts which comes off using one hand & has toys attached which keeps boof happy when im trying to get food organised ! Can be kept at 7 different levels & also has a little basket at the side which can be used for bits & pieces i used it to hold spare bibs & then on the other side it has bottle or cup holders !!! Love it !!!
Look here if you want to see piccies - http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/Allyooooooo/HarryHighchair2.jpg

[xkwzit]

We borrowed a high chair, but found it was way too low to sit at our kitchen bench. I was always stooped over to feed DD. So we bought one of those that you strap to another chair. Its great because it travels with you (kitchen bench, dining table, patio) and doesn't cost a bomb (we wound up buying a second one for grandma's house). One of mine even has a split tray table that I can put in the dishwasher to clean - BLISS.

Cheers

[lukaelmo]

Allyoo bubs looks like a king sitting up there on his throne! What a lucky little man.

I am off to view highchairs tomorrow, armed with the knowledge of bubhubbers who have gone before me... Wish me luck ;)