This high chair has been great for my son with special needs
Written: Jul 28 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 3-position recline, 5-pt harness and seven height adjustments are great!
Cons: Wheels might be nice; the tray falls off the back pegs fairly easily
The Bottom Line: This seat has met our needs wonderfully. If it will work so well for Joshua, you will probably have a good experience with it, too.
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| ahibbets's Full Review: Fisher Price Healthy Care High Chair |
My husband and I picked out this chair for our baby gift registry at Toys R Us even though, as new parents, we weren't sure what we were looking for. We ended up receiving two -- and there have been several times already I wish I wouldn't have taken the other one back to the store to exchange! I might end up buying another one down the road. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Our precious son arrived, and as things transpired we found out he has a rare disabling genetic disease that presents similarly to cerebral palsy (very low muscle tone, little to no head control, etc.). We used his infant seat in restaurants and around the house for as long as he would fit in it. But at about 6 months old he had gotten too long for his infant carrier and I started looking for a seating solution for family restaurant outings. I ended up getting our high chair out, and my husband put it together easily. We figured out pretty quickly it was going to make a good seat for Joshua to have around the house.
The 3-position recline is perfect for Joshua. He can only sit at the full upright position for short periods, and even that is possible only because of the 5-point harness (great!). The shoulder straps give him the extra trunk support he needs. We tend to keep him at the middle (semi-reclined) position, but the full-reclined position has been useful for him, too. We also like the seven height possibilities. Right now he is able to sit in the chair at the lowest position in front of the TV to watch a Baby Einstein video. Or later we'll raise it when we're standing around him or eating at the table. It is very easy to change the height and recline positions.
Joshua takes nothing by mouth and has had the surgery so he's unable to spit up, so the only messes I have to worry about in the chair are diaper messes -- and the vinyl cover has been convenient for that. He is very hot-natured and gets hot sitting on the vinyl, but I can help that by putting down a cloth for him to sit on.
The chair folds up nicely for us to travel with. It's also lightweight. It's a little too cumbersome for us to try to take to restaurants with us, so I've ended up buying a booster seat for that. But we do take it on road trips and to his grandma's.
The seat is very contoured which helps keep Joshua from falling over. And the back is very high so it will take him a long time to outgrow it (he can't hold his head up by himself so needs the extra support behind his head).
Basically, there is no other seat I have seen that would work for Joshua, so I am so glad we picked this one from the beginning!
Oh, and I like the dishwasher-safe tray insert with the food compartments, because one of Joshua's new games is to play with his (Fisher Price!) ball that lights up when he hits it, and the smaller tray keeps the ball from rolling too far away from him. It's perfect!
The only things I can think of that might improve the seat would be wheels -- I've wished for those a time or two. And the pegs on the back are nice for holding the tray, but sometimes the tray falls off from there too easily and makes a very loud crash! We kept knocking the little jar holder off so we took it off and put it away. We don't need it since he doesn't "eat," anyway. But it did seem to fall off easily.
So, I use this seat very differently from most, but it has been the perfect chair for our unconventional uses and special needs, too. Highly recommended!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ahibbets
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Reviews written: 1
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