{Keekaroo Review + Giveaway} Finding the right high chair to foster independence is a post from: Wealth Informatics if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Wealth Informatics feed.
My daughter just turned 6 months old. How time flies!
When I was pregnant with her, I read a lot of parenting books and research articles on a variety of different parenting styles and philosophies. The one that best resonated with me is the Montessori style parenting – follow the child instead of following a parenting manual, foster independence & responsibility instead of entitlement, develop a love for learning rather than forcing her to memorize alphabets. I was sold.
Following that, our home is set up in a Montessori way (I will write more about this later) – floor bed instead of a crib for her to sleep, low shelves, natural & practical toys, mirror at eye level and designated play area. We are constantly improving and making changes as she grows and develops new skills.
Now on to the newest addition to our baby collection – a high chair. I started looking for the perfect chair to go with our fostering independence philosophy as soon as she could hold her head. I wanted a place where she can sit safely in the kitchen and watch what we do. I started my highchair hunt with a few musts, nice to haves and absolute nos.
Must
Adjustable
Comfortable for the child
Able to be used from six months old
Able to be used independently by the child from around 18-24 months
Easily detachable tray so that we can pull the chair up to our dining table for her to join us for a meal.
Easy to clean
Reasonably priced
Nice to have
If it is wood, it will be great. I am not a fan of a bright, colorful chair in the middle of the living room, but if it had everything else I wanted, this is not a deal breaker.
Without a lot of bells and whistles (like a recline option!)
If it is a bright colored chair, an option to fold and store it easily would be nice
Absolute no
Too many nooks and crannies
Too much fabric
With this list on hand, I started my research. This is something we will be using a lot in the coming years, so I was willing to pay for it but as I always do – I wanted the best value for my money.
I looked at almost every single high chair that was available in the local stores and garage sales. For me, if it requires me to put her in and take her out even after she is capable of doing it herself, it is out. (If you don’t mind putting your child in or taking her out of the chair yourself, I recommend the Ikea ANTILOP high chair. It was really comfortable, super easy to clean, simple and cost $19.99)
After looking through all the options, I narrowed it down to six high chairs that fit my wish list
Stokke Tripp Trapp
Svan Signet High Chair
Soho Wooden High Chair by Mocka (As far as I know it is available only in New Zealand, but I found a company to ship to the US at a reasonable rate, so I considered this as well.)
Beta High Chair by Hauck* (The one I was able to look at was an Alpha high chair by Hauck, so the features listed below are for that as well. The Beta is the latest version.)
Badger Basket Embassy Wood Baby High Chair
Keekaroo Height Right high chair
Showdown – Stokke vs. Svan vs. Soho vs. Hauck vs. Badger vs. Keekaroo.
Feature
Stokke
Svan
Soho
Hauck*
Badger
Keekaroo
Win
Cushion
Thin foam, fabric cover
Thin foam, fabric cover
None
Thin fabric
Thin, Fabric
Thick, foam, water resistant
Keekaroo
Ease of Cleaning
Easy. But the fabric cover can get messy
Difficult
Easy
Medium. Wooden tray doesn’t have a cover and seat is fabric
Difficult
Easy
Keekaroo
Size/ footprint
Medium.19.2 x 18 x 31
Small.20 x 22.3 x 34.5
Medium. 18 x 20 x 30
Medium 19 x 31 x 22
Medium/Short.33 x 21 x 17.5
Medium/ large. 34 x 20 x 24
Depends on the space. For us all of them would have worked.
Aesthetics
Best. Clean lines, felt like heirloom quality
Very stylish and sleek. But the chair I saw was used for 1 year and had a lot of wear.
Didn’t check it out in person. Looks ok.
Didn’t look as good as Stokke, but no complains
Felt very cheap. Wood nicks easily.
Didn’t look as good as Stokke, but second best.
Stokke
Tray
Wooden with a plastic cover
Wooden with a plastic cover. The cover was difficult to remove
None
Wooden tray
Wooden tray with plastic cover. But to remove the wooden tray the chair has to be disassembled.
Wooden with a plastic cover. Easy to remove
Stokke, Keekaroo
Age & Weight limits
6 months to 300 lbs.
6 months to adulthood (but Amazon weight limit says 96 lbs.)
6 months to 6 yrs.; up to 132 lbs.
6 months to 100 lbs.
6 months to 175 lbs.
6 months up to 250 lbs.
Stokke, Keekaroo
Certifications
JPMA
JPMA
None in the US (as far as I know)
Not sure. Hauck Alpha the previous version of this chair is JPMA certified.
JPMA
JPMA
Stokee, Svan, Badger & Keekaroo
Wood
Beech wood
Birch wood
Beech wood
Beech wood
Poplar wood
Rubber wood
Colors
8 colors
5 colors
Natural, Black & white
Natural
3 colors
Natural & Mahogany
Warranty
7 yrs.
2 yrs.
1 yr. but practically none as I have to pay to ship the chair to New Zealand
4 yrs.
30 days!
5 yrs.
Stokke
Base price
$249.99
$199
$84.25
$149
$139.99 (but I could find it for as low as $90 on sale easily)
$165 (natural), $175 (Mahogany)
Total price with necessary add-ons (tray, infant insert/baby set)
$414.96
$250
$212.75 (including a large shipping fee)
$149 (just has a flat cushion, no baby insert)
$139.99
$210-$240 (depending on the cushion color)
The Badger Basket was the cheapest and the Stokke was the most expensive.
I didn’t like the Badger at all; it felt cheap and didn’t look like it will stay well after a few months of regular use. And not able to remove the tray without disassembling the chair was a very big negative.
I liked the Stokke but for half the price the Keekaroo beat Stokke hands down -Value for money, easy to clean, adjustable and sturdy.
Keekaroo review
After I decided to purchase the Keekaroo Height Right chair, I figured I will ask Keekaroo if they partnered with bloggers to review their product. They did! So they sent me a Height Right chair (yes, they sent it to me for free, but the opinion in this post is my own. I had already done all the unbiased research and was set on buying one. If they hadn’t replied, I would have gone ahead and bought one anyway.)
The chair arrived in 3 separate packages – the chair itself, the tray and tray cover and the infant insert.
Set up: It took my husband about 25 minutes to put it together. He said it was not difficult but it would have made it much easier & faster if he had another person with him.
Look and feel: It is definitely well made and sturdy. It goes very well with our décor. It is heavy, so I don’t think I will be carrying it up and down the stairs if I want to let her sit next to me while I work (something I wanted to do). The chair is going to stay in the dining area and it is very useful there. She sits there and watches us work in the kitchen.
Comfort: The seat cushion is very nice and super soft. She is comfortable in the chair. We removed the seat cushion a couple of times initially to put on the floor like a Bumbo seat. Now that we are regularly using the chair it is staying put.
Easy to clean: Infant Inserts are peel and tear resistant and impermeable to liquids. The tray cover is dishwasher safe, though I have not put it in the dishwasher yet. A simple wipe so far has kept it clean.
Safety: The seat cushion has Velcro to secure it to the seat, 2 straps to secure it to the metal rod underneath the seat and there is a 3 point belt.
Once she is old enough we will be able to adjust the seat height and foot rest so that she can get up on her own. Overall we really like the chair.
(C) Keekaroo
Buy it: You can buy the Keekarro Hight Right High Chair + Infant Insert + Tray & Tray Cover on Keekaroo’s online store for $229.95 or $239.95
Win it: One lucky reader will win the Keekaroo Height Right High Chair + Infant Insert + Tray + Tray Cover!
a Rafflecopter giveaway