Highchairs

I didn't like the look of many of the ones I saw when I was looking for one for Daniel while I was preggers. I ended up buying a second hand one from a guy I worked with.. it's an older model steelcraft I think. I looked at wooden ones as well but thought they looked uncomfy.

I feel the exact opposite of Teresa! I think the plastic is harder to clean as there are so many grooves and joins etc for food to get stuck in. (Well, there was in mine anyway!)

And my plastic one had all sorts of things break off it - and it wasn't exactly a cheap model!!

I'd personally go for a wooden one and then make (or get someone to make) a padded insert that you can chuck in the wash.

We have a wooden high chair from Pico Pico which are NZ made. They are a little expensive so depends what your budget is. We chose it because I wasn't a big fan of the plastic ones and this one can be used even after kids have out grown the highchair.
We took the tray off for Charlotte when she was about 16/17 months as she just wouldn't sit in it as a high chair anymore. She then just sat up at the table with us and still does (21 months). It is easy to clean and we also bought a harness and the padded cushions to go with it. They are easy to just chuck in the wash and dry really fast. Has been great buy and think we have really got our moneys worth. It may not be that great for little bubs as it doesn't recline but if bubs is sitting well it will be fine.
There are a few others out on the market now that look quite like this one. Saw one in Scrummy Mummys shop that looked much like it.

Good luck with deciding hard to know what the right decision is isn't it!
pico pico

MIne is alright bur it's quite big James still has trouble reaching over the tray to feed himself.

Well we went with a Mocka wooden one. I like the fact that it can be used later as a chair and wont stick out like a sore thumb amongst our wooden furniture (no we dont have a house and garden style house...just some nice old oak furniture that we have had restored).

We got it off www.mocka.co.nz and they also had these cool table and chairs so we ended up buying those as well...so much for saving money.

emz wrote: With the reclining feature, I guess you need to decide if you are going to let your child sleep at mealtimes? I'm not sure how I feel about this but I guess its a person decision. Also how much room do you have to store it if it doesn't fold easily (a lot of the more expensive padded ones don't fold at the seat or anything - bad option for us as we don't have the room).

I thought along the sames lines and bought a basic highchair aswell when Ashleigh was very young. But to be honest, once she started using it I HATED it and went out and bought a reclining, padded one! The basic one is now left at mums. It is fine now to use but when starting solids etc, Ashleigh was not really independantly sitting and would just slide sideways as the straps went up over the back of the seat, not through the back just above the shoulders (iygwim!!) and they didn't hold her in. So the reclining feature was a lifesaver for us and it was only slightly reclined, not like she was lying flat on her back or anything!

This is the one I bought. I think I got it for around $150 on special.

Well we got our highchair and frankly I am not impressed. I think I am going to send it back for a refund. The edges are rough like they havent been sanded properly and there are dents and scratcheson it. Some of the wood has chipped off.

BUMMER!!!