TOP FIVE (ACTUALLY SIX): High Chairs

THE HIGH CHAIR seems to have become a vehicle for manufacturers and retailers to charge hundreds of pounds for what is usually a joyless and necessary purchase. (Where’s the fun in buying something that will end up daubed in dried food deposits?) The following are neither joyless, nor completely outrageously priced high chairs that seem to offer solutions to the hard-to-clean, unattractive, non-décor enhancing feeding chairs littering high street stores and homes. In fact our top marks go to Lula Sapphire’s K2 by Kuster - for its foldability, its detachable tray (not everyone has a dining table or wants to feed in the dining room), and mostly its price-point. Click on the pictures below to enlarge. 

Best for Classicists and older kids: Stokke’s Tripp Trapp. Okay, so it’s a little ubiquitous now, but that’s because the Tripp Trapp goes with most decors, and lasts until your child, is ooh, an adult, if they’re so inclined. The down sides are having to buy separate accessories, which bumps up the price, and a lack of tray, which generally means more fallout on clothing and floors unless you have a table handy. Lovely new colours. From £115 - £165, Stokke, www.stokke.com; 0800 051 7036 (UK). 

Best for funkiness: The Brio Grow in orange - from Conran Shop - £240, (or black, white or red from Nest, £170). Nice sturdy balance on slim, non space-sucking legs. And easily wiped clean rubber coated foam seat. Good colours too. The company makes an optional tray. Takes your child from six months to seven years. 

Best for affordability, and its tray! The K2 by Kuster in white or beech, from LulaSapphire and Kuster, £99. This high chair is foldable, sturdy, and the removeable tray means it can become a dining chair suitable up to the age of six. The tray is dishwasher friendly, and the additional spotty seat cover, £15, goes in the washing machine.

Best for minimalists: Alfons by Sirch from Little Fashion Gallery. Just really beautiful German construction. Minimal birch plywood and brushed steel parts and joins mean it’s easy to clean. Will take your baby from six months up til three years. The high back can be removed for when less back support is needed. 85cm total height. Height of seat 60cm. £211.50 or €275 Euros. 

Best for urbanites: Bloom’s Nano is intended for small urban apartments, as it folds completely flat, and is more affordable than its rather more famous sister, the Fresco. Clever features include easy-wipe leatherette seat covers available in black, pink, red, orange, blue (pictured), white and brown that cover most of the seat so food is less likely to get into nooks and crannies, and a removeable, and dishwasher-friendly tray. From six months to three years. 108 cm high. From www.bloombaby.com; and John Lewis (in Henna brown), £100. 

Oh, and…. Best for nostalgia and toddlers: Nanna Ditzel was a pioneer of children’s furniture. And her much copied high chair designed in 1955 (pictured above) can still be found in vintage stores and auctions around the globe (if you’re really, really lucky to find one). Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until this design is reissued by the company, now run by Ditzel’s daughter. Pic Credit: Kryn Tagonis, Magnum Photos - Look Magazine, New York.