The Best High Chair (UK, 2026)

You need one from around six months, when weaning starts. The NHS advises introducing solid foods at about six months, by which point a baby can usually sit up with support and hold their head steady, which is exactly what a high chair requires. Do not seat a baby who cannot yet sit supported; it is neither safe nor comfortable.

• Buy it a little before six months so it is ready, but you will not use it in earnest until solids begin.
• Baby-led weaning or purees, either way the chair needs to hold your baby upright and secure at a sensible height, with a harness. The messiness of baby-led weaning makes cleanability even more important.
• It is a years-long buy. Standalone chairs last to around age three; grows-with-child chairs keep going far longer, which shapes whether to spend more now.

Here is the thing no glossy product shot prepares you for: weaning is astonishingly messy, every single day, for well over a year. Food ends up in the seat, down the sides, in the straps and on the floor. So the feature that decides whether you quietly hate your high chair is how fast it cleans.

• Smooth plastic with few crevices, like the Antilop, wipes or rinses in seconds and has nowhere for food to lodge. This is why it is a weaning favourite despite the low price.
• Padded fabric seats with tufts and seams look comfier in the shop and become a misery to clean; dried porridge in a fabric crevice is nobody’s idea of fun. If you choose a padded chair, make sure the cover is easily removable and machine washable.
• Trays that detach and go in the sink or dishwasher save you scrubbing in place.

Spend on the things that save you daily effort, a wipe-clean shell, a removable tray, washable parts, before you spend on styling. Your future self, cloth in hand, will thank you.

• Standalone chairs (Antilop, Joie Mimzy): cheaper, do the weaning years, then get passed on or recycled. The right choice if you want to minimise spend or save space, and the Antilop in particular is unbeatable value.
• Grows-with-child wooden chairs (Tripp Trapp, Hauck Alpha+/Beta+): adjust to fit from baby to adult and pull up to the family table. Dearer upfront, but spread over many years, and often a second child, the cost per year is low, and they look like furniture.

Neither is wrong. If budget or space is tight, the Antilop is the smart buy. If you like buying once and having your child eat at the table from the start, a grows-with-child chair earns its price over time. Plenty of families even start with an Antilop and move to a Tripp Trapp-style chair later.

• Always use the harness. Babies wriggle, stand and slip; a five-point or at least waist-and-crotch harness prevents falls, which are a common high chair injury. Use it every time, even for a quick snack.
• Never leave a baby unattended in a high chair, and keep it away from walls or table edges they can push off against.
• Look for the safety standard. A high chair should meet the current standard (BS EN 14988); reputable brands state compliance.
• Use a footrest. Dangling feet are less stable and less comfortable; a supported foot helps a baby sit well and eat better. The wooden chairs include one; for the Antilop, a cheap add-on does the job.
• Lock any wheels when the chair is in use.

It sounds minor, but a footrest genuinely matters. A baby whose feet dangle has nothing to brace against, so they are less stable, tire faster and often eat less well; a supported foot lets them sit firmly and focus on the food. Occupational therapists and feeding specialists consistently flag this.

The grows-with-child wooden chairs have an adjustable footrest built in, which is part of their appeal. The Antilop does not, which is its one real shortcoming, so if you buy one, a few pounds on an aftermarket footrest that clips to the legs is money well spent once your baby is eating properly. It is a small thing that makes mealtimes better.

• "A dearer high chair is a better high chair." Not for weaning. The cheap, wipe-clean Antilop beats padded chairs many times its price at the job that matters most, staying clean. You pay more for longevity and looks, not a better feed.
• "A padded fabric seat is better for the baby." It is comfier to look at and worse to live with. Food lodges in the padding and seams. If you want padding, insist on a removable, machine-washable cover.
• "You can recline a high chair and feed a young baby lying back." No. Feed a baby upright, and only once they can sit supported, from around six months. A recline is for comfort between mouthfuls, not for feeding.
• "The harness is optional for a quick snack." No. Falls from high chairs are common and happen fast. Clip the harness every single time.
• "Grows-with-child chairs are a gimmick." They genuinely last for years and bring the baby to the table. Whether they are worth it depends on your budget and how long you will use one, not on whether they work.