A high chair earns its place in the kitchen for longer than almost anything else you'll buy for a baby — often from six months to well past their third birthday. Unlike a pushchair or a car seat, you can't tuck a bad choice away in a cupboard between uses. It's out, in the middle of your kitchen, three times a day.

Here's what to check before you buy.

Step 1. Decide How Long You Want One Chair to Last

Some high chairs are built for a single stage — a straightforward seat for a baby who can already sit unaided, until they graduate to a normal chair around age three. Others are designed to grow with the child: a reclined newborn insert for the earliest weeks, a standard high chair seat once they're sitting, and eventually a toddler chair that stays at the family table for years.

The practical question: do you want to buy once, or buy for each stage? A single-stage chair, like the Chicco Zest, is usually cheaper upfront. A grow-with-child system, like the KAOS KLAPP Newborn Bundle, costs more initially but replaces two or three separate purchases — a bouncer, a high chair, and a toddler chair — with accessories rather than new furniture.

Step 2. Check the Harness Properly, Not Just the Straps

A high-chair harness has one job: stop a wriggling child sliding down or standing up on the seat. Not all harnesses do this equally well.

5-point harnesses — two shoulder straps, two hip straps, one crotch strap — are the most secure. They stop both sliding down and climbing out, and they're the standard for babies who are mobile enough to try either.

3-point harnesses — just a waist strap and a crotch strap — are lighter and simpler, but offer less resistance to a child pushing themselves upright. Fine for a calm eater, less fine for a climber.

The crotch strap specifically is what stops a child sliding underneath the tray — check it's present and adjustable regardless of which harness type you choose. A harness that only clips at the waist, with no crotch strap, isn't enough on its own.

Step 3. Match the Height to Your Table, Not Just Your Kitchen

A high chair that's too low relative to your dining table pushes your child's arms up awkwardly at every meal. Too high, and the tray sits above a comfortable eating position.

Look for chairs with multiple height settings, not just a fixed seat height — this lets you match your specific table rather than hoping it works out. A footrest that adjusts independently of the seat height matters more than it sounds: growing legs with nowhere to rest push a child to slide forward in the seat, which undoes the harness fit you just checked in Step 2.

If the chair is designed to eventually sit at the family table without a tray, confirm the seat height range actually reaches standard dining table height (roughly 73–76cm) — some toddler-stage chairs top out lower than that.

Step 4. Think About Cleaning Before You're Doing It Three Times a Day

Food ends up everywhere a high chair has a seam, a gap, or a texture. That's not a minor detail — it's something you'll deal with after every meal, for years.

Tray material: a smooth, single-piece plastic or wood tray wipes clean in seconds. Trays with a raised lip to catch spills are genuinely useful; textured or multi-part trays collect food in the joins.

Seat material: moulded plastic or sealed wood wipes down directly. Fabric seat inserts need to be removable and machine-washable — check this explicitly, since some inserts are foam-padded and can't go in a washing machine at all.

Under the chair: a chair with an open frame is far easier to sweep under than one with a solid base or footrest bar catching crumbs at floor level.

Step 5. Folding and Footprint

If your kitchen is small, or the chair needs to move for guests, folding matters as much as it does for a pushchair.

A fold-flat design — like the KAOS Klapp — check the folded depth, not just that it folds — determines whether it slots behind a door or has to live permanently in the room. Some high chairs fold to under 15cm deep; others fold but remain bulky.

A chair that stands on its own when folded is easier to store in a narrow gap than one that needs to lean against a wall or lie flat on the floor.

Quick Picks by Budget

Budget: Chicco Zest Highchair — £59, compact fold, newborn to toddler.

Mid-range: KAOS Klapp High Chair — £189, fold-flat recycled plastic.

Complete system: KAOS KLAPP Complete Bundle — £567, newborn to toddler in one bundle.

FAQ

Do I need a 5-point harness, or is 3-point enough?
A 5-point harness is the safer default, particularly once a baby is mobile enough to push up or twist in the seat. A 3-point harness with a solid crotch strap is workable for a calmer eater, but check the crotch strap is genuinely secure either way.

How do I know if a "grows with your child" chair is worth the extra cost?
Compare the total cost of the stages separately — a newborn recline seat, a standard high chair, and a toddler chair — against the single grow-with-child system plus its accessory kits. If you'd buy all three stages anyway, the combined system is usually the better value; if you'll only use one or two stages, a single-stage chair may suit you better.

What's the easiest material to keep clean long-term?
Sealed wood and moulded plastic both wipe clean directly and don't stain the way untreated wood or absorbent fabric can. The bigger factor is usually the tray and seat design — fewer seams and gaps matters more than the material itself.