The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This highchair is as straight as a line can get. It is absolutely the basics without any frills: marrying neutral style, function and low price.

Now, I have to say this first:

The correct spelling of this product is Antilop with an I. The correct name is actually also listed in Epinions but it has no picture and no review. I am a visual person and dislike reading reviews with no accompanying pictures so I chose to write my review here. I bring this up because I read a review on this before, then tried to search for it again as Antilop with an I and wondered where the picture and review went. So, something to note just in case you look for the reviews again. You will find it under Antelop with an E. :)


About the Product

When you buy it, all you get is 4 metal legs and a one-piece plastic seat with a T-shaped bar in front. And there are straps, of course. It costs a whopping CA$29. (US$19 on the US Ikea website)

Breakdown of Each Component:

Metal Legs
Basically just 4 steel, silver powder-coated rods (about an inch in diameter) and a bit over 2 feet long. On the bottom of each leg is a white plastic "ball". The ball doesn't roll. It's just a stylized floor protector. The end without the ball pops onto the plastic seat.

Plastic Seat
One piece of sturdy white plastic (Polypropylene) featuring a T-bar on the front and a higher back with enclosed sides.

Picture putting your baby inside a shallow square approximately 1ft x 1ft box. Now imagine that the box has 2 holes for his legs to go through. This is essentially what the seat is but only with a higher rounded back for support. There are slots for the strap at the very end of the seat, where it meets the back of the chair.

Straps
The straps are grey with 2 pieces, each piece with an end of a plastic buckle. It only holds on to your baby's waist. I suppose the T-bar further ensures baby's safety. To assemble, you slide one end of a strap through a slot on the seat and sort of make a knot on that end and the snap-on buckle is on the other end. This makes the strap infinitely adjustable.

Optional Tray (I bought this)
Also of one piece plastic construction. It wraps all the way around the front and two sides of the chair (Like a U with a fat flat bottom). It is rectangular in shape with raised edges presumably to minimize spills on the floor. It snaps on to the two sides of the seat and the front. The tray is not included in the price of the highchair. You can buy it for an additional CA$10 (or US$5).

Optional Cushion (I did not buy this)
A relatively thin air-filled plastic that goes around the back of the baby and his two sides when he is seated in the highchair. You can buy it for an additional CA$5 (or US$5).



My Highchair History (you can skip this part and go straight to My Experience)

In the beginning, I thought a highchair was a highchair was a highchair. It's something to put baby in while I feed him. Plus I did some halfhearted research online and one article online said to look for these functions:
1. wheels
2. reclineable feature
3. height adjustment

So I was happy to be given a hand-me-down Prima Pappa highchair since it had all three of the above mentioned requirements. But omigod, was it tough to adjust and clean! Do not let me start with that highchair. Suffice it to say that I had to throw it away before I even really used it.

And then after that, another well-meaning couple gave us another highchair. Wooden this time. While it was pleasant to the eyes, it was also dirty. Off to the Salvation Army it went. I was not cleaning another used highchair.

(sidenote: Looking back, I find it funny that I now love a highchair that has no wheels, is not reclineable and has no height adjustment!)

Because of my encounter with those 2 highchairs, I realized that food ended up everywhere, even in places you wouldn't imagine they'd end up in! So I felt compelled to do more research since a highchair was not just a highchair, just a highchair afterall. I SCOURED the web for information on highchairs. And I finally came up with a list of my requirements for the highchair I want to use.
1. safety
2. ease of use
3. ease of cleaning
4. portable within our apartment
5. price

I drove myself crazy making a worksheet listing all the features of each highchair that was available. I did all my research online then went to the stores to see the actual product and test my baby in it. Many highchairs failed the practical test because many highchairs available online were not even in the stores, and many highchairs looked good online but really looked cheap when you actually saw them.

Although I had made my list, I often found myself vacillating because this or that highchair looked good, and this one can become a table and chair when he grows up, etc.

I was almost all set to get the Fisher Price Space Saver but just couldn't find one that was set up in store for me to try. I was reluctant to get the Ikea Antilop highchair because Ikea wasn't a baby company. What sort of safety research did they do to make sure that my son will not have an accident in his highchair? The answer to that question was nowhere to be found. All the other brands stressed how safe their highchairs were, how untippable they were, etc. But all Ikea says on their website was to "Wipe clean with a mild soapy solution. Wipe dry with a clean cloth". And that a safety belt was included. What kind of safety belt? The only reason this highchair was still on my list was because there was no information about it for me to cross it out.

So after about 2 months of not making a highchair decision, I finally found myself in Ikea with my husband and son. There were 2 highchairs available: One was called the Gulliver highchair and it was a "wooden" highchair. It looked good on the website, but up close it didn't look good to me. It looked like a laminate wood highchair. Can you picture that?

Anyway, I went for the Antilop and tested my son on it. He sat down with no complaints and the strap was easy to put on. My son had a puzzled look on his face. The highchair looked sturdy enough and a helpful Ikea staff came by to help me work the attached tray and told me that she used one at home too. Well, since I'd held out for so long before getting a highchair, and this one seems to just fit the bill, and I spoke with someone who actually used it and liked it, plus it was cheap, I decided to get it right there and then. I have to admit that after all my research and lists, buying this highchair was more of an impulse decision. I think it was because it's so cheap, I feel that I can make a mistake.

Coming to my senses, I later called their customer relations to ask what the maximum weight capacity was for this chair and the representative said the highchair was made in such a way that only a child that can fit it can safely be supported by it and that they didn't provide a maximum weight.

I have to say that knowing what I know now, the response is not as unorthodox as it sounded to my new-mom ears. My baby has outgrown his swing and bouncy chair long before he got too heavy for them. I didn't need those precise numbers (as if I'm going to weigh my baby every month to check if the chair is still safe for him). But I'm sure they could probably have gotten more sales if they just gave us a number.



My Experience

When I got it home, I just washed the seat and tray in the shower with mild soap and rinsed it out again. It was clean and didn't say it needed pre-washing, but I did it anyway while it was still unassembled.

Assembly was a breeze. Just pop on the 4 legs and you¡¦re done (I bought the tray too, which you just pop on as well). The hardest thing was the strap. I didn't know how long or short to make it. That was my only problem.

Now that I have it, I can't believe how long it took me to get this highchair and all that time I wasted researching and looking at other highchairs.

My son has not made a serious mess yet on this highchair, but everyday mess is easily wiped out with just a wet cloth, even when the food is left to dry on it. There are not many crevices for food to get into. But if one day there is a mess on this highchair that normal wiping cannot take care of, I feel assured in the fact that I can just hose the whole thing down.


What I Like

I like that the tray goes all around the seat so that there is less likelihood for the seat to catch the food. Even though my baby doesn't feed himself yet, I still put on the tray for him because he likes banging his hands on it and running his hands on it while I feed him. Now that it's getting harder to keep him still, I put toys with suction cups on it for distraction (works only if the toy is new. but I put it there anyway -- and pray). When he was younger though, I never had a need for the tray and he would hold on to the T-bar while eating.

I really love that it is so low maintenance and easy to clean. The seat and tray can both be hosed down, and the legs are so easy to detach.

This highchair is supposedly portable because you can pop off the legs and tow it to Grandma's house in your trunk and you can set it up in a split second. While popping on and off is the simplest assembly there is, I still prefer no assembly. When he needs to eat outside, we will just use our laps at this age and I already have a booster seat for when he's older.

It is so light that even without wheels, I just push this around the house. The back of the seat is shaped like an inverted U so when you want to lift the chair, you can easily hold on to it. There is also something like this to hold on to on the sides, but I find I hold on to the back more. You can lift the whole thing with one hand!

I think it is just the right height for eating at a table. Even though I haven't tested this at home (we have a counter-height table), I have seen many restaurants use this as their highchair. I just suddenly see it everywhere now that I have it too!


What I Dislike

I sometimes wish the back would be softer to protect his head, but I chose to not purchase the supporting cushion because I didn't want one additional thing to clean.

The height: I find that it is slightly shorter than the other typical plastic monster highchairs and I have to slouch down a bit while feeding him. I guess this is where the importance of height adjustment comes in. But that would mean holes on the legs for food to get trapped in. Weighing the pros and cons, I'd still go for no food holes. Maybe I'll just get a shorter stool...

I imagine there would come a day when my baby will be able to unfasten the simple snap-on strap himself and since it is in 2 pieces, I cannot turn it inside out so that the buckle is at the back of the chair where he can't reach. But my other booster seat has a one-piece adjustable strap that I can swap when the time comes.

I find that many information that is readily available for the baby company-made highchairs is not available for this one, like maximum weight and the type of strap used. I dislike the fact that there is very little baby-friendly information available on this product when I was trying to decide which highchair to purchase. The information on the website is so sparse and adult-oriented that they don't give you information on maximum weight allowed and what kind of strap they use. When you buy it, it only comes with assembly instruction (in pictures), so there is a need to ask. It does say to never leave your baby alone in the highchair though. So don't.



Information on the Ikea Website

Key features
Easy to disassemble and transport.
Wipes clean.

good to know
Safety belt included.

care instructions
Wipe clean with a mild soapy solution.
Wipe dry with a clean cloth.

product description & measurements (conversion to inches added by me)
Width: 58 cm (or about 23")
Depth: 62 cm (or about 24")
Height: 90 cm (or about 35")
Seat height: 55 cm (or about 22")
Seat/ Straps: Polypropylene
Leg: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating
Buckles: Acetal plastic

environment
Possible to separate for material or energy recovery.

Designer:
IKEA of Sweden


Recommended: Yes