3 Tips For Choosing A Safe High Chair
Your high chair is the most important piece of furniture you have…but how do you choose a safe seat for your baby to eat?
As a dietitian specializing in baby-led weaning, I get lots of questions about the best high chair for BLW, and I have some things to say 😄 (...because most high chairs out there do NOT have the single most important safety feature for a high chair and we’ll cover what that is here)
The 2 best high chairs for baby-led weaning that I use at home for my own kids and in my BLW practice are the Stokke Tripp Trapp and the Nomi High Chair.
Both the Tripp Trapp and the Nomi were designed by legendary furniture designer Peter Opsvik.
I spoke with Peter’s ergonomist in this podcast episode of the BABY-LED WEANING PODCAST called “How to Choose a Safe Seat for Your Baby to Eat with Kirsti Vandraas” and you can listen to that interview here.
If you’re considering the Nomi vs. the Tripp Trapp high chair, the features I like in both the Nomi and the Tripp Trapp are:
No tray: both are designed without a tray so baby can be brought to the table and eat with the family - a key tenant of the baby-led weaning approach and philosophy
Convertible chair: both grow with your baby from the high chair stage into adolescence (...so you buy one chair that lasts you more than a decade)
Adjustable footrest: both feature an adjustable footplate so baby’s feet are always resting flat (...this is key for swallowing safety)
Take a look at your current high chair, does your baby’s feet rest flat on the footplate like this?
When your baby is learning how to eat, the safest position is for their feet to be resting flat on a solid footplate. Flat feet help stabilize your baby and support their core, in turn facilitating a safe swallow.
If this whole flat feet on a footrest safety thing is new to you, you are not alone. Parents often wonder why the high chair they have or bought or were gifted either doesn’t have a footrest, or if it does it’s not adjustable and only works for 2-year-olds.
I spoke more about the importance of an adjustable footrest for safe swallowing with Jeff Durkee from Nomi in this interview on the BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY podcast, “High Chair Positioning: Reduce Choking Risk Using This One Simple Move” and you can listen to that episode here.
So how do you decide between the Stokke Tripp Trapp or the Nomi High Chair?
…if you’re torn, you’re also not alone because it’s a question parents ask frequently.
OK, don’t judge, but I have 7 of both of these high chairs and I use them every day (...both sets of chairs were gifted to me by their respective brands…and 7 because I have 7 kids :)
I’ll do a quick rundown of pros / cons between these two best high chairs for baby-led weaning based on my experience using them for baby-led weaning, toddlers and older kids:
STOKKE TRIPP TRAPP
Legend has it that Peter Opsvik designed the Tripp Trapp in 1972 when he couldn’t find a suitable chair for his own child. The Tripp Trapp is vintage, but IMO it’s still 1000% more practical and safe than most high chairs sold today and is beloved for Opsvik’s design that “brings the floor to the child.”
TRIPP TRAPP PROS
Price - The Tripp Trapp been around since 1972 so there are tons of used TTs out there…in the US you can usually find them used for around $90. Pricier when new of course, still worth it, cheaper than Nomi.
Adjustable footrest - as a feeding expert this is a non-negotiable feature for a high chair for me…also a con though because this one requires tools to adjust the footrest which is a pain.
Small footprint - doesn’t take up a huge amount of space, smaller footprint than Nomi. This was great doing BLW with our quadruplets who do take up a lot of space
TRIPP TRAPP CONS
Straps don’t remove - if you’ve done baby-led weaning, you know it’s messy. The Tripp Trapp straps are not easily removable to wash, and they’re off-white, so they get nasty.
Adjustable footrest - Tripp Trapp requires tools to adjust seat height and footplate. My husband absolutely hates adjusting these chairs for our kids, but we’re always doing it since kids grow fast.
NOMI HIGH CHAIR
The Nomi is Peter Opsvik’s “next generation” chair. He designed it for his grandchild and it is certainly more modern and an updated / refreshed take on the Scandinavian high chair aesthetic. Has the footplate and adjustable seat and was designed based on Opsvik’s “philosophy that children need a safe and stable platform from which to move while they sit.”
NOMI PROS
Easily removable straps - these separate from the chair in a snap and you can just throw them in the washing machine…so key with BLW when your baby is eating messy foods like spaghetti sauce or curry sauces that can stain if they sit there.
Adjustable footrest - both the adjustable footrest and the adjustable seat plate can be changed without tools and in seconds. This helps keep your baby and bigger kids safe as they’re growing and it takes less than 1 minute to adjust to a new safe level.
Color and wood options - the Nomi comes in a ton of different color options and 4 different color wood stem options. Probably sad to say, but hands down my high chairs are the best looking pieces of furniture in our house!
3 NOMI CONS
Larger footprint - the Nomi does take up more space than the Tripp Trapp. You can remove the high chair extensions on the legs when you convert it to a toddler or bigger kid chair, which helps.
Tray costs extra - same for the Tripp Trapp but people really complain about this with the Nomi for some reason. Opsvik actually designed both chairs without a tray and to be pulled up to the table so your baby can eat with the family…so most people don’t need the tray. But if you have a bar height or counter height table you do need the add-on tray because high chairs can’t go to bar/counter height (or they would need such a large footprint to do so in order to pass the safety tip test nobody would buy them because of their size)
Cost - Nomi is definitely an investment and this is not a cheap high chair. I do get a kick out of parents with a $1,200 stroller system who insist on buying a $30 high chair…but since your baby is going to eat in this chair at least 3 times a day for the foreseeable future, I do think that buying a safe seat for your child to eat is a worthwhile investment. I have a discount below for you if you are considering the Nomi high chair
NOMI DISCOUNT
If you are shopping the Nomi high chair, I do have a 25% off discount for you. I am an affiliate for Nomi and I do earn a commission when you purchase using my affiliate discount code and links.
At 25% off this is as cheap as you can get the Nomi high chair, so I’m glad I can share it with you and hopefully help you get into this chair at a cheaper price…
Here’s is the Nomi discount code and instructions on how to obtain the Nomi high chair at 25% off
Go to this website: https://regallager.com/nomi-affiliates/
At checkout use the code KATIE25 to get 25% off
Be sure to get the “Nomi high chair” option for feeding YOUR baby not the “Nomi chair” which is what the high chair eventually converts to.
You don’t need the tray if you have a normal table height table baby can eat at…but if you have a counter or bar height table the high chair won’t reach and in that case you will need the tray.
If you get the Nomi high chair using my discount, please will you send me a picture or tag me on Instagram @babyledweanteam? I love to see your BLW babies in action in their high chairs!
Here is my crew in both chairs (with 2 cousins thrown in if you’re counting…)
…and if you’re not into buying a new high chair, I have tons of tips on how you can DIY fix your existing high chair’s footrest inside of my free workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.
I cover ideas for making a homemade footrest on your existing chair using:
Yoga blocks and bungee cords
Amazon boxes and duct tape
Plywood and a trucker knot :)
This BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS workshop is a free one-hour training with lots more tips on doing BLW safely PLUS everyone on this workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS LIST. Click here to register for this week’s workshop times.
