High Chairs - Narrowing Down Your Choices And Options

Purchasing high chairs can be exasperating. OK, so maybe not with your first child. When you're having baby number one you probably already know exactly what you're looking for. It's when you get past that first one that the troubles begin. That is, unless you were smart enough to make the right choice the first time around.

But that doesn't happen often. I know this because I've had 5 kids. With our first child I knew right away I would limit my selection to antique wooden high chairs. Those things looked great. Sure it may not be quite as practical. Getting the baby in and out can be a challenge at times and it wasn't easy to clean. But it was worth it. We loved this high chair and showed it of with pride because it was a gorgeous piece of baby furniture.

Then along came baby number two and the high chair was ready to go. But baby number one was still a toddler. All of a sudden the extra effort to get the baby in and out of the high chair became a problem because I was always distracted by the older one. And who has the time to take extra care to clean it up with two small children? Something I could just wipe clean would have been much easier.

By the time the third child came around, I knew shopping for high chairs would be on my list. The look of the chair didn't matter as much anymore. It had to be plastic and easy to clean. It had to be a breeze to get the baby in and out of. I even started looking for one that would convert into a toddler seat.

It turns out that my search provided both good news and bad news. The good news is I really didn't have to sacrifice much in terms of appearance. So many high chairs look nice in addition to being completely functional. The bad news was that there were too many choices. I gathered up all the information I could until I suffered from the dreaded "information overload." And this came at a time when one particular high chair, and I honestly don't remember which one, was being recalled because of safety concerns. Safety became one more topic I would have to research.

And as we had even more children, cost became another big factor. The oldest was a teenager by the time the youngest was born. Teenagers are not cheap, and we had several more budding teens on the horizon.

So if you're in the market for a high chair I know what you're up against. The goal here is to not only provide you with the information you need (even if you don't know you need it yet), but to provide you with a great selection of high chairs that will be exactly what you are looking for at a price you can afford.