I had my highchair all picked out ... white leather, with wheels, $200.00. I drooled over it from the moment I knew I was pregnant, and tuned out anyone who told me that maybe this highchair was too expensive, not practical, and so on. I even wore down my husband who finally one day said "Just buy whatever!".
So, why am I reviewing a Graco DoubleTray Highchair?
Well, when Colin was about 6 months old, and we finally needed a highchair to start feeding him, we ended up not having any money. Just a Sears charge account, and at the time Sears had 2 highchairs in stock, one being the Graco. Since the other choice was an Evenflo I knew I hated the look of, the Graco DoubleTray was the logical choice. $75.00 on the charge account, and we had our first highchair. I was waiting to hate it, after all, it was not leather, it didn't even have wheels!
Little by little this chair has won me over.
The Graco DoubleTray Highchair comes in many styles and patterns, and ours does not look like the one pictures here in both pattern and base design. They appear to be releasing many different models of the double tray in different years, but most have many common features.
Besides the basic color and pattern, ours has a wider base than the picture, but still the same basic shape. It provides good support, and I am able to drag it around the house (even without the wheels) with both the baby in it or by itself, and it never scratches my hardwood floors. It is more difficult to drag over carpeting. This Graco highchair comes with 6 different reclining positions, though we have used only 2 positions mostly, partly reclining when Colin first starting eating, and now at 13 months straight forward. It also has the ability to adjust in height, though ours often stays the same height since we generally feed him at the dinner table.
I really enjoy the double tray feature. It comes with a small blue "built in" tray that just has a little wide dish it in, shaped much like an oversized banana. It is not very wide or long, and so it is easy to sit yourself close to the baby to feed, while still giving you the security of having a tray there. Once Colin grew older and was able to begin to self-feed, the additional, bigger tray needed to be used. Our Double Tray has 2 upraised areas just out of Colin's immediate reach that can hold food. We typically will place crackers there that we may want him to eat later. It also has an area for a cup holder, though Colin will often remove the cup placed there in order to put food he does not want to eat inside. The tray comes with a One Touch feature that has a button to press in the front of the tray to be able to remove the tray with one hand. Truthfully I cannot seem to work this feature, and often resort to the "old fashioned" method of pulling on both sides. My husband however does not have any problems using the one touch feature.
The highchair has a 5 point harness with straps that secure Colin into the chair, along with a T bar (pieces that goes between the child's legs so they can't slide out). I had wondered why this all is needed for a highchair, and it seemed to me a lap strap and T bar would work fine*. Then I used another highchair, with just a lap belt, and while I felt secure with the tray on, I could see my son trying to wiggle out of the lap belt. The straps, while they work well and keep Colin secure, often get dirty and covered in food. I have to scrub them daily, and completely remove them to put in the washer every few weeks.
The cute, decorate cloth padding worked well when we first began feeding Colin. It is removable and washes well. Once Colin began self feeding however, we had to remove the cloth padding and use the lightly padding blue vinyl padding underneath. It wipes down well, and can be lifted on the sides to wipe off any food that may have fallen in between the padding and the plastic part of the chair. This vinyl padding is able to be removed (it hooks on to the underside of the highchair) and I removed it completely about once a month to clean the entire chair.
Overall, I am very pleased with this not expected, not researched purchase. I would recommend this chair and the Double Tray feature to many parents wanting to find a reasonably priced, durable highchair for their family.
* Note - I do realize that many highchairs and car seats are switching over to the 5 point harnesses to better secure the child and keep them safe. I am not recommending whether to get a chair that uses one or not, just commenting on the fact that it seemed a little "overkill" for what we use our highchair for.
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