I recently wrote a review about the Bumbo seat that a friend offered us when her son had grown out of it. At the time I was pretty sceptical about these seats but felt that I had better accept her kind offer, and in the end I was so glad that I did take it up, as it is a great piece of kit. As well as the Bumbo seat my friend also gave us the Bumbo tray, to fit onto the seat, and therefore act as a perfect seat and table for weaning baby, or simply for putting toys on for baby to reach easily.

This bumbo tray can be bought for just under £9 on the likes of amazon and has been designed to fit onto the bumbo seat securely. It is made from white plastic which is wipeable so if you are using it to feed your baby this is a helpful feature.

I often take my daughter into our bathroom in the morning when I am showering and the Bumbo had proved great, because she can see me about not panic that she is left on her own, but also I can see her and talk/sing etc to her to keep her amused. I also give my daughter some toys to play with whilst I take a shower, and this is where the tray proves invaluable as otherwise everything would be on the floor, and she can't pick it up whilst in the bumbo, and I wouldn't want her to even try in case she tipped the seat!

When I first attempted to attach this seat I thought I had done it wrong. My friend didn't pass on any instruction sheets with the tray, but I didn't think that it looked too difficult. The tray comes in two parts - the actual flat tray and the stem part that holds up the tray. The tall stem part needs to be slotted under the base of the front of the Bumbo once baby is in the seat. There is no way you could get baby in after attaching tray. The big problem I have found is that I often have to very careful tilt the seat (with my daughter in it!) back ever so slightly to get the base of the stem slotted under the seat. To me, this seems rather dangerous, although obviously I am as careful as possible. Once you have managed to get this part done, you need to attach the stem part to the slots underneath the tray. Remember, that all this is done with a wiggly squirmy baby who by this stage is hitting the lat part of the tray, whilst you are trying to attach it. I do not find it particularly easy to line up the slots under the tray and on the top of the stem, and no matter how well I seem to have this attached, my daughter 80% of the time, manages to either get the tray tilted or completely off by the time I am out of the shower, which isn't long!!

So, although the principle of the tray is an excellent idea and my daughter can have her toys in front of her whilst I am trying to get something done, and pick them up as she wants them, I really do not find it easy to attach, partly from a safety point of view getting the stem part under the seat whilst baby is in it, but also attaching the stem to the tray securely. I also find that my daughter, a good part of the time, can manage to move the tray either getting it competely off or tilting it! A great idea but some big design flaws!