highchairs
My pick: The Best Little Highchair!
As a new mom-to-be, I was confounded by all of the choices among much of the baby furniture on the market, particularly the high chair. Not really knowing what features would actually help in making my and my child’s life a little easier, I was drawn by style alone. When it comes to furnishings, I’m a gal who dreams of George Nakashima and Hans Wegner, so in setting about shopping for kids furniture, I was drawn to the well crafted and beautiful, i.e. The Svan. Not quite being able to justify the high price tag, and dissuaded by the not-great reviews, I did not swing for it, nor did I put it (or any high chair) on my registry. I was happily surprised instead by the Graco Contempo Highchair
Then, when he was about 11 months old, we went on our first family vacation, and among the gear that I purchased for the trip was Phil & Ted’s MeToo! Travel Highchair
- it’s lightweight and folds flat, making it easy not only to pack in a suitcase, but it also fit in my diaper bag.
- it’s sturdy enough to easily hold a wriggly one year old.
- it’s quick to attach to a table; the clamp screws tight to many table widths and the rubber backing prevents damage to the table top.
- It sits him right up to the edge of the table, so he is close to eye level with any adults.
- It was great not just for eating at restaurants, but also in lounging — it can fit to most sturdy tables; not just dining, but also coffee tables, and most importantly, the counters affixed to the beach palapas.
We received so many positive remarks on the chair almost everywhere we used it…….”where did you get that”? “Where can I get one”? In fact, we liked it so well that as soon as we got home, this became our every day highchair. Because we used it so extensively for so long, I can also offer a few caveats: the Little One is very active, and by the time he got to be about 18 months or so, we had to move him out of the chair for daily use, and back to the Graco. His movements became such that he would actually loosen the clamps and move the chair little by little over a period of time. So though the weight restriction is 40 lbs as a travel chair, after about 25 pounds or so, I wouldn’t recommend it for everyday use with a wriggly kid. Also, the cleanability factor is not great — it can sponge clean OK, but in order to fully clean it, I would have to soak the entire chair, frame and all, in the kitchen sink.
Despite these couple of things, I cannot recommend the Me Too chair enough, especially for kids that can sit up fairly well, but aren’t quite running around yet. It gets them right up to the table and they can easily be part of the action while being securely fastened in. It’s the most versatile, and overall one of the best pieces of baby furniture that we invested in.
