highchairs. to triptrap or not. any thoughts?

[ickletickle]

help. 5.5 month old, need to make a decision

I loved my tripp trapp so much, that all my children since my DD1 have got one - we have a dark brown one, a blue one, a green one and a red one . Fantastic chairs - comfy, good for them and last forever.

We've got a Tripp Trapp and love it. DS is now 22 months and we just use it as a chair. Has always felt he is included at the table with everyone else rather than on his own.

I have one and love it. I had a chicco one first but got rid of it as ds wanted to eat at the table with us. I'd used one of these in a TGI's for a meal out and thought it was great.

DS is 3.5 and still uses it. I think he will for many years. We also use it for baking etc to reach the work top.

I would say NOT! They are huge take up heaps of room and are expensive

Ikea antilop is fantastic and less than £15
My dd has graduated to an Ikea bekvam stool and will eventually move on to a proper chair eventually - instead of a chair that is in fact a highchair

In my humble opinion

Right at the other end of the price scale, the Ikea antilop has been fabulous for us after our huge, bulky, impossible to clean chicco monstrosity..

I don't know how you can say that the tripp trapp takes up loads of space. It sits under the table like a normal chair and those huge plastic chairs are enormous

If you can afford it go for it, they look good, your child is at the table with everyone else and they last for year. DD1 is now 5 and still in hers, DD2 also has one and loves it. I have been known to use it when we run out of chairs.

The huge plus of a Tripp Trapp is the footplate. When DD1 was tiny, having her feet supported improved her posture immensely. Now she's bigger she's able to climb up and down into it herself and use it to stand on for cooking etc....

Its a big outlay but its been great. Just ordered one for DD2.

I hate the TT with passion. Sales lady told me they were the Rolls Royces amongst the highchairs and the most stable chair around.

DS managed to topple the chair over within 3 days of buying it and we ended up in A&E (3 stitches).

Luckily they hold their value well and we sold it for nearly full RRP on Ebay

We bought a Hauck Alpa III instead which has an A frame and not a Z frame so doesnt topple over and was only £30

We still use ours and ds is 9. I often sit in it myself, it's v comfy

trip trap not huge, fits at the table like our other normal chairs. We have a small breakfast area in which we have to get 4 or us round the table and sill soon be 5.

Love it as ds 2 is right at the table and has been since day 1. Word of warning though, he is able to tip it over and this was his party trick for quite a few weeks(well, attempting too) we nearly had to get a hook fitted to hook him to the table!

Ds 3, when he arrives, will have the same and I think ds 1 will have one by then too though he's 5.

I would make sure you buy those pad things for the bottom of chairs as they can scratch the floor to buggery.

Also being right up at the table from day 1 ds 2 has totally trashed our table but we rotate him round it so it is equally trashed all over!

one of the main selling points of the TT is that it encourages good posture. IME that's not the case, as soon as dd1 moved from the john lewis highchair to the tripp trapp she started slouching around and generally not sitting properly.

still, it looks extremely nice...

Ds is 6 and still using his. I have 2 (an extra for CMing) and when his friends come round for tea they use them too. Is also handy for the times when I have 2 babies here as can easily be converted for a smaller child.

Love it. Dd is nearly 3 and like how she can stand on the bottom to lean forward to do colouring etc (though she has been turfed out of it for ds now - can't afford two). Plus it looks LOVELY - a big plus point when our table and chairs are in the living room.

We do have an Ikea Antilop, it is very, very good (but doesn't look sso nice - fine in a kitchen IMO). We are trying to sell our flat, so the Tripp Trapp much classier

I have the cheaper Babydan version and I love it.

It depends if you want it just for home use or to take elsewhere too (families, out for lunch etc)

We got a cosatto on the move as it collapses brilliantly and we often take it when we eat elsewhere and take it camping etc

Yes to Tripp Trapp. It is a wonder. Don't bother with the cushion though.
I don't understand the suggestion that it takes up heaps of room as ours mostly pushes under the table when not in use. Maybe it does look massive though if you are not tucking it under a table.

You have also looked here, I take it?

highchair reviews

We have a Tripp Trapp and it was one of our very best buys in terms of value for money. We got it in when DD was 5.5 months and it was used daily for over 5 years. DD is 7 in a couple of weeks, it is now in chair form and is used regularly still. Infact it is to go upstairs into DD's bedroom to use at her desk very soon so will be back in daily use again then.

It is still in excellent condition. It is really easy to keep clean, it looks good (as we were open plan at time of buying this was important to us) and it is very sturdy.

I definitely recommend.

Oh, and ours takes up no more room than a normal chair as it tucks under the table no problem, nothing sticking out.

Also never had it topple over, even remotely, despite DD using it daily and it being used by about 4 or 5 other babies/toddlers during that time, plus numerous children.

It is also a really good sitting position for a baby/child, and the foot rest ensures good posture when sitting at the table. The whole thing is adjustable.

I loved the fact that DD ate with us at the table, rather than being off on her own with her own tray. And I definitely didn't want some brightly coloured plastic highchair.

If you like it, I'd say go for it!

There's no way I'd have justified spending this amount when I was buying my highchair, but 5.5 years later it's only been put away for about 18 months and will be used for the best part of another 2 years so that's a lot of time to look at something ugly (which mine is!).

Whatever you do, make sure it'll clean up easily. I wanted one that'd fold flat as I've had big cupboards in both my houses and i like to stick it out the way some evenings if I have friends round!

No, you don't have to make a decision yet. Get yourself an IKEA Antilop for the food-throwing stage - it costs less than the trip trap baby set and is as cleanable as a washing up bowl.

When she gets to about 18 months think about whether you want a Tripp Trapp or some other booster type thing. 95% of households manage with their kids going onto normal chairs/boosters lets face it.

One reason we got a TT was actually the tidy, unobtrusive and minimal design. They tuck away under the dining table and blend in with other furniture. The babydan one sort of functions the same but IMO it is a clumpy design that looks like a functional bit of baby equipment.

Oops sorry, have just looked at a pic of the babydan, I think I was mixing it up with some other monstrosity I have seen somewhere. It's certainly an alternative but not quite as streamlined.

Our trip trap drove me mad. DS would not sit still in it, I hated having to wriggle him into it as the front bar doesn't move and the buckles that came with it were a bugger to undo. After a couple of weeks I gave up and bought a polly chicco. We kept on trying DS in the TT until he was 18 months but he kept trying to get out. So I ebayed it. It was a pity as I like the idea of it but I guess it doesn't suit everyone.

Oh, the polly chicco sits at the table and I hose it down on the patio , cleans it up a treat.