Mealtime @ the table (Chicco Quick Adjust Table Seat)

Member Name: oioiyou

Product:	Chicco Quick Adjust Table Seat
Date:	23/06/09 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: takes up less room, easy to clean & adjust

Disadvantages: see review ...

Quite a few friends were having babies at the same time as I was having my second and it almost seemed that there was a bit of a game between the parents as to who had the best, most trendy or interesting of baby equipment. I haven't really cared either way with most things but there were thing very different items I just had to have.

The first was this hook on high chair. I hated the one my elder son had. It took up tons of room even when it was folded up so I wasn't going down that route again. I found one on the internet that hooked onto the dinning room table and fell in love with the idea of it and started price shopping. At first I could only find ones available in the USA so that was of no use to me living in London. My other half knew what I was after and came across the Chicco one on Amazon. It was priced at around £30 which is about right and in the same ballpark as the standing ones.

I have since found this seat available in Mothercare, John Lewis and Boots and in two other designs. I have the Seventy design which is pictured above.

The only reservation I had about this chair was if it would hook onto my table. I have an IKEA wooden table and there are wooden bits on the bottom. When the chair first arrived I took the arms out to see if it would fit ... YAY! It fit quite easily! I took the rest out and there was the seat itself, the two metal arms that attach to the table and one other metal bit for the seat. I found it easy to slot the metal bits into place and under the table it was just a matter of placing the arms and pushing the adjustable fixers and twisting the handle to the locked position. The only part I found rather tricky was snapping the poppers to hook the seat on. The popper on one side took some persuading to snap. I finally got it and the seat was in place.

The whole idea of this seat is that you can take it around with you but most places these days have high chairs so it's a permanent fixture to our table. It comes with a carry bag for those who will take it around with them but the one time I took it to my mums it was a pain to fit in the bag and I couldn't zip it up.

After a couple months of use I was still happy with the chair but was wishing it had a table attachment as he was a bit far from the table and food was going everywhere if I wasn't being careful. I was just getting on with it and suddenly noticed on the side of each arm that there was another hole. It was then that I realised my stupidity! There are two settings on the arm so the child can be right up against the table or about 2 inches away. I felt like such a moron but was really happy to have found that my choice in chairs was still good.

The arms connect to the table and have cute little hippos on the top. My son couldn't care less but I think they are cute.

The chair is simple to wipe clean. To clean the table it's best to remove the chair completely. To do this you just twist the handles on the bottom to unlock and press the button on each arm which releases both instantly. It's as easy as that ... Ok maybe the description doesn't sound that easy but in reality it's verging on effortless.

There is a safety strap on the seat but to be honest I've never used it. For added safety the instructions said to place a chair underneath but my son pushes off the chair to stand up so I've had to pull it back a bit.

The chair itself is 3.6 kg and is suitable for a child from 6 months to a maximum weight of 15Kgs, or about 3 years of age so you should really have a sturdy table.

Update: I have just read a whole long thing in a magazine about baby-proofing your home and one of the RoSPA (Royal Society for the prevention of Accidents) what not to buy items was a chair like this but the only reason is that people might attach it to unsuitable tables e.g. glass topped or lightweight so make sure you use yours properly!

© oioiyou 2009

Summary: A perfect chair for us