Highchairs: Finding the Right Fit

There are many things to consider when introducing baby to "solid food," but your biggest purchase is the highchair.  it is also one of the most important for your baby's future perception of eating.  Meals should be social times for the entire family, when possible, as by encouraging everyone to come together, it invites people to slow their food consumption through conversation, thus allowing food time to reach its destination and send out the "I'm getting full" feeling before the entire meal has been consumed, thus reducing the chances of over eating.

Most children love "family dinners" because it allows time with mom and dad, but you need to incorporate children into this routine early, so pull the new highchair up to the table and make baby a part of dinner.  Unfortunately, this may be easier said than done, but buying the right highchair can help:

My best friend and cousin both hated their standard land-yacht-sized highchairs (with price-tags to match). Their complaints: the base was too wide and took up too much space, food caught and stuck in the many creases and cracks, but because it was so bulky, it was not easy to clean; they both got rid of their high chairs as soon as possible, which means they spent a lot of money for very little use.

My criteria for baby hardware (i.e. those more permanent items that you will stare at and use for more than a year) it must work for me and my family, it cannot offend my decor or take up the entire room; it must also be easy to use and clean, and priced appropriately.  With this in mind, I searched for the perfect highchair and researched the following:

The Space Saver High Chair by Fischer Price: great idea and concept at a decent price point (Amazon $54.99), but it looks like hell. I apologize for being [perhaps] shallow but I have to be able to bear the sight of anything that will be in my house for a considerable amount of time. Also, I wanted to be able to take the high chair outside and toting a heavy chair plus a seven pound seat did not seem practical.

Wooden "Restaurant Style:" My son loves to eat at restaurants because of these high chairs, especially if they have footrest for him. They are portable, easy to clean, unobtrusive, and priced to please. My question was at six months, when we started feeding him, whether he would have been comfortable. My guess is "probably," but for the occasional "I am no longer going to sit in my chair moments" that mandates thrashing, I wanted a little padding.  Also, by two, Baby Houdini could easily squirm out of the lap belt, which is rapidly followed by wanting to stand in the chair.

Hook-on Highchairs: I thought I liked these, but, luckily, they could not work with our dining table, which has a plank where the chair needs to hook. Small and portable, so long as your location has a sturdy table, an unbeatable price, and these chairs allow your child to really be up at the table. Stop! You only think you want that. My son has go-go-Gadget arms and there is no table large enough to keep other's food out of his grasp. Yes, you want them to be a part of the conversation but they do not need to be the centerpiece.

My daughter and I happened through Babies-r-Us one day and found what looked like a collapsible, portable adult tail-gating chair, called Evenflo BabyGo High Chair . It looked small and light, but my son seemed comfortable and the chair secure. It was one of the best buys that we have made.

The chair collapses, though it is not so small that you would take it to a restaurant. It can easily be tossed about with one hand, and we carry and pull it with my son in it without any worries. It comes in simple red or green and does not bother me aesthetically. It was also priced at $39.99. 

In it, my son can move from watching us cook to the dining room table or out the door to eat on the front porch. It sits about two inches higher than a standard chair, so he can easily see the table and feel included, and its base is only slightly wider than a chair, thus not large enough to become a trip hazard. The only drawback is the tray, which is very small, but as we use it as his plate, for now, it is not a huge worry. The best part about this chair is when he makes a mess (frequently), we can easily take it outside, hose it down, and have it clean and dry by his next meal.

Unfortunately, for, now, the chair is not available (UPDATE (7.15.2011): you may sign upto receive a notification through Amazon when this chair is available), but some of its attributes may be available in many chairs, so consider the following:

-you probably will not need many of the features that highchairs offer, such as the ability to recline, so consider what you need before buying.  Some features to consider: a dishwasher-safe tray, a tray with a lip, good restraints, some element of comfort, and stability.

-the more padding and folds in the chair, the more places for food to trap and hide

-how easy is the fabric to thoroughly clean?  If you have a child with a sensitive gag reflex or just a messy eater, you may be cleaning it multiple times per week.

-if it is bulky, it will take up more space in the kitchen and be harder to get it outside to the hose or in the shower for a thorough cleaning

-light color and food do not mix, but most adults rapidly grow tired of bold designs, so keep it simple and something that you find visually pleasing, as your child will not care

-think about your eating patterns: do you need something that can easily be moved across multiple levels or will a bulky chair with rollers suffice

-and finally, cost....you may use the chair until your child is two or older, so invest in something that is sturdy and allows for growth, but with the understanding that you are buying an object that will see more food mashed into it then your garbage disposal.

As always, before buying any baby product, research for recalls and check safety records.