Our New Highchair

Like many first-time moms, I was pretty clueless about what baby products would work best for us before our son was born.  Case in point- our highchair.  We registered for a nice, typical highchair from Chicco, that was great at first, but I quickly came to hate it because once James started feeding himself, it was impossible to keep clean.  There were so many small crevices in the chair where food got trapped.  Also, the chair was pretty bulky, not great for the narrow area where we use it.

I started searching for a new high chair that would be easier to keep clean, and had my heart on one that was only sold in Europe!  I also researched the seats that fit onto your table, but our tabletop is too deep.

My girl Cassie (Hi Sugarplum) recommended a high chair from Ikea (the ANTILOP), and, after looking it up online and seeing it was only $20 + $5 for the tray, I rushed out to get it!  It’s been working perfect for us.  It’s considerably smaller than our previous highchair so it takes up much less space.  And the best part- its so easy to keep clean- no crevices!!

The other thing that has been great is the Splat Mat- it’s so easy to wipe up and then throw in the washing machine once a week.  It’s completely necessary.  For times like this.

Need I say more?!  Do you have a favorite baby product I need to know about?  It seems to be live and learn with a lot of these kinds of things, right?!  

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

39 Comments

  1. We have the same Chico and I agree I want something different. Although my guy is 8 months now and I think he needs a bit more cushion until he is sitting up a tad better. I have several friends with this IKEA one who love it though. Sure like the idea of actually knowing it is clean!

  2. We have the same Chico and I agree I want something different. Although my guy is 8 months now and I think he needs a bit more cushion until he is sitting up a tad better. I have several friends with this IKEA one who love it though. Sure like the idea of actually knowing it is clean!

  3. Ha ha ha!! Oh, how I remember those days! We have (had? my mom borrowed it) one of those Fisher Price boosters that attaches to a regular kitchen chair. It even came with the tray. Very nice, except when Natalie had the biggest most enormous diaper blow-out ever. I literally had to take the padding out and hose it off. It was awful.

    We loved those Snack Traps. Makes snacks in the car so much easier for toddlers!

  4. James is SOOO cute! I miss those days as well! Bella and I had so much fun crafting in her high chair! I would give her paint and paper and she would go to town. Such a sweet age! She's 7 now and hard to keep up with!
    Enjoy!
    Cyndy

  5. Good to know! I of course picked mine based on color (and safety ratings) so that it wouldn't clash, but am finding that since they are able to feed themselves now, food goes everywhere! I do love the Fisher Price travel booster seat! They are only 25.00 and great for traveling! My new go-to baby gift is the Wub-a-Nub paci! They are the best!

  6. I have the same Chicco as well and never really liked it for my now 3-year old 🙂 The Ikea one looks awesome for my 4-month old about to start solids in a few months!

  7. Ha ha! My sister and I have a running joke about those beast highchairs. I think they're awful. That Ikea one looks waaaay better. She and I were both lucky enough to be handed down old school wooden ones. No cracks, no crevices. And our dog is the best cleaner-upper ever invented. I can't imagine having kids without a dog. :o)

  8. Hi Megan, so I've been following your blog for months now! I LOVE it and your house is gorgeous. I can't believe how big James is getting – he is absolutely adorable!!

    So, I have to confess – I just recently started actually leaving comments on blogs, and then started my own blog just a few weeks ago! haha big step! I live in Houston too! Just wanted to say hi finally. 🙂

  9. I dont think I could have lived without my Clean Shopper Grocery cart cover. We had the PegPerrgo (sp??) blue and white check high chair. It was great.

  10. One more rant about that Chicco highchair…the tray was so big I couldn't fit it in my dishwasher! Kind of defeats the purpose of having a tray that can be dishwashed!!!

  11. Ooo I love this! I wish I would have known about this; I would have gotten it for my twins! With my first I had the big, bulky high chair like you had at first, so the second time around I wanted something that took up considerably less space. So I opted for the ones that just strap into a regular dining chair and can recline when the baby is little, then sit up straight and be used as a booster at the table when they're bigger. The problem is that now I'm using them at a different table than I'd originally bought them for, and the arms stick up too high for me to push the chairs in! It's driving me insane. I hate having to move them out of the chairs after every meal but I can't stand to have the chairs sticking out away from the table. Your high chair choice was way better.

  12. We are currently registering for our daughter, this post was VERY helpful!! I agree with the above post, where is that splat mat from?? What other baby products are your faves?

  13. We have the Chicco and love it. Our eat-in dining space is quite small, so I wipe down and collapse the high chair when not in use. We've also brought ours to both our parents houses for big family meals so our little guy can sit with us when there isn't a spare chair we can attach his travel seat too. If not for those reasons I would totally have the Ikea chair too.

  14. Love the blue!!! And when he gets a little neater during meal time, you can lose the tray and pull the chair directly up to your table so you can sit 'together'

    Love the first pic…his little leg slung over the side kills me!

  15. Great chair. I know a lot of people are moving to that one. Makes so much sense. Do you have the rubber placemat that rolls up to take to restaurants. The top and sides fold in and roll into the little tray attached. It's brilliant and we used it for years when we went out. Wow. . he is looking so much older!

  16. I am SO in that phase of overwhelming baby choices (24 weeks preggo). I've always disliked the way those massive highchairs take up so much room! I'll definitely be checking out that IKEA chair. Can't be the price either!

    Thanks for the tip 🙂

  17. Thanks for the high chair heads up Megan! 🙂 We'll definitely have to keep that one in mind for future reference! 🙂

  18. We had the SVAN highchair, that was retired when Monkey turned one. Now, I use a portable attached to a real dining room chair. Much better…

    Just wait til the high chair days are over…that's when the real mess begins!

    I could not live without eye hook door locks on the tops of each of our door. To protect closets and keep the kids out of rooms, and from escaping from their own room at night.

    The end.

    🙂

  19. Congrats on the great find! We have so many things we're looking to give away these days, it's such a shame because so much of it was barely used. Baby swing anyone? 🙂

  20. Totally agree about the clean up problem with high chairs. Ive gotta be me a splash mat. Where do you get yours? You can usually find me after each meal on my hands and knees cleaning up the crazy amount of food on the floor.

  21. Oh my gosh, that mat is the smartest thing ever! Dinner time is always so messy when I babysit… Food everywhere, haha!

  22. Oh not looking forward to self feedings! I also have the antilop, I bought it in white, I like that is very light, easy to wipe out and kind of sleek and modern, plus you can't beat that price right? We like it so much that it traveled with us in a duffel bag all the way from Canada to New Caledonia (close to Australia) and arrived perfectly!

  23. I attended a baby shower a couple weeks ago and the mom to be received that same high chair! James is so cute, Megan! My husband was peering over my shoulder and wondered if he was having raisins, beans or blueberries. We love that photo of James scraping his plate onto his tray. Adorable!

  24. I attended a baby shower a couple weeks ago and the mom to be received that same high chair! James is so cute, Megan! My husband was peering over my shoulder and wondered if he was having raisins, beans or blueberries. We love that photo of James scraping his plate onto his tray. Adorable!

  25. Hi,

    First I thought I would introduce myself.
    My name is Svava and I've been following your blog for a feew months now.(can't remember how I found it in the first place).
    I love your house but the thing that always gets me back to your blog is that I have a son that is the exact same age as your James 🙂

    I jut LOVE this IKEA chair. We have it at grandmas house and I take it with me when traveling.
    The one we have at home is called TrippTrapp from STOKKE, don't know if you can get it in the US but I love it. The best thing is that it grows with the child so they can use it for years and years.

    Best wishes from Iceland 🙂

  26. Oh my gosh maybe I need to do this too. Lilly's is imposible to keep clean, but I love it b/c it matches our counter stools…

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