Smart Buys

The Best High Chairs for NYC Apartments

By Lucy Cohen Blatter  | October 21, 2015 - 8:59AM
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Despite how little you like to cook and how big a fan you are of checking out the hottest new NYC restaurant, at some point during your baby's first year you're going to realize that going out to eat with a little one is not fun—at all. Dinner at home it is!

The problem: Sometimes it feels as though designers of high chairs forget that parents in space-starved cities like ours don't have actual suburban-sized kitchens and dining rooms in which to feed our little ones. 

Below, six high chairs that are fit for NYC living, from budget to splurge.

Leave it to Ikea to nail design and price. The Antilop Highchair ($19.99) is nothing fancy, but it wipes down easily—it's all plastic—and doesn't take up much space. A wide stance ensures stability, too (though not too wide that it gets in the way). For a city-dweller on a budget who wants a real highchair, rather than a booster, it's hard to beat. 

It goes without saying that a high chair with a small footprint is key for New York City-dwellers like us, and the  Fisher-Price Deluxe SpaceSaver ($69.99) in fact has no footprint at all. It simply buckles onto a dining room chair. It also converts from a reclining seat for babies to an upright seat for toddlers to a booster seat for older kids. (We all know that any piece of furniture that does double duty is a good thing.) One NYC mom suggested the deluxe version—the regular is about $20 cheaper—because the straps are plastic, making them easier to wipe clean.

Ever see a kid at a restaurant who seems to be sort of suspended in mid-air? He's very likely sitting in the Phil & Ted's clip-on Lobster Chair ($79). It's technically a "travel high chair," but we know many New Yorkers who use it as their main  at-home high chair to save space. All you need is a table. No chair required. And yes, it's stable.

The footprint on the Joovy Nook Highchair ($115.54) isn't the smallest—28 x 24 x 43 inches to be exact—so it's not ideal for really teeny spaces, but it wipes off easily, a major, major perk for messy eaters (read: all kids). And the absolute best part: It folds flat easily, which means you can stash it away in a closet when you're not using it.

The Baby Bjorn High Chair ($234.99) isn't the cheapest option but it may be one of the sleekest looking. It's also ergonomically correct and folds down to only 10 inches. Plus, the snug design of the table means food is less likely to fall onto your kid's lap  and into the crevices of the seat—great parents trying to avoid crud formations that inevitably collect in the those spots.

According to a representative from high-end NYC kids' gear store giggle, the Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair ($249.00) is their best seller. Yes, it's pricey, but you can use the chair forever. Seriously. It transforms from a baby chair  into a regular dining room chair, and is well-built to withstand wear-and-tear. But note: You'll also have to buy the baby seat ($69) and tray ($49) separately for when they're too young to sit at the table.

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