High Chair Help!

ovcjg · Aug 4, 2009

Thanks everyone for your amazing advice about car seats! Now we have to buy a high chair for our 5-month old.

Most people I know use the Fisher Price Rainforest (or Aquarium or Precious Planet) Health Care. When I checked it out in the store, the cushion seemed to be more "clothy" and hard to spot-clean. It also apparently doesn't hold up well in the washing machine.

We wanted to get a vinyl seat to make cleaning easier. Yes, I know that babies sweat more easily in these, but what should I do? So we loved the Chicco Polly at first, but we had an IMPOSSIBLE time figuring out the harness clasps! The guy at BRU couldn't figure it out either! I don't want to have to really force in the latch every single time I put my baby in.

Lastly, I've been hearing really good things about wooden high chairs, but I'm skeptical. Are they comfortable? I don't think I could use it for my 5 month old who barely sits up properly. I also would like to be able to keep my baby in for a while and have the seat recline for him.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Pixels · Aug 4, 2009

I got the Fisher Price Space Saver chair. 5 pt or 3 pt harness, 3 position recline. Vinyl, easy to clean cover, handles washing well. Actually I leave the cover off now, as that way DD can't get food between the cover and the chair. Just that much less to clean up. When it gets too dirty where wiping it down just doesn't cut it, I disassemble it, put it in the tub, and use the hand sprayer on it. I just take out the harness, take out the straps that hold it onto the chair, and then take apart the seat. I do have a towel (folded in half) underneath the high chair to protect my dining room chair's upholstery.

About the harness -- you're not going to switch back and forth between 3pt and 5pt often. The shoulder strap can be attached to the lap belt or taken off, but not easily. I only used the 5pt for a few weeks when DD went through a phase where she climbed out of it (even with the 3pt harness on and tight, and the tray, and me standing right.there, she turned around and stood up in no time. She's fast). Once she forgot about standing up, I switched back to 3pt.

cpsaddict · Aug 4, 2009

I have the Graco Mealtime in Milan and it's all vinyl. I love it. It's very slim looking and easy to use.

BananaBoat · Aug 4, 2009

We have 2 high chairs for DD, but only use 1 of them. We have the Stokke Tripp Trap chair which is gorgeous, but since we've stayed in our tiny house longer than anticipated, we honestly don't have room for a conventional high chair. So we bought the Phil & Ted's Me Too chair and use it as our only high chair. It's awesome, easy to clean, very sturdy, inexpensive (compared to other full-size chairs), super portable and goes to 40 pounds. We've been using it since we started solids with DD at 6 months.

BookMama · Aug 4, 2009

cpsaddict said:
I have the Graco Mealtime in Milan and it's all vinyl. I love it. It's very slim looking and easy to use.

Very interesting! I saw a Graco Mealtime in Safari (Fun? Sun?) on clearance at Target yesterday and didn't buy it because it had a cloth cover. It was a great price - half off - but I have absolutely no interest in having to regularly remove and launder a high chair cover.

marjen · Aug 5, 2009

I have a Chicco Polly, and I haven't found the harness to be an issue. I've really loved it. Mine has a cloth seat, but that hasn't bothered me either. The top layer of the seat comes off, and there's still another cover. This bottom cover isn't very cloth like (I have the Adventure pattern...not sure how it differs among the various patterns)...and it can easily be wiped off. But overall I've really liked it. The chair folds pretty small, and has a lot of height adjustments. They can be pretty pricey new, but I found mine on clearance at Babies R Us (it was an online return).

I also have the Fisher Price healthy care booster seat, and that thing is awesome. I would recommend that every parent get one of those. We use that at home sometimes, but we also use it a lot at restaurants. Oh, and it's great to keep in the car...so when you're at someone else's house and they don't have a high chair, you're always covered.

Hope you find one that you love!

ovcjg · Aug 6, 2009

marjen said:
I have a Chicco Polly, and I haven't found the harness to be an issue. I've really loved it. Mine has a cloth seat, but that hasn't bothered me either. The top layer of the seat comes off, and there's still another cover. This bottom cover isn't very cloth like (I have the Adventure pattern...not sure how it differs among the various patterns)...and it can easily be wiped off. But overall I've really liked it. The chair folds pretty small, and has a lot of height adjustments. They can be pretty pricey new, but I found mine on clearance at Babies R Us (it was an online return).

I also have the Fisher Price healthy care booster seat, and that thing is awesome. I would recommend that every parent get one of those. We use that at home sometimes, but we also use it a lot at restaurants. Oh, and it's great to keep in the car...so when you're at someone else's house and they don't have a high chair, you're always covered.

Hope you find one that you love!

Thanks! I honestly loved the Chicco Polly the best, but we couldn't figure out the seatbelt! Could it have been missing a part? The hook was very hard to force open and then force into the other part (I know I'm not explaining it well) and it also looked very flimsy. I can imagine it snapping in half after being forced one too many times.

If you could reassure me that this isn't the case, I think I would go with this one!

(Thank you everyone else for your very helpful responses! I just really like the Chicco

)

marjen · Aug 7, 2009

ovcjg said:
Thanks! I honestly loved the Chicco Polly the best, but we couldn't figure out the seatbelt! Could it have been missing a part? The hook was very hard to force open and then force into the other part (I know I'm not explaining it well) and it also looked very flimsy. I can imagine it snapping in half after being forced one too many times.

If you could reassure me that this isn't the case, I think I would go with this one!

(Thank you everyone else for your very helpful responses! I just really like the Chicco )

I'll have to take a closer look at the buckle (it's in my car right now). I'll let you know. I honestly haven't used the buckle since my daughter was really small. I used it reclined when she was tiny...so she could sit at the table with us at mealtime. I used the buckle then, because I wasn't using the tray. Since then, I have the tray up close to her body, and just haven't used the harness (I don't leave her unattended of course

). I haven't used the high chair without the tray (like pushed up to the table)...if so, I would definitely see the need for the harness. So I may not be the best person to speak of the durability/longevity of the harness/buckle. But I'll definitely take a look and see how I think it would hold up

Holly · Aug 7, 2009

I have the fisher price rainforest highchair and it has a vinyl seat but I bought mine used so maybe they make newer ones with cloth seats?
I really like it, my 5 month old has been sitting in it for about a month now and I love how he fits. I like that it has a 5 point harness to help hold him in. and I like that the bar that goes between his legs is attached to the seat and not to the tray. The recline positions are good, he usually falls asleep in it several times a week and I just recline it to let him finish his nap in there.

I also used to have the fisher price space saver and I loved it too, but I gave it to my mom for my baby to use at her house and because with the addition of #3 I didn't have any more available kitchen chairs to sit it on.

kbardier · Aug 7, 2009

I have the Chicco Polly and I hate it for many reasons. I bought the Rainforest Highchair, but returned it. I loved the toy, but the chair itself felt really flimsy. So, today I ordered the Peg Perego Tatamia. I can't wait to get it! I ordered it on PishPoshBaby.com for $256 (suggested retail is $349.99), and it's just shipping this week - brand new! I have some comparison photos that I took of my Polly and the Rainforest if anyone's interested in seeing them. I'm either going to sell my Polly or bring it to my mom's house or the babysitter's as backup...

my2kidsSafe · Aug 8, 2009

Holly said:
I have the fisher price rainforest highchair and it has a vinyl seat but I bought mine used so maybe they make newer ones with cloth seats?
I really like it, my 5 month old has been sitting in it for about a month now and I love how he fits. I like that it has a 5 point harness to help hold him in. and I like that the bar that goes between his legs is attached to the seat and not to the tray. The recline positions are good, he usually falls asleep in it several times a week and I just recline it to let him finish his nap in there.

I also used to have the fisher price space saver and I loved it too, but I gave it to my mom for my baby to use at her house and because with the addition of #3 I didn't have any more available kitchen chairs to sit it on.

i agree with this. I have the rainforest one we got for ds. I had a fabric baby trend one for dd and hated it. The rainforest one is not fabric. Its vinyl.

love-pink · Aug 8, 2009

I was looking thru the fisher price catalog and am either going to get the precious planet or brentwood chair. They both have cloth like covers but they have "nano-tex" protectant over it so they are spill resistant and it will just sit on the cover instead of soaking in. I had the healthy care or easy clean fisher price high chair for my ds when he was little and I loovved it! I'm definetly going to stick with fp again. And almost all the fisher price seats come with the extra tray so you can always have a clean one ready. Oh and I love that you can adjust the height to set it up to your table or whatever height works for you

ks1978 · Aug 8, 2009

I bought the Chicco Polly and returned it, the cloth seat bugged me and also there were too many cracks and crevices for dirt to get into. They part of the tray that is next to the baby's stomach has a crease, running the length of the tray. I am not a fan of toothpick cleaning, so that was one of my reasons for returning it also. I got a handmedown Graco Contempo that I love. Easy to clean has an extra tray and folds slim.

marjen · Aug 9, 2009

Well, I looked at the buckle of my Polly, and I think it would hold up...but like I said, I haven't used it all that much, so I'm maybe not the best judge. I know several people have said that they don't like it, but I guess it's just personal preference. This is the only high chair I've used, so I don't have anything else to compare it to. My best advice would be to get it from a place where you can return it easily in case you don't like it.

natysr · Aug 9, 2009

Are you near an Ikea? I love their Antilop highchair. It is only $20. the support cushion is only $4.

cpsaddict · Aug 10, 2009

BookMama said:
Very interesting! I saw a Graco Mealtime in Safari (Fun? Sun?) on clearance at Target yesterday and didn't buy it because it had a cloth cover. It was a great price - half off - but I have absolutely no interest in having to regularly remove and launder a high chair cover.

Actually, I was disappointed that it had only vinyl, but since my nephew used it and got sweet potatoes all over it, I am very thankful it has vinyl.

Evolily · Aug 10, 2009

Ikeas antilope chair is the BEST. My favorite of all. you can buy a little tray to go on it for $5, the chair is $20. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30069724 it also comes in red and blue. Truely, I've used at least a half dozen different chairs, and this one is my *favorite*.

rochelle · Aug 10, 2009

I have the Kombi 2-in-1 Convertible High Chair by Kettler® and DS2 has been using since he could sit up. It does not recline though.

What I like was that I could put the high chair on the carpet so he was not so high up. He is now using it as a study table and chair. its made in germany and has a weight limit of 100lbs

image here if you want to see how it looks like as a high chair or as a study table/chair http://www.kfamilytoys.com/toyshop/TOYimages/kettler/HChairKombiPos_BIG.jpg

lovemyfamily · Aug 12, 2009

I have a Chicco Polly and really like it. Never had any issue with the buckles or cleaning it.

SavsMom · Aug 12, 2009

We have the Graco Contempo and love love love it. It comes fully assembled, has height adjustment, and recline. The one we got came with a cloth cover as well as a vinyl one :thumbsup:
The best thing about it is how slim it folds up....small enough to put in a closet or under a bed if you want it out of the way.....most major retailers carry it.

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