High Chair Buying Guide

High chairs are typically designed for use from infancy to 3 years of age, with a top baby weight limit of around 50 pounds. Here are some important factors to consider when shopping:

As of June 2019, all high chairs sold in the U.S. must meet a federal safety standard set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The federal standard incorporates the ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials) F404 high chair standard. As its name suggests, ASTM sets international safety standards for thousands of physical goods and products. You won’t find an official label or sticker acknowledging that a high chair meets this standard, but it’s usually noted on the chair’s packaging. All baby high chair manufacturers must provide test results from an independent lab to the CPSC before the chairs can be sold.

Safety features are a top consideration. Look for these main components: a crotch post; a safety-restraint system with a five-point harness (ASTM International’s current safety standards require only a three-point harness for certification; see more under “Shopping and Safety Tips”); if you want a chair with wheels, make sure they have locks (or use casters, wheels that can be used only by tilting the chair onto two legs); and if it’s a folding high chair, make sure it won’t pinch your fingers when closing.

From conventional to contemporary, baby high chairs come in a range of décor-enhancing styles. Some features are functional, such as adjustable trays with dishwasher-safe inserts that make for quick cleanup; seats that recline to multiple positions, which are handy when bottle-feeding; and chair heights that accommodate your growing baby. (Height adjustment can be equally convenient for a parent; you can lower the high chair seat to match your chair, allowing you to sit while feeding your baby.) Others are downright practical, such as high chairs that convert to booster chairs when your child is ready to sit at the table, or multipurpose models that you can take on-the-go. If space is tight, consider a chair that folds up or has a smaller footprint.

You might not know which high chair will best suit your child until you try it, so check the chair’s (or retailer’s) return policy and keep your receipt or packing slip. If you receive a high chair as a gift, ask that a gift receipt be included. Some high chairs require assembly and can come with more parts than you might expect, or can be tricky to put together. If you’re not handy, you might want to buy a baby high chair that comes fully assembled.

We recommend against buying or accepting a secondhand chair. However, if you do, get the model name and date of manufacture—which should be on a label permanently affixed to the chair—then check SaferProducts.gov to be sure the chair has not been included in any safety recalls.

Our team conducts tests on high chairs for three key attributes: safety, ease of cleaning, and ease of use. Our safety tests are based on the same standards used by the federal government and include evaluations of the restraint system and the chair’s stability, as well as static load assessments to make sure the chair can hold more than its stated weight capacity without sagging or collapsing.

For ease of use, our testers evaluate how easy it is to adjust the harness, fold and unfold the chair, remove and replace the seat cover, adjust the seat back (if it reclines), and remove and replace the food tray or tray cover. For ease of cleaning, our team evaluates how easy or difficult the chair is to clean by looking at all of its parts, including the materials it’s made of, the design of the food tray, the frame of the chair, whether it has a machine-washable seat pad (or no seat pad at all), how the seat pad is configured in the chair, and more.

Consumer Reports recently tested 12 high chairs, including models from popular brands like Bloom, Cosco, Fisher-Price, Graco, Ikea, Lalo, Skip Hop, Stokke, and more. To see how these and other models performed, head over to our high chair ratings.

To make sure your high chair purchase meets your needs, test models at a store, even if you plan to buy one online. Here are some things to look for and try out as you shop:

High chairs come with a five-point harness (a waist and crotch restraint with shoulder straps), a three-point harness (waist and crotch restraint), or a harness that converts from five-point to three-point. Whichever type you encounter, make sure you can easily operate the harness fastener, but your child cannot. If it’s difficult for you to use, you might be tempted not to use it every time your child is in the seat, which would be a mistake. Note: Although a high chair requires only a three-point harness for certification, the five-point type is safer because it can keep a child from standing or leaning over in a high chair and possibly falling or tipping the chair over.

It should be easy for you—but not for your baby—to engage, adjust, and disengage. Tray latches shouldn’t be accessible or visible to your little one.

The federal safety standard requires high chairs with completely bounded openings to have a fixed post attached to the tray or the seat of the chair to prevent a child from sliding out under the tray.

Adjustable seat heights allow the high chair to be used at the level of your dining room table, so your baby can eat with the rest of the family, or at a height that works well for a seated caregiver. (Remember, it isn’t safe to adjust the height when your baby is seated in the chair.) Try adjusting the seat height in the store to make sure you can do so easily. You might also want to compare the number of adjustment heights that different chairs offer.

Look for durable upholstery: The seat cover should feel substantial, not flimsy. Make sure upholstery seams won’t scratch your baby’s legs. Seat covers should be easy to wipe clean or be machine-washable. Too many seams, or decorative stitching or piping, can add to the chore of keeping the seat pad clean. Rubber or foam seat pads are easier to keep clean, and their sleek, modern look appeals to many parents.

If you’re buying a model with wheels, make sure they lock or become immobilized by the weight of your seated baby. Some models have casters, which are wheels that can be used only by tilting the chair onto two legs (when your child is not in the seat).

Examine the underside of the feeding tray and edges of the seating area, including the armrests and seatback, to make sure nothing is sharp. Avoid baby high chairs with small holes or hinges that could trap little fingers.

Before using, and periodically while the chair is in use, make sure the caps or plugs that cover the ends of metal tubing are well secured, and that labels, stickers, or tags are firmly attached. Check any fasteners for tightness. Parts small enough for a child to swallow or inhale are a choking hazard.

If you plan to fold up your high chair every day, practice in the store. Some chairs’ folding mechanisms can be stiff or awkward. Some chairs may take up nearly as much space when folded as they do when opened.

Push contenders around to see how well they hold their ground, or lift one if that’s how you would move it within your home. A chair should feel stable and sturdy, not wobbly. Look for a baby high chair with a wide base for stability.

For most traditional high chairs, you can use them until your child is about 3 years old. But for grow-with-me high chairs, such as the Nomi High Chair or the Stokke Tripp Trapp, you can continually convert them to toddler chairs, then youth chairs, and keep adjusting them into young adulthood (depending on the model).