The Graco Neat Seat was just recently purchased by myself less than a week ago and I have used it with my 2 daughters each...one is almost 3 yrs old and the other is 11 months old. I use this most often with my 11 month old many times in a day. It has some great features and when I went to the store this is what made me decide in purchasing the Graco Neat Seat over the other types of highchairs available. The features of the Neat Seat are as follows: 2 seating pads...1 cloth and 1 vinyl,5 point harness system, detachable tray with 2 compartments..1 for food and 1 for a cup, 2 squeeky big toys, 5 height positions, 3 different reclining positions, casters (wheels) for easy mobility, and a simple handle on the back of the seat for easy pushing.
This highchair comes with 2 pads for the seat...a cloth one and a vinyl one. The cloth one I purchased was the "French Bear" design which is a navy blue and brown-yellow gingham design with frills around the top edge and a picture of a bear design in the upper center. The vinyl pad is a dark blue color. The option of having 2 pads is fabulous...This is one of the features that appealed me towards this chair. Sometimes it can be very difficult to clean vinyl since the crumbs and dirt get stuck so I wanted something I can toss in the washing machine...and while that's in the machine, the vinyl pad takes its place.
There is a 5 point harness seatbelt which I do not like at all. It is very difficult to loosen and tighten. While my 11 month old was in the seat, I tried to adjust the belt to fit her snugly and it was taking me forever. Just yesterday I was trying to snap the belt in at the waist and when I closed it, the belt has caught the skin of my daughters leg. Of course she was screaming but no major damage. Ever since that incident I haven't used the seatbelt. I will call Graco up soon and let them know of the incident. I believe this happened b/c the center belt is too close to the thighs of a child..she wasn't moving or wiggling at all in the seat and I was very careful. Her skin just happened to be in the right spot at the wrong time. Also, I don't recommend having a child in any seat without being belted but this highchair makes it impossible for her to stand up in it since the tray comes so close to her chest that she has no room to stand up.
The detachable tray has 2 molded compartments to the upper left and right of the tray...one is for holding a cup and one is for holding snacks or food of some sort. Honestly I haven't really used these and I can't see how a child can since they are not within a child's arm reach unless they are over 1 yr and a half old or more, but I could be wrong. The tray is detachable by using a simple outward squeezing motion on both sides of the tray where they are closest to the child. To make the tray adjust so that it is closer or farther from the child, there is a button in the front center of the tray near "mom" and all you have to do is push the button in and push the tray until you reach your desired position.
Included with the Neat Seat are 2 detachable large toys that sit on the tray towards the child. A base snaps onto the tray near the child and then the 2 toys are placed into those bases for playtime and entertainment. The toys are very easy to clean and detach very quickly and easily. The 2 toys that came with the highchair I purchased are a bumblebee and a butterfly. The bumblebee has a clear plastic head with orange and green tiny balls inside to make noise and the red butterfly has a one sided mirror on its wing part and the other wing is open with 3 rings that are moveable in the colors of orange, yellow and green. Each toy has a bottom part it is on (not the base) that squeeks. My daughter loves the toys.
There are 5 different height positions you can set the highchair to. This is fantastic since tables are different sizes. Right now mine is set to the lowest so I can sit practically anywhere and it is level with myself to feed my child. Help from a man is probably most definite when it comes to adjusting the height. I'm sure I can do it if I really tried but I ended up waiting for my husband to do it.
Another really great feature is the 3 position recline. Very necessary if you have a young infant who cannot really hold up his or her neck yet. So this is a versatile highchair that can be used from birth and up. To recline the seat, there is a handle on the bottom of the seat that you must lift and then move the seat to adjust.
The decision making feature on my part was the casters or wheels. I needed to have wheels for easy mobility. My dining table is in my living room which is HUGE and I wanted to be able to push my daughter wherever I wanted to feed her without the bottom legs "scratching" the wooden floors. Also the stationary highchairs are hard to move around if you want to. And the best part is the casters lock in case you want it to remain stationary. So you have the convenience of having a stationary and a mobile highchair in one. There is a handle on the back of the seat which you use to hold on to when you want to push or pull the highchair around. I have pushed and pulled my daughter in the highchair many times and this highchair is so lightweight and so easy to move, even with an 18 lb child seated in it.
Recommended:
Yes