Friday, December 26, 2008

Getting A High Chair For Your Baby

By Ned Dagostino

Getting a high chair for your baby is one of the things new parents do once the child is able enough to sit up alone. The high chair is ideal for seating him at the dinner table when the rest of the family is having a meal. It makes the family picture complete. If the child is left in its room you'll be worried about its well-being and won't be able to enjoy the meal fully. The child too will benefit from attending the dinner table get-together, picking up little bits and pieces of behavior that will be the beginning of its education. The many options available in high chairs may confuse you a bit. We'll try to remove that confusion here.

The primary feature you should look for is stability. Babies can be quite active at the age when you put them in a high chair. They can easily bend over and unbalance the chair, toppling it over with serious consequences. Stability means that the base should be wide - as compared with its height. You really can't have a chair with its legs spread right out to completely eliminate the risk of toppling over, but it should be reasonably wide. There are ways of lowering the high chair's center of gravity, which will increase stability. In any case your precious baby should *never* be left unattended in the high chair.

The second safety feature is a full five-strap harness to restrain the little wonder from flying out of the chair every time your back is turned. A waist-and-crotch safety strap is the very minimum you should consider. Don't buy a high chair which just relies on the front tray to do the restraining, it's not good enough.

After safety comes hygiene and cleaning convenience. Babies are babies and will always do something to dirty the high chair! It is imperative that the cushioning or padding is easily removable and washable, preferably machine washable. Never let your baby sit in a dirty high chair for more than you can help it.

Get toys for the high chair to amuse your baby while you are having your meals. These toys should be attractively colored. Safety is important here too. The toys shouldn't be easily breakable. The broken edges can hurt the baby quite badly. The toys shouldn't have points or sharp edges that can hurt the baby. Make sure that the toy is free of any substance which can make your child sick. Babies like to put things into their mouth, and toys are no exception. Get toys that the baby shows interest in.

There are a few features that are really worth having in a high chair. Ordinary high chairs which require all your attention and two hands to detach the front rest are no good. Coping with a wriggling, struggling bundle of joy while trying to get your child in or out of the chair and having to operate a complicated front rest release mechanism at the same time is a sport worthy of being included in the next Olympics! Get a high chair which has a quick-release front rest. Ordinary high chairs are fixed. Get a reclinable high chair, so that even infants can join you at table. Get one whose height can be adjusted to suit tables of different heights. You'll genuinely appreciate a high chair with a tray which can be popped into the dishwasher. A smaller snack tray in addition to the regular dinner tray is good value for money.

That, then, is the lot of do's and don'ts for you to look out for when selecting a high chair for your precious one. Don't get confused by the plethora of models that are in the stores. Safety first, hygiene next, these are the essential features that you must not compromise on. The other options depend on your budget, and whether they will fit your requirement.

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