Which highchair???

[LJH]

I am looking to buy a highchair and have narrowed it down to three:

Kingswood hi-low

Graco stages

Mamas & papas Futura

My main needs are, needs to be compact especially for storing as we don't have the space and also multi position, would also like to use it for son to sit and play so comfort is v important

Have read the reviews and would quite like peoples opinions before i make an expensive mistake!!

Thanks
Lynne

The Graco one is very comfortable if your son will be happy in it for longer than a meal. My daughter loves it for a while but then wants to get out of the restraints. My friend has got one of the folding, multi-coloured booster seats and that is fantastic, especially if space is limited.

Advce needed - what do people think about the Tripp Trapp (or similar) wooden one? I was lent a very comfortable, sturdy highchair from Mothercare (can't see the actual design name) - but it is hell to keep (reasonably) clean - I am not a hygiene freak by any stretch of the imagination but continually find lumps of food stuck in the plastic covers ( .. when my DH took it outside for a 'good scrub' he found mildew growing on it!!).

Surely an all wooden one would avoid these problems but on the 'best product' site there was a comment that Tripp Trapp are hell to clean - why?

Any comments would be welcome, DS is 10 months old.

Thanks

I think the cleaning issue of highchairs is worth considering - I have a Mama and Papas Primo which has a great sturdy chair (Because it has such a wide base Iknow my 3 year old boy wont be able to knock his sister out)and although has a plastic cover it has lots of nooks and crannies and I can't clean the straps properly as they are attached permanently by a screw fixing. Apart from that it's fine. Maybe the Tripp Trapp would have better resale value later.

I'd hate to cast a shadow on any imminent purchases, but we bought a big, multi-position (hi/low, reclining) padded highchair for ds (now just turned 2) and I have to say, it rated (for us at least) as the biggest mistake we made as far as baby stuff goes (cost about £100 I seem to remember, and it was a Graco). We found the seat was lower (even at the maximum height) than other high chairs, and the tray seemed too high/big for our son when he was learning to feed himself (and he was (and is) a big 98th percentile baby!). We then tried using it without the tray for a while, but found we couldn't get it close enough to the table because of its chunky sides/arms. We also found it too heavy to be constantly folding up, so it was pretty much up permanently, which took up a lot of space.The creases in the padded seat were a pig to clean, and I can honestly say we NEVER used it at either mid or low height position or recline!
When ds was one we bought a folding multi-coloured booster with tray for a holiday for about £20 from Argos, and ds loved this loads more and then refused to go near the 'luxury' option!! Kids, huh? A friend of mine only ever bought the booster, and has never regretted it.

Having started off with one from John Lewis which clipped on to the table and was an absolute pain to wash, my dh sneaked off to Ikea and bought their basic plastic model. It is great- doesn't take up much room, has a good tray and being all plastic is a dawdle to clean. As for portability the legs come off so you just have to carry the seat and tray. The harness is extra but it still comes in at less than £25-30. You've probably seen them in local stores/ shopping centre cafes. We can't recommend it enough- especially as we are at the "I can feed myself" stage and it sits at the same height as our kitchen table so the happy eater feels that she is a table.

I agree with duck.
We bought a very attractive wooden one for about £80 in costco. We also bought IKEA's very basic white plastic one to keep at granny's. It is unbelievably cheap, £15 I think for the chair and another £5 if you want the tray, and maybe £1.50 for the safety strap.
The IKEA one is so much better than the fancy one, really easy to clean, has a good comfy seating position ( baby never slides forward) and you can quickly dismantle it ( the legs come off) for storage or travel.Also if you remove the tray it can be shoved in against the table and baby can eat along with the rest of the family .I cannot recommend it highly enough. Both my kids prefered it to the wooden one, maybe because they feel secure in its bucket type seat.
Okay it does not have the aesthetic appeal of the wooden one, but believe me, aesthetic appeal wil be way down your list of priorities when baby is at the highchair stage.
Although it may seem small, it is unlikely a child who is too big for it would be happy to be constrained by a highchair to play anyway.
My dd who is 14 months loves to sit up in it
to play. I sellotape paper onto the tray and let her loose with the felt pens. I can't do this with the wooden one because the pens stain the wood, but can be easily wiped off the plastic tray of the ikea one.
Good luck in your choice.

Can i recommend the M&P Luca, basically it's the most basic one they do. I started off with the hideously expensive Prima but as my messy eater has got older , have inherited a basic chair which is so easy to clean!

The Prima was great at first as I had to wean my dd at 10 weeks, but as she moved onto finger foods etc.. it got completely minging and cleaning it involved a hose in the garden!

Lindy - I have the Tripp Trapp and think it's great. The only bit that's maybe "hell" to clean is the padded cloth seat cover - but that is an optional extra and probably not necessary. It comes off easily for washing anyway. Since it is fairly open (ie no tray), there are no awkward nooks and crannies, so the rest of it is easy to get at to clean - as long as you don't let it dry onto the wood, in which case you need a bit of elbow grease!

Well, I'd endorse MotherOfOne's experience (and well done to you on winning a sackload of toys !).
We had a Prima Pappa that allegedly did everything bar make the tea and I spent far too much time digging bits of scrambled egg out of its upholstered crevices. With hindsight, we would have stuck with his bouncing chair (a top of the range one we were given) while he was little, then switched to his £24.99 booster at age one. I don't know a single child who does not love this seat and it fits onto practically any dining chair. It folds to go in the boot, it can be wiped in a trice and for little ones it is even free-standing on the floor.
£24.99 vs £79.99? Honestly, no choice. I have never been so glad to sling something in the loft.

Marina, I completely agree. My Prima Pappa was undoubtedly the biggest waste of money ever. If there is a next time (fingers crossed!) it'll be bouncy chair and then booster. My SIL bought a brilliant one that fitted on a normal chair but reclines so you can use it for littlies. I can't remember the make but I think I have seen it in the Tesco catalogue. I eventually bought a handysitt for my daughter but she definitely wouldn't have been ready for it before she was 12 months. Oh the joy as I waved goodbye to the P-Pappa.

Me too. I have and still have a Mamas and Papas Prima Papa and dd hates it. Mind you I think she would hate any highchair at the moment.
Mine is yellow and blue and Iam afraid I bought it for the sole reason it co ordanated with my kitchen.
DD is now 21mths and I am looking around for a booster to fit on our dining chairs so I can get rid of the dreaded chair at last.
Do you think she may be too young for this?

Hi marina .Your booster sounds ideal . Can you remember where it is from?
I like the idea of taking it out to restaurants also as dd hates any highchair at the moment.

Hi,
We bought a Mamas & Papas prima pappa highchair and both of my little ones have loved it. I like the varying heights (can bring them down to your level if sitting on the floor), can wheel it easily from kitchen to dining area and impossible to knock over. ds was slight in build so felt snug in the padded seat, and sat in it until we had to force him out of it aged 2 and a half when baby sis needed it. However,I wouldn't recommend it as it wasn't designed with cleaning in mind, and a screwdriver is needed to remove the straps when they get yucky. Little ds never liked the booster as not cumfy enough for his small frame and too close for my comfort to upholstery on dining chairs with his sticky fingers. For restaurant trips / granny we use a clip on 'hanging' seat that both have loved and v portable. Tripp Trapp has been sitting unused until recently but suddenly ds has taken a liking to it. Easy to clean and sturdy.

We were inundated with other folks' cast-off highchairs, 3 in different designs and price ranges, and have used 2 others and 2 different boosters when visiting. I also think the IKEA cheapo one is good, but the absolute best was the plastic booster my mum and dad bought at Argos for £14.99 - better than all the fancy-schmancy wooden, padded, all-singing all-dancing efforts, and also better than the booster widely available from more upmarket outlets than Argos that costs a tenner more. We also have a tie-on gadget that we find really handy for feeding littl'un when we're out and about in highchairless wildernesses.

That said, I have friends who adore their Tripp Trapps, and I do hanker after one, it would look so nice in our kitchen...

Callie, the one I have is available in John Lewis, Argos and from several websites. It's by an American manufacturer, Safety First, who do lots of things for little people so independent nursery retailers should stock it too. Have a peep at the Highchairs reviews on mumsnet (clickable link from Home Page) which gives you comments and such from users. They list it as £21.99 which makes it even better value.
Because so many people we know have one, it has had to be customised with stickers etc!
It can easily be carried into restaurants, we do it a lot.

I'd highly recommend the "First Years" reclining chair. It sits on an ordinary chair, has three seat positions, a clip on tray and lightly padded cushion (removable) and a three point harness. There's a "sticky up bit" between baby's legs which helps to keep them sitting back in the chair. Its light weight enough to be portable and only costs £35. I bought ours from JLewis, but its available in some mail order catalogues. Tescos being one. I used it with ds from the age of about 5months (20 weeks) up until 1year, when we progressed to the Handysitt. All this for under the price of the Prima Pappa high chair. An added advantage, is that its small and inoffensive on the eye and can be easily hidden away if needs be. My son can still sit in it now, at age 15months, so you needn't progress on for some time if you don't want to. I shall be using it for baby No2 (due in April) as its worn brilliantly well, only the cushion is a slightly paler colour than when bought from cleaning. Oh and the tray and seat section can go in the dishwasher, if like me you're too lazy to clean it by hand all the time.
PS this is the one that Enid couldn't remember the name of, I'm the SIL!!

The Safety First seat is brill. I got it after seeing it recommended on Mumsnet too - we take it everywhere!

I agree with MotherofOne and Marina - don't go for the all singing/dancing highchair. We have a Graco one - hugh, ugly, dd can't sit up straight in it and slips down constantly, tray too high and even though she is tall for her age and 1 year old she can still bearly see over it and never use all the recline/different heights etc. It looked great in the shop and it has been our worst purchase. Would love to get rid of it but it was so expensive feel we have to hang onto it. IMO, go for a basic one or one of the booster seat things.
Good luck!

I've got the Ikea highchair and it's good. The best part is that the tray detaches and fits in the dishwasher - wahay!!

A booster seat is no good for me, as we don't have chairs, thats why I need a highchair, i have done a bit of research and narrowed down to the three, from what i've read the Graco stages is maybe a bit too bulky for me.

Has anyone got any experience of Kinggswood hi/lo or Mamas & Papas Futura??

A booster seat is no good for me, as we don't have chairs, thats why I need a highchair, i have done a bit of research and narrowed down to the three, from what i've read the Graco stages is maybe a bit too bulky for me.

Has anyone got any experience of Kinggswood hi/lo or Mamas & Papas Futura??

hi!
i spent ages thinking about a highchair, for exactly the same reasons you did! however, space was a big thing to think about! i couldn't bear the thought of more baby stuff to trip over, plus i thought it would be nice to be able to have dd (6 months) sitting at the table with the rest of the adults when old enough! thus i opted for the handysitt! it's really lovely, compact and very portable, plus although dd is not quite ready to sit in it for long lengths of time, she enjoys the odd 5 mins when we strap her in there, where she either watches me in the kitchen (squealing over her new found freedom)or sits at the dining table, playing with various rattles and toys at hand! I can imagine it will be an absolute doddle to cleand, and it lasts for a fair while!

Good luck!

Sounds great, but has we don't have chairs i really need a high chair!!

LJH, what do you sit on to eat then? Perhaps a bench or a pull down seat? If space is a premium then please don't go for the high chair. They take up so much space, and those I know who have one rarely bother to fold it away after use. Besides, they don't fold that small anyway. You'd need a very big cupboard to shove it in. Wouldn't a cheap second hand chair with a booster be simpler. If you hate the idea of chairs, you could always bin it once your baby is older. They do some great fold away chairs, that really do fold flat, and they would do to support a booster type seat, or the "First Years recliner", but they may not be long enough in the seat to support a "handysitt".