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 Then, depending on the size and independence of your child, you may want to switch to a booster seat on an adult chair. Many multifunctional and transitional highchairs adjust in height, so you can bring the chair right up to the table. How much does a highchair cost? Lauren: Comfortable for my child, padded seat. Easy to clean. Very logical design to fold away/put up again. Easy to adjust the position. Easy to adapt to the baby recliner/add on the baby toy bar. Love the inclusivity of all baby ages, to get them to the table for family mealtimes. Acceptable price for such a good piece of equipment with such a good age range. Recently launched in the UK, the new Yippy highchair from Moji is expensive, but is designed to be part of a family home for years, from birth to adulthood (or up to 14 stones). The extended lifetime and the build quality just about justify the high price. Type: Plastic booster seat with tray that attaches to adult chair with straps | Materials: BPA-free plastics; canvas straps | Suitable from: 6 months+ | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: No What we love

Highchairs have come a long way in the last couple of decades as companies have begun to apply intelligent design to baby equipment. There are several broad types on the market, so consider which functions are important to you before making your choice. 1. Budget highchairs Babies often learn what and how to eat by watching their parents and siblings eat too”, she says. “It’s more likely that they will happily accept foods that they see you gobbling up yourself.” Aishwarya: Although my son was older when we started using it- I've heard it can be used from birth so I think you will get a lot of use out of this high chair. I would recommend it absolutely. Visually pleasing in my kitchen, easy fold away and easy to clean. Also comfortable for my son- he's very happy in this high chair! 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 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.Most highchairs are designed to be used when babies can sit with minimal or no assistance, which is around six months old. This is also the time when babies start to eat solid food and begin their weaning journey. Do babies need a footrest on a high chair?

At the inexpensive end of the spectrum are the budget chairs. These tend to be standalone highchairs (intended to be used by themselves using a plastic tray, instead of being pulled up to a table), short on adjustability features and elaborate design – favouring instead a functional simplicity that often, incidentally, means they’re much easier to clean. The robustness of the safety harness (is it three-point or five? Does it seem secure when attached?) Can’t be used without an adult dining chair to hold it – not convenient for everyone’s dining situation We have a Stokke steps and LOVE it! It looks stylish, It’s easy to clean and has a foot rest. Highly recommend!” Loved by Mumsnetter AfternoonTea12 Our verdict A beautiful, intelligently designed chair with lots of thoughtful details, the Oribel Cocoon missed out on our transitional award as it’s still only suitable up to age three. But it’s a stylish and flexible model, available in four attractive colours, that will complement your kitchen and make mealtimes a breeze.Michaela: The buttons which are used to move the armrests and to move the seat up and down are quite stiff. To make them more fluid would help when trying to adjust the highchair. The toy bar is also quite difficult to put on and to take off. When taking the toy bar off you have to pull it which sometimes feels like it might break. For babies from 6 months to 12 months, the Polly Magic becomes a high chair to help during weaning, made easy by the removable cover tray, and for toddlers of 1 year and over it becomes a normal chair so they can sit at the table with family, in safety and comfort in their own special chair. There’s plenty of good, handy features in its design such as an easy-to-use five-point harness, padded seat, and a tray table that slides on and off with ease. You can take the seat out to give it a good clean after particularly messy mealtimes and throw the tray in the dishwasher. There’s also an integrated crotch post and step to support baby’s feet while they eat.

Nicola: The product is compact, aesthetically pleasing and simple to use. The chair is engaging for any baby because of the well-presented toys. Mess after eating is easy to clean away and the chair looks new, even after the messiest of meals. My favourite feature of the product is the recline function, it means no more waking baby after falling asleep. The iconic Tripp Trapp highchair was originally launched in 1972 by Peter Opsvik so I was curious to see what has made its 50-year-old design so enduring. After a somewhat frustrating assembly process, I finally got it up and was impressed by how stylish it looked around my kitchen table. It’s also the exact height of the table which none of the other highchairs I tested were – a small but quite important detail. Main highchair suitable from 12 months, from six months with starter set, or from birth with the newborn insert As a mum of two, I found it very useful to use a highchair with a newborn insert. While babies don’t start eating until they’re approximately six months old, these inserts mean that you can safely sit a younger baby within them. This helps to make baby feel a part of mealtimes and stay in your eye line when you’re cooking or entertaining an older sibling.Silver Cross’s Buffet highchair is one of its latest models that delivers more or less exactly what you’d expect from such a trusted baby brand. Well designed and excellent quality, it accommodates baby from new-born to toddler and folds away neatly. Once folded out completely, its legs do cover quite a large surface, so you’ll need a fair amount of space to accommodate it. 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. 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.

Samantha: I would recommend this product to other parents for a number of reasons. It folds down and can be stored away easily and discreetly. The adjustable height allows you to sit around a table as a family and remove the tray completely. The removable tray top helps keep it hygienic and easy to clean. I also liked the adjustable foot plate for your little one to place their feet so they’re not swinging. How did this product make your life easier? 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. Shona: The flexibility of this is amazing, especially as it can be used from the newborn stage with the fun toy bar and reclinable seat. It can fold down so small which is great when you need space at the table. It is easy to wipe down and keep things as hygienic as possible. Would also be handy for mums who have had c-section to have somewhere higher up and safe to put their baby to ease the pain of bending. Kimberley: Love the fact it’s so easy to clean. The adjustable footrest isn’t something I have seen before and is a brilliant idea for a growing child. The adjustable recline for me wasn’t as useful as my daughter is 10 months so really wants to sit up all the time but I could see the benefits for a resting area for a younger baby. The adjustable height is a lifesaver as a mum. It means I can get it in line with the dining room table if we are eating there together as a family or can adjust it lower if she is eating on her own and I’m sat on the sofa. The table is easy to put on and take off and the removable top is brilliant and makes it really easy to clean. I used it without the attachable table and just as a seat at our dining room table and it’s perfect for that, that is one of the most attractive features of it in my opinion that it grows to be a seat at the table. Would you recommend this to other mums?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 But in addition to these expected functions, the seat can also be switched into booster mode so that it can be used as a portable seat for dinners out or trips to see the family. This means that you could take it in the car if you were travelling somewhere without a highchair and use it on the move. It also transforms rather cleverly into a toddler seat and play table when they’ve totally outgrown it. 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. I love the IKEA antilop. Little ones make SO much mess when they eat and I loved how easy it was to clean." Recommended by Mumsnet user swaziscot Our verdict