A running theme in my dad-life (and consequently on thisblog), has revolved around trying to find the best stuff for my child without my life becoming overwhelmed by bunnies, yellow ducks and ugly furniture. Some battles I’ll happily loose if it keeps Madame occupied and happy (like her swing does), but some are worth fighting, especially for the things she doesn’t directly interact with. So now that she has started down the path of solid foods, we had to decide on what kind of high chair to get.
Originally I was very interested in getting the Nest chair
from Mozzee. It’s a beautiful, modern pedestal high chair that will convert to
a toddler’s chair later on. You have to order it from the UK, but because
it would be a big part of our lives for quite some time I was willing to justify
the expense. And the expense is the real issue – almost $500 (with the
exchange rate) before shipping.
The other high chair option I was coveting considering was
the Stokke Tripp Trapp (formerly called KinderZeat). Reminiscent of the Rietveld Zig Zag chair, it’s a clever
design that adjusts the foot rest as your child grows. I guess the theory is that if
your child’s legs aren’t swinging about wildly in a normal dinner chair, then
the child will be more grounded and less wild at the table. It makes sense to
me, and it looks great too, though it's really more for kids a little older
(starting for kids 1½ years old). It's available for $199.99 at Amazon.com.
Then I found this simple high chair from Ikea a while back and I realized that I could reach a compromise. The chair is basic,
solid, looks pretty good and costs a whopping $15 (with the tray that is). For that price we can double up and get a KinderZeat for when it’s time to
transition her out of the high chair and to the dinner table with the rest of
us. We got one at Ikea on our way home from Thanksgiving last weekend and it’s
working great.
The chair that is, the feeding is more of a challenge.