can anyone recommend a highchair and playpen?

[PregnantGrrrl]

Hello! I made the mistake of buying a highchair that looked smart, but is in fact a pain the arse to clean. Can anyone recommend one which will stand up to entended use (as i'm pregnant now too) and has removable straps and tray?

Also, travel cot is going to break if DS is in it much longer. It's used as an inpromptu playpen when i need the loo/to get dressed etc, but looking at him in it now, i think he's going to break it

How old is your DS? Why not take him with you or let him roam? I bought a travel stair gate so I could shut my DS in a room if I needed to get on with something. It gave him a bit more space.
I ditched my high chair as I got sick of cleaning it too. How about one of the simple plastic ones? I think it is the padding that makes it hard to clean.

The Ikea Antilop is highly recommended on here. It is only about £15. can be put in the shower if necessary and apparently new straps can be purchased for £1 ish.

I was a bit when it was recommende but decided that I would buy it and if I didn't like it £15 wouldn't be a massive loss.

12m on I love it and having used a few mothercare etc. styles on holiday I love it even more.

Agree with stair gating off safe areas upstairs.

DD3 is 16m and has a selective free run upstairs when needed.

I have the wooden playpen from John Lewis - worked fine

another vote for the Antilop - the only has a waist belt though so if he's a wriggler you may want to use the harness off a set of reins instead.

I have Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair and love it. Have used it since DS was 6 months and he is now 18 months. Whenever we go anywhere and use a different highchair he can always work his way out of them, even with straps. So far he can't budge out of the Tripp Trapp (he did learn to climb in it today though ).

We have the huge BabyDan metal hexagonal playpen that can be used as a room divider / fireguard etc etc. It is fab as he chooses to go into it to play with his toys, although I rarely close the gate on him now unless we need to leave the front door open for a delivery etc and have to stop him escaping!

Oh, but have used the Antilop at other places and it is good. He sits happily in it and for the price it is FABULOUS.

i found this one great and it also converts to a stairgate/barrier etc...
here

oh, same playpen as Egg i think! anyway, another vote from me.

Baby Dan play pen - expensive but sturdy, safe, flexible, and good resale value.

No help on high chairs sorry - ours was a disaster!!

Looks identical to mine except mine is silvery coloured and different brand. They are very heavy so not good if you want to move them around a lot, but great for throwing in all the toys at the end of each day .

The ikea highchair is great and brilliant value, its all one moulded piece of plastic, is small and can be hosed down outside.

Both my dds went into handisitts at around 15 months so they could be at the table and I couldn't reccomend them highly enough, expensive but worth it.

Have never used playpens, just stair gates and a gate on the kitchen entrance.

another vote for the Babydan - we fill it with balls sometimes so they have their own mim ball pool. it's also brill as a room divider.

We've got a Handysitt (scandinavian design) that we bought from Cheeky Rascals.

It fits onto a normal chair, and everyone who's used it at the hotel asks for the contact details of the supplier!

Handysitt

Thinking of high chairs - actually the best thing we bought was a Fabric strap that attaches to almost any normal chair, and then comes up through babes legs and clips at the back - made by CLippasafe - £10 - bung it in the washing machine when it gets grubby -I means our DS can sit at the breakfast bar on a "high" chair and eat with us in thekitchen.
We take it every where with us, and put a square of plastic table cloth nder it to protect other peoples chairs etc..

there's a Handysitt with travel bag on offer
here

Clippa safe chair harness - "herewww.clippasafe.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=13"

why do my links never work right??!

thanks for the suggestions guys, i'll have a proper look later on.

would still need a play pen really- already have a gate so that DS can't reach stairs when downstairs, but we having trouble with upstairs- can't find one that fits the landing. Plus, he climbs on and grabs EVERYTHING, even with a gate he is leaping from the sofa / bed, slamming and opening doors etc. The bugger's only 14mths!

Oh and another great thing about the Anitlop is that it is pretty portable.

Last week it went in my boot (Picasso) with 2 suitcases a travel cot a buggy and various other bits and bobs.

had a look on ebay and there's a 2nd babydan up for sale, so will keep an eye on that.

the handysit looks great- may get one anyway for when we're out etc.

another option might be to remove the manky straps from his current chair and use a harness instead maybe

we have a baby dan playpen although it's not up yet. I got it from ebay new and it included the tent to turn it into a little den when DD is older. It was very good value about £89 altogether.
I also have the ikea chair for at my parents and it is very good.

Peachygirl - you can get a den for the babydan? cool! Any idea from where??

here