15 best high chairs for babies and toddlers to gain a seat at the table

This chair was a huge hit with our whole family. The steps chair is designed to grow with your kid. There’s a newborn bouncer – sold separately, (£169, Amazon.co.uk) – that slots on top, then you can adapt it to become a high chair with or without a tray, then a standard chair when your child is a little older. This gave our five-year-old tester the independence to get up and down from dinner, letting him sit more comfortably than if he was on an adult seat.

Our toddlers also loved this chair – it seems super-spacious and comfy. We used the baby set (£70, Amazon.co.uk) with our younger testers, which made sure they were sitting in place and were strapped in.

As for us adults, we liked that this chair actually looks nice in our house – the understated Scandi style ticked our boxes in terms of aesthetics. Yes, it’s pricey when you consider all the extra add-ons, but it’s well made and has been very well used since we started testing it, so, we think it works out as decent value for money.

The Ikea antilop high chair is a go-to choice for families and hospitality venues alike and with good reason. The moulded plastic chair is the perfect size for weaning babies and still sits kids up to the age of three. It’s also super-easy to clean, as there are very few grooves for Weetabix to get mashed into.

We’d suggest you get the inflatable insert (£5, Ikea.com) and accompanying cover (£5, Ikea.com) for younger babies, as it will help prop them up if they’re still a bit wobbly.

We love that you can remove the very generously sized tray for a thorough clean, but this is also helpful if you want to draw the high chair right up to the table. Really handily, these chairs stack together, so, if you have two kids in need, it’s a real space saver when not in use. For only £19, you really can’t go wrong.

With a baby bouncer chair; high chair with tray; learning tower, and standard chair options available with this seat, it’s a versatile, premium product, with a matching price tag.

The stylish colours are aesthetically pleasing, and we found it easy to keep it looking in good nick. Our testers loved the standard chair options, and the high chair was great. The harnesses feel thoroughly secure, and it’s easy to lift little ones in and out of the chair.

A detachable matching tray was easy to clean, although, it could have done with slightly more surface area. While we focused on the high chair mode, the bouncer seat feels high quality and we can see the benefit of being able to pull it up to the table while you eat. We loved that, to change the height of the chair, you just have to twist and push a handle on the bottom of the seat and footrest – much easier than those that require Allen keys.

For convenience, this Mamas and Papas booster seat is hard to beat. It’s lightweight and can attach to most chairs securely, meaning it’s great to take to grandparents’ houses, on holiday and even to restaurants. It is cumbersome, though – it’s not going to fit under the seat of a pram.

Our mini tester was delighted by the activity centre, which sticks to the tray. This is fantastic if you need to keep your little one entertained as you cook or while you wait for food at a restaurant. You can also put the booster on the floor and use it as a place for children to play with toys on their tray – our tester enjoyed practising their stacking skills. You can be confident they’re secure, as you can extend the floor base to provide more flexibility.

Lastly, you can remove the pad inside as your child grows – they can continue to use the seat until preschool age. There are even “crumb stoppers” that slot in the tray gaps, so, once you remove the tray, you won’t find the grim remains of food in every crevice.

We appreciate longevity in a product – especially if we’re spending serious cash – and this Ergobaby high chair ticks that box. It’s a high chair that converts to a seat that looks like a regular dining chair. You can also convert it into a helper tower, so kids can stand at a kitchen counter or breakfast bar to help with food prep.

This model is super easy to put together and convert between the different uses, too. Although it takes up a lot of space, especially the helper tower, with a click of a button, you can fold it down somewhat if you need to make room.

We also loved the natural and white colourway and the five-point harness, which is great for mini escape artists.

Bugaboo’s amazing quality and eye for design has carried through from the premium pram range to this high chair. The giraffe works from newborn, with a sweet little seat from which they can gurgle at you as you quickly stuff down your meals.

The seat can also be slotted into a rocker/baby bouncer frame. Then, at six months, you can convert it into a high chair with plush padded straps (including over the shoulders) and a seat pad. Our tester was able to sit upright nicely in this chair, and you can attach a tray or pull the chair directly up to the table.

Once your child is ready, you can remove the harness and baby seat adapters and be left with a standard chair that will bring children level with you at the table.

This high chair is compact. We were so impressed by the fact it manages to pack in all the key features (removable cushion, footrest and a removable tray) into such a tiny package. You can also convert it to a little toddler chair. Although, it probably won’t last your child all the way through their high-chair career. Our toddler had trouble squeezing in – even though you can adjust the tray depth and foot-rest height – but it’s perfect for a weaning baby. We like that you can also fold it down and then slide it into a cupboard.

A high chair that’s designed to grow with your child, you can use this as a standard high chair along with its tray, but we like that you can also remove the tray, so your child can be pulled right up to the table – there are wheels on the back legs, to help with this manoeuvre.

When your child is a bit older, you can remove the lap guard, too. Once they’re older still, you can remove the bucket seat, so it becomes a high stool. The seat is comfy, thanks to a removable insert, and it all clicks together well, without getting jammed.

We did find the tray was slightly on the small side for our toddlers, who like to spread their mess far and wide. However, we liked the Scandi-inspired design and the fact this high chair has real longevity.

This booster and activity station is perfect for those early weaning days, as you can set it on the floor and use the little snack tray to house some finger food. The tray also comes with an activity centre with plenty of bells and whistles (almost quite literally) to keep babies engaged. You can slide this open to reveal the tray or have it together as just an activity centre – any baby mastering sitting up would love this. You can also remove the tray entirely and strap the seat to a regular chair, then pull it up to the table.

The seat is also generous enough to accommodate a slightly older child, while the seat pad is wipe clean, which we found made it really easy to maintain. Our toddler testers loved being able to sit up at the table with the family, and the booster is light enough to chuck in a car boot and take to friends’ houses, rather than lugging a proper high chair around with you.

A design classic, the solid-wood tripp trapp chair has been made to work for all ages. With a weaning baby, you can have your child sitting in the baby seat with a harness, tray and cushion. Our toddler looked very happy in this setup and had plenty of space to play and explore their food. Once your child is a bit older, you can remove the tray and have them sit up directly at the table. There are two levels on the chair: one seat and one footplate. We found our older tester loved that they could use it like a ladder to climb up into their own chair. You can then lower both levels as your child grows.

As you might expect from a chair designed for all ages, the tripp trapp is built to last, and we love it for that. It looks great next to our kitchen table and is wide enough that it feels comfy for all. Plus, it comes in a wide range of colours, and you can even get it personalised, so, you’re sure to find a colourway that suits your home. We can see how this has become the best-known high chair on the market, and it gets two thumbs up from us.

We were immediately struck by how robust this high chair is – it feels like it would survive a hurricane or a toddler or two (same difference, really). It looks very modern, too, with a curved, futuristic look.

Our mini tester was pretty comfy in it, as the air foam seat-pad is extra thick. Meanwhile, we liked that it is quite narrow – you could fit two side by side at a table easily. However, this does mean the tray is slightly on the smaller side, which isn’t ideal if you have kids who like to spread their meal debris far and wide.

You can raise and lower the height of the seat as your little one grows, and remove the tray and arm bar, as needed. We also give it a big thumbs up for the crevice-free design, which made wiping up crumbs a breeze. All the plastic components are dishwasher-safe, too.

The Scandi design and colourway of the Mamas & Papas juice very much appealed to us. The legs are half wood, half metal, but designed to all look like a subtle ash wood shade. This is complemented by a moulded bucket seat, which feels robust and can be wiped clean. We found cleaning it a doddle, too, thanks to the seam-free seat pad. Speaking of which, this is really thickly padded, and our little tester seemed secure and comfy in there.

Dragging the high chair around the table was easy because this model is surprisingly lightweight – although, we’re not sure it’s quite as portable as Mamas & Papas claims.

The height on this seat is slightly lower than most of the others we tried, so it didn’t feel like our tester was lording over us, and it converts once your child’s high chair days are behind them.

This high chair is packed with clever features. You can use it from birth, by reclining the seat, too. We think this is a lovely feature, as you can have your newborn join you at the dinner table for quality family time.

This model comes with a very generous table – one of the largest we tried – and it’s really easy to remove. Plus, it has handy little places to put a cup and is dishwasher-safe (although, you’ll need quite an empty dishwasher to fit it in). The seat cushion is quite plastic-y in feel, but is wipe-clean and comes up a treat, even after spaghetti bolognese. We also like that you can adjust the height, so you can slide it up to a breakfast bar or kitchen table.

We really rated lots of the features of this high chair. Firstly, it’s transparent, so it sort of feels like it blends into its surroundings. Secondly, the seat spins, which we found handy when loading and unloading the little one into it. The bucket-style seat is really easy to wipe clean, and does actually look clean when you’ve finished – we found some of the other white plastic high chairs tended to attract food stains.

The seat cushion has pads on all sides, which kept our mini-tester very happy. We also liked that the back came up nice and high, which will provide plenty of support as our child grows. The tray comes in two parts, so, if your little angel makes a mess of dinner, just remove the top and they have a fresh surface on which to spread their dessert.

We really like that this high chair is suitable from birth without the need for any attachments. This means you can pull your baby up to the table at mealtimes for all those early lessons about food. The adjustable height means you can switch between a breakfast bar and a table really easily, and the detachable tray is easy to clean.

What’s also great is the nanotex fabric that covers the seat – we found it easy to wipe clean for most messes (we’re looking at you, avocado), and the cushion is really nicely padded.