Best Baby High Chair - A high chair offers your baby a safe and comfortable place to experiment with new flavors and textures. The extra height that a high chair often offers is not only nice to be able to pay more attention to your baby, it is also much nicer to stay clean after you give your baby his / her food!
It is important to find the right high chair for your needs and that of your baby. We all have a different lifestyle, budget and space in the house.
This guide has been written to help you find the best child seat for your needs. I discuss all kinds of high chairs that are currently on the market. I also made a list of the best children's chair per category, and a mini-guide that you should pay attention to when buying a high chair.
By the time you finish reading this article you will know everything there is to know about high chairs!
In a hurry? Here is our Top 5 High Chairs For Babies
Product Name | Availability | REVIEWS |
---|---|---|
Cosco Simple Fold High Chair | ||
Abiie Beyond Wooden High Chair With tray | ||
| ||
Baby Harness Foldable Chair | ||
Table Hanging Chair |
Different types of high chairs
As with all our guides, we start with the different types of the product. You will be surprised by how many types of high chairs are out there! The good old days where the traditional high chair was the only option are long gone!
In this article we divide high chairs into two categories. The first category are high chairs that we all recognize quickly. You can easily describe them as a chair where a baby can sit. The second category is dedicated to high chairs that are better suited for traveling because they are more compact.
Traditional high chair
If you think of the word high chair, you will probably see a traditional high chair! This used to be the only kind of high chair available on the market. These chairs were made of wood, plastic and / or even steel!
In contrast to its modern counterpart, a traditional highchair has no additional functions. For this reason they are in most cases also cheaper than modern variants. That is also the strongest point of the traditional high chair, less functions also means that there is almost no room for error!
Benefits:
o Cheap.
o Simple design.
Cons:
o Takes up more space.
o No useful functions.
In short -
A traditional high chair is entirely suitable for parents who are looking for a simple but cheap product. It is less suitable for parents who are looking for a seat that takes up less space.
Modern high chair
Through all the discoveries in recent years in the field of pedagogy and ergonomics modern high chairs have changed enormously compared to their predecessors. Much more attention has been paid to the seating position of a child and that has been taken into account when making a modern high chair.
It is very difficult to classify all kinds of modern high chairs in terms of appearance or functionality. Every child's chair has a unique feature that makes it completely different from the other. What all modern children's chairs do have in common is that there is always room for adjustments within the length and seat of the chair.
You can think of the backrest, height, footrest and more! This makes the modern high chair ideal to adapt to the needs of each individual baby. Besides the comfort of your baby you will probably think "What do I have?".
It is very nice to be able to adjust the height of the high chair, since not all tables have the same height. Furthermore, you could also imagine that it is a useful function if you are watching TV or want to give the baby food on the couch.
Benefits:
o Adjustable parts.
o Paired with useful extra functions.
o Often collapsible.
Cons:
o More expensive than traditional model.
o More difficult to put together.
In short -
A modern highchair has the ability to adjust the height of the child's seat.
Baby growth high chair
Babies grow like a spear! It is therefore not surprising that many parents look for a high chair that grows with the baby.
The grow chair is a high chair that you can adjust to the growth of your baby. It is a high chair that lasts for a long time.
This highchair also has many useful features that you get, such as a foldable tablet and a safety harness. In most cases, the chair can also be folded and stored away.
The benefits are very clear, but what are the disadvantages? They are on average slightly more expensive than a traditional high chair, but that is not surprising.
Benefits:
o Grows with your child.
o Saves in costs of different chairs.
o Collapsible.
Cons:
o More loose parts.
o More expensive than a traditional high chair.
In short -
A grow chair is a practical high chair that you can use for a long time.
Different Types of Travel Child Seats
Your baby is not only at home... You can of course think of a high chair for holidays, but do not forget that not every restaurant has child-friendly seats. There is also a need for a travel child chair when visiting friends or holidays ... it is therefore important to look at the different kinds of high chairs that are more suitable for traveling.
This does not detract from the fact that these high chairs can not be used for home, but they fulfill this function less well than their larger alternatives.
Fabric child seat
A child seat where compactness is taken to a completely different level! This is a high chair where you can transform almost any adult chair or high chair into a seat for your child with the aid of a fabric seat. This is usually done with the help of a band or a cover that you can quickly pick up and remove.
Because the seat is made of fabric, you can simply throw it into a washing machine. This alone will save you a lot of time! In addition, the fabric child seat is very compact, so convenient to take with you on a trip, and folds easily into a diaper bag.
It is also for this reason that I advise all parents to buy a fabric seat in addition to a normal high chair. It is always handy to have it with you at unexpected moments (in the car or in the diaper bag).
What are the disadvantages? It does not have a tablet or its own table. The biggest disadvantage is that the child seat only attaches the baby to a chair, and does not raise the baby to reach the table.
Table chair
A table hanging chair is, as the name suggests, is a special high chair that you can hang on a table!
They are easy to recognize and usually use a clamping system to securely attach your baby's seat to the table.
The advantages of such a child's seat are of course immediately clear. You save a lot of space compared to a large high chair. In addition, you also have a high chair that immediately has the correct height of the dining table, and can be taken on a trip.
Unlike most, I would not recommend using a table chair as a high chair for vacation. You never know what kind of tables you will encounter in your trip, and it may be that the table is simply not suitable for the hammock chair. This highchair is very suitable for family visits.
It is true that a table chair is less suitable for children who can not yet sit independently (this is until the 10th month). Furthermore, these high chairs do not have their own magazine. This means that your baby will eat from the same table as the rest of the family. I therefore recommend to purchase a mat or similar, since children can sometimes make a mess when it comes to food.
Benefits:
o Takes up little space.
o Handy for family visits.
o Cheap.
Cons:
o Max 15 kg.
o Has no own board.
In short -
A table chair is ideal for parents who are looking for a light and flexible high chair
Booster seats
A child seat that often looks like a mini-chair. You can attach the booster seat to an adult chair and then you have an ideal seat for your baby. In this respect, the booster seat looks very much like the child seat .
There is, however, a big difference, that in contrast to the fabric child seat, the booster seat does raise your baby at table level. This child seat however takes up more space and is therefore less compact (of course still more compact than a traditional highchair).
This seat is also the best option for children who have just become too big for a traditional high chair, but not big enough to sit on a chair for adults.
Benefits:
o Compact.
o Increases child.
Cons:
o No own table / eating tablet.
In short -
A booster seat is a compact high chair that helps your child to sit at table height.
Best Baby High Chairs
Now that you have a better understanding of all kinds of high chairs, you have a clear picture of which high chair you need! Now is a good time to see what is the best child seat by product types.
Contrary to our other buying guides, we will tackle the 'best high chair' part differently than usual.
There are not one or two good high chairs. That would be unfair to all other good options.
This part is divided into two, where the first part is a top 5 list of the best high chairs in the market.
This list is drawn up by our own test and that of other parents, and all high chairs in this list are rated with a good price-quality ratio and are popular.
Cosco Simple Fold High Chair
Brand: Cosco
o Good value for money!
o Easy to store.
A simple and modest high chair that does its job well, that is the Cosco Simple Fold High Chair. It is a popular high chair with a good price-quality ratio suitable for parents on a budget.
Why this high chair made it on our best pick list is clear. This is a product that has all the necessary extras for a parent. It meets the safety standard with its 5-point harness. It has an easy folding mechanism and is therefore easy to carry or store.
There were only two points that we were thought could be improved upon: The stability of the chair could be a little stronger in the sides than it is now. And it coud have benefit from a nicer design.
Abiie Beyond Wooden High Chair With Tray
Brand: Abiie
o Chair grows with it so it lasts a long time.
o Beautiful design.
o A tablet that you can fold away.
This grow chair from Abiie is of good quality wood. The reversed y shape of the chair gives it a strong, stable base and ensures that it does not fall over when the child pushes away from the table. The chair also has a 5-point harness, which you do not have to purchase separately!
This product is full of useful features, a table that you can fold away! This is very useful if you want your child to use the dining table. Because it is a grow chair you can also use for longer (which also saves on costs). Furthermore, this high chair also has a beautiful design (which should not be missed).
"But wait a minute! I do not hear anything negative, so why is this chair not number 1 in this list? "
Safety is number one for us and many parents. Because of its inverted y shape, there is just less contact with the base of this highchair. This makes the number one of this list much better when it comes to children who want to push themselves away from the table (more in the case of sliding, instead of a hard push). Because such cases occur more often, the choice is soon clear.
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair
Brand: Stokke
o Beautiful design.
o Extra safety against falling over.
o Suitable from birth.
If you have already looked around a bit on the internet during your search for the best chair, then you undoubtedly have seen the name Tripp trapp go by several times. That already says enough about the popularity of this Stokke grow chair.
The Tripp Trapp chair is one of the 12 chairs that scored well on everything in various research. Because of the shape of the chair it has a stable base like the number 2 of our list. The shape of the chair (a reverse 7) is much safer against a child pushing himself away from the table. The grow chair also has gliders that you can attach under the seat. These gliders ensure that when your child pushes himself away from the table, the chair slides and does not fall over!
This high chair can be used from the birth of your baby and grows with him!
Baby Harness - Best foldable high chair
Brand: Baby Highchair harness
o Fits in a LURE BAG.
o Can be in the laundry.
o Cheap.
Are you planning to travel often with your baby, or go out for dinner with the whole family? It is not always clear whether the location where you are going has a nice place where your baby can sit. Plus let's be honest, you can not always carry a high chair to an occasion. This is exactly what makes this highchair so great!
This high chair fits in a diaper bag, so you can always take it with you! So if the location does not have a special seat for your baby, at least you do not have to worry about it.
For home, this chair is also good, it is true that the height depends on the chair you have at home. So keep that in mind!
Best table hanging chair
Brand: Vbestlife
o Foldable.
o Baby is sitting at the table.
A high chair that you can take with you baby harness. It just does not fit in your diaper bag in contrast to the baby high chair harness. The advantage of this table hanging chair is that your baby is at the table level with the rest of the family. This is of course great for your baby's back and for fun, but there is even research on whether this has a very positive influence on the social emotional development of your child. The answer to this is yes.
Although this high chair does not fit into a diaper bag, that does not mean that it is not compact. This table hanging chair can be folded up. Because of this he takes up almost no space, and can therefore always be left in the boot in case!
What should you pay attention to when buying a high chair
Now that you have a better idea of what kinds of high chairs are available to choose from and what the best high chairs are at the moment. It's time to discuss what to look for when choosing the right high chair for you and your baby.
I have divided this part into two sections: the first sections discuss 4 key points you have to pay attention to when buying a high chair.
These four points are:
1. Safety
2. Maintenance
3. Space saving
4. Table or eating tablet
Safety
Did you know that 94% of the accidents with a child's seat are a fall? This happens because the child wants to climb out of the chair, and that's why it falls over.
It is unfortunate to see that such a large number of accidents have been caused by something that could easily be prevented. If you have already noticed the pictures or if you have seen on your search for a high chair, almost all seats today have a harness for the child. These safety harnesses exist in two types.
o 5-point harness - The safest option
o 3-point harness - A less secure option than the 5-point harness, but more than sufficient.
In addition, the material with which the belt is made of must feel soft and not cut the baby.
Still, I want to emphasize that most high chairs today have a nice armor for the baby. So where does it mainly go wrong? The cause lies with the parents rather than with the makers of the children's chair. Many parents have the idea that a harness only needs to be done put on if they leave their child alone in the room. This is absolutely not what the harness is made for. You are advised never to leave a young child on a high chair without supervision.
Maintenance
A baby will very often sit on the chair if he or she has to eat. It is not unusual for an accident to happen during dinner or for the baby to mess around. It is therefore very nice to have a high chair that is easy to clean.
So is it important that there are not too many parts in the high chair where food can get stuck. It is also always useful to see if a tablet or table can come loose from the chair. Why? It is much easier to clean!
Space saving
A safe child seat has legs that are divided over the width to give more balance to the chair. This means that if it can not be folded, the chair will take up quite some space.
It is therefore important to see if the high chair has a way to be stored when you are not using it.
Table or tablet
For most parents, the function of a high chair is to give your baby a seat while eating his or her food. It is therefore good to think whether this is also the function of the children's chair and whether you are just looking for a means to let your baby sit.
In the latter case it is better to choose a travel seat and save yourself some costs!
The second section discusses two key points that are not core points but do a lot to help you increase your comfort and that of your baby. If you are looking for a cheap highchair you do not have to pay too much attention to the second section.
1. Comfort.
2. Design.
Comfort
Most high chair manufacturers have thought enough about the comfort of the seating area for your baby. Yet some parents want more and then an extra pillow for their high chair is a good option.
All babies are different and it can also happen that your baby is smaller than average, in that case a chair reducer is a good option. It is basically a seat-forming cushion that you can place in your child's chair, making the entire seating area smaller for your baby.
Design
Some high chairs are cheap but ... have the disadvantage that they do not look really nice and the rest of the room in appearance does not improve. Well that is not a problem for most parents, but some parents (me too!) prefer a nice chair in the kitchen or dining table that also fits the rest of the house.
In that case I would recommend a wooden high chair, the classic wood fits almost every household and is also a nice durable material.
Frequently Asked Questions
From what age can a baby use a high chair?
As with prams, the same rule applies to a high chair. A baby may only sit in a high chair when he or she is able to sit up straight. There are of course exceptions for chairs such as the Tripp Trapp that deliver a birth set. With a special seat, a baby can use the high chair from birth.