A multifunctional chair might be a good choice if you want to adjust the chair to fit your baby or sit at your table, if you prefer a more comfortable cushion or if you know you’ll want to fold it away when you’re not using it. 3. Transitional highchairs It’s a good idea to read up on their specs before choosing one to make sure you’ll be able to use it safely. It’s helpful when travel chairs collapse to a portable size and many come with their own carry cases or shoulder straps to help with this. I absolutely love this high chair and so did Dex. He was so much more comfortable in this highchair compared to his first one and was happy spending a significant amount of time in it playing as well as eating. I love how compact it is when folded and the designs are just so pretty. What’s more the price is just phenomenal. We kept this highchair for our second son and found it didn’t hold him up quite right when he first turned six months, but as he grew bigger, it became our favourite highchair to use again, after a couple of months of using the Ikea Antilop.

Type: Freestanding chair which converts from baby seat to a highchair | Materials: Faux-leather; fabric; BPA-free plastic | Suitable from: Birth | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: Yes What we love Five products were then awarded a Mumsnet Best badge – these are the products that we feel offer the best value for most parents. We also gave honourable mentions to three others.

5. Best travel highchair: Chicco Pocket Snack

Inspired by Scandinavian design, this Juice Highchair from Mamas & Papas comes in pastel green, cream or dark grey. The sturdy seat is wipe clean as well as comfortable, thanks to a cushioned inner. Transitional-style chair – can be used from birth with a baby bouncer attachment, from six months with a baby set, and indefinitely as a chair after three years or 15kg Type: Plastic freestanding highchair with two size trays for growing child | Materials: Metal; plastic; foam seat insert | Suitable from: Birth | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: No What we love For older babies and toddlers, a familiar chair often signals ‘mealtimes’ to them, allowing them to eat free from distraction and out of harm’s way. How long will I need a highchair for?

Emma: If I am splitting hairs, the only thing I would change would perhaps make it slightly easier to clean. There are a few 'hard to reach' places within the padded seat that if food gets into it takes a while to clean properly. The only thing that I prefer about the original highchair I bought for baby was the fact the tray had a plastic cover over the top of it which was detachable and you could put straight in the dishwasher - it would be amazing if this had that too. But overall I really do prefer this highchair - I have actually given the old one to my mum and kept this one as I find it so much easier for baby! While it may just seem like just a place to pop your child while they eat, there's more to what makes the best highchair than just how it looks. Parents want one that is easy to clean after messy mealtimes - because food will get into every little nook and cranny! - as well as straps that are safe and a good size tray. But there are a host of other extra features that you can look out for too. The life-span of your chair will depend on the type of model you choose, as some are intended to be used throughout childhood and beyond (see section below). You’re likely to find a chair with a tray essential from first weaning up to the age of three. A multifunctional highchair is a step-up in functionality and price. It has been designed to include features that make life easier or that adjust the chair to suit your child. Highchairs are a safe and supportive place for your baby to eat before they’re old and tall enough to sit on an adult-sized dining chair. Most come with a plastic tray so your baby can see and reach their food easily – especially useful when first weaning.Multifunctional options might also include newborn accessories so you can use the chair before six months, or have a removable tray so the chair converts from a standalone chair to a table-side one. They usually fold away and often stand when folded for easier storage, and come with luxuriously padded cushions, which are comfortable for your baby to sit on but are crumb magnets for any dropped food. Another Stokke chair to feature on our list, the Steps is a stylish highchair that can be used from birth. There's no doubt about it, it's a pricey piece of baby equipment but for the price tag you get a good quality high chair that your child will get plenty of use out of. Type: Freestanding highchair which converts into a toddler chair | Materials: Not stated | Suitable from: 6 months+ | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: No What we love

Can be reclined, used with a small tray for a just-weaned child, a larger tray for a child feeding themselves, or without the tray for a toddler sitting at the table As child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed says, sitting your child at your eye level and at (or close to) the rest of the family at mealtimes aids their development. For this category, Rachel partnered with Katrĩna, who has a nine-month-old baby and a 33-month-old toddler to juggle at mealtimes, so was able to put all our products through their paces over the course of three months.As reliable as it is ubiquitous, in our extensive tests the IKEA Antilop excelled, living up to its reputation as the king of all highchairs. While it may not look like anything special, our Mumsnet users rave about this highchair for being budget-friendly, functional and easy to clean up after mealtimes. Convenient storage - A large, adjustable tray with a cupholder offers baby plenty of space at mealtimes. Keep the essentials close by with the storage tray and large basket. Most travel highchairs either attach to an adult dining chair as a chair-mounted booster or clip onto the table edge (sometimes called a hook-on or clip-on highchair) like a vice. In both cases, you need suitable furniture to make it work – though, anecdotally, the chair-attaching kind fit more universally than the table-attaching kind.