In search of a wooden highchair

[sarahD_CT]

I am trying to decide on a wooden high chair for my DD who is 6 months old. I was leaning towards the Svan because it has a tray but have seem some reviewers don't like it. I think we need a tray which is why I didn't consider the Tripp Trap. Are there any other good ones out there? Do people like the Kettler Futura or others?

Thanks.

Sarah

[sidmand]

Were the bad reviews of the Svan regarding the difficulty of cleaning the tray? Because it now comes with a plastic cover that it didn't come with before (like when we bought ours). We've had it for about a year and I do like it. I don't really have any experience with others though. Our other seat is a booster by First Years. We used the tray on the Svan up until about a week ago and DS is having a bit of trouble getting used to it without, but I like that it looks more like furniture. Although that's probably the case with many of the wooden highchairs.

DS did pop a few of the screws out of it, but he's a very active, bouncing kid! And the tray does get pretty dirty, but I think that's been addressed with the cover...it's worked well enough for us. And it's pretty :)

Debbie
http://b2.lilypie.com/BI7Tm5.png

[squimp]

I'd get an inexpensive booster with straps (like the First Years or FP for about $25), then get a Kinderzeat or Tripp Trapp for later.

[new_mommy25]

I just bought a Kettler chair a few days ago when it was on special for 99.99 and free shipping. It should be arriving any day now and I will post a review.

http://www.amazon.com/Kettler-H4883-...4591687&sr=8-1

[Tondi G]

my DH's cousin got the Svan for their daughter and when we went over there for dinner one night our DS sat in it. I don't know if their daughter hung off of the tray or what but the thing was sloping downward (toward the front) and the seat seemed kinda small to me (but I do have big boys)! That Kettler looks nice!

Good luck

[kayte]

Have you seen the svan in person? I "knew" that's what I wanted it and then when I actually saw it , it was too small and sloped funny. We went the Kinderseat way. But I believe that the Tripp Trapp does have a tray now. That is the difference (besides the harness) between the 2.


HTH

[brittone2]

We got this one too when it was on sale. I'm not using it w/ a baby currently as DD is only 3 months. It has a 3 pt harness, and I probably wouldn't put her in it until she was sitting really, really well. Maybe closer to 10 months to a year, I'm imagining. We have a FP Healthy Care High Chair that we can use until then.

DS has a KZ and we love, love, love it which is why I wasn't sure I wanted the Kettler. For that price though, I couldn't pass it up.

I've heard and now see w/ the Kettler that you can't remove the tray really easily because of how the crotch strap is. You basically slide the child in/out like a restaurant high chair. The tray has a small lip on it, but not much, and I know some people haven't liked that aspect.

Looking at it from the toddler seat perspective, it seems equally well made as the KZ. Higher seat back. Very solid and I can't imagine a kid tipping it over.

I'm not sure how much I'll like the Kettler as a high chair w/ tray, but I think it should work well as a toddler seat similar to the KZ. I'll be giving the chair a go w/ DD as a regular high chair at some point, but we may end up dragging out the FP Healthy Care chair at some point.


eta: I was mostly looking at this chair as a toddler chair vs. a high chair. DS loves his KZ and will probably not want to give it up for his baby sister in a year from now, so I wanted something for her. The Kettler gives me the option of trying to use it sooner, but not sure how practical that will be. I do think it will work well as a toddler seat.

[tg_canada]

>my DH's cousin got the Svan for their daughter and when we
>went over there for dinner one night our DS sat in it. I don't
>know if their daughter hung off of the tray or what but the
>thing was sloping downward (toward the front) and the seat
>seemed kinda small to me (but I do have big boys)! That
>Kettler looks nice!
>
>Good luck

If you don't have the safety guard attached properly (i.e. you have it slanting either forward or backward), then the tray will slant as well since it sits on the guard. As long as you make sure you have the guard installed parallel to the floor, the tray will also be straight. Also, you need to push the crotch guard right up to the seat when in use (so it touches), else you could have a slanting issue. If they've ever adjusted the footrest lower, you also have to adjust the safety guard. If they didn't do that, it would slant the guard forward as well. Or if they've lowered the seat to more than one inch below the max height, a slanting issue could result. Basically, a slanting issue is a result of an improperly adjusted chair and easily resolved.

The seat adjusts in depth. So when they are infants you have it set so it is very shallow and fits the length of their thighs. Then as they grow, you pull the seat outward to give their thighs more room. Once they become pre-teens, you use the foot rest as a seat instead since it has more butt room. :) They likely had it adjusted to fit their child and if their child is smaller than yours, the seat would be too small for larger children right now.

[tg_canada]

>I am trying to decide on a wooden high chair for my DD who is
>6 months old. I was leaning towards the Svan because it has a
>tray but have seem some reviewers don't like it. I think we
>need a tray which is why I didn't consider the Tripp Trap. Are
>there any other good ones out there? Do people like the
>Kettler Futura or others?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Sarah
>

I personally think the Svan is fantastic. It is a very intelligent design. You start out with the seat set very shallow to fit their short, little thighs. As they grow, you increase the depth of the seat and move the footrest downwards to fit their growing legs. This keeps their feet always on the "floor" (footrest). The infant guard fits snugly around them so I don't even use the 3 point harness (I think in Europe it doesn't even come with the harness?). The seat is meant to be adjusted snugly around them for safety and for their posture.

You can put baby in and out of seat with the tray attached (in fact they recommend it so you don't accidentally pinch baby's fingers if they stick them in the way). And the tray stores on the back when not in use. The infant guard is easily adjusted to get baby in and out.

It is easy to move around and they've designed it so you don't whack your shins while carrying it. It comes with an instructional DVD that is really nice to follow when putting it together. Easier than having the book flip pages on you while following it! :) It was easy to put together (it took me half an hour with an almost 7 month old playing around me). It is very sturdy and well made. Every piece in my box was perfect with regards to shape, staining, no scratches etc.

We have the Fisher-Price Healthy Care booster seat for restaurants and camping. We like it too, but it doesn't look near as nice in our kitchen (used it briefly while waiting for Svan to arrive) and even at the highest height, our 7 month old isn't quite up to table height (and she's quite long). Also, I don't like how they can't bend their knees over the edge of the seat at a young age, so their legs are stuck out in front of them. I used a booster chair exclusively for my first DD, but now that I have a Svan, I wouldn't do that again.

If you have any questions about the Svan, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

[new_mommy25]

We love the chair but I bought it for my 3 yo so we don't use the harness or the tray. I don't think the tray would work to well with an infant. We have the FP Healthy Care chair for DD and like that more since I can santize the trays in the dishwasher.