High Chair Safety

Mealtimes are an essential component of a baby’s daily routine. Children are quick learners. So, they begin to develop self-feeding skills from birth. Self-feeding is a very complex task, especially for new parents. Yet, it is a milestone in a baby’s childhood journey. Typically, a child aged seven years can successfully feed themselves without causing a mess. To solve this problem, you can rely on a high chair. 

Read the blog to know the importance of a high chair & other safety standards related to it.

What is a baby high chair?

The high chair is a comfortable baby gear specially designed for feeding young toddlers. Now, you must have doubts about why to dedicate a whole range of chairs just to feed babies. A critical part of feeding success is proper seating, but it is often overlooked. A babysitter in a comfy position is more likely to have food more easily than one with a certain discomfort. Here comes the right sitting position into play.

As they say, “If you get the hips, you get the lips”. It means, that when your baby is in an ideal seating position, his mouth and jaw perform better. Cool, right? 

The high chair offers the following advantages among others.

• Keeps baby’s head upright and steady without tiring
• Hips, ankles, and knees at a 90-degrees angle (slight anterior posture)
• Moveable arms for liberal eating and moving
• Footrest to promote a stable core & sitting dynamics 

Why is a high chair important?

Well, a high chair seems to be one of the most important gears. Especially, it has a lot of advantages related to it.

Perfect Posture & Positioning - A perfect posture lays the foundation of a healthy body. As the baby grows very fast in his initial days, so he must be well supported. You can use the plush inserts, cushions, or rugs to comfort the baby. Most high chair features footrest to ensure a straight sitting posture for the baby. It increases stability and encourages your child to sit upright without slouching.

Fosters Communication Skills - The highchair has a suitable angle to foster communication between the baby and the parents during mealtime. As there’s a difference in height f adults and the baby, parents have to lean down to converse with their little ones. We know it is very uncomfortable. However, the high chair increases the height to raise to give that perfect eye angle, which nurtures the emotional bond.Loaded with functional features to make mealtime easier, you can pull the high chair right up to the table so the baby is part of family meals. 

Encourages Independent Eating - Nowadays, most high chairs are equipped with a feeding tray that allows the baby to eat independently. Place 2-3 colourful food options in the food tray. Now, allow the baby to choose what he wants to eat. This way you can kill two birds from a stone. First, the baby will learn to eat on its own. Secondly, you might get an idea of your baby's feeding habits as to what is his favorite food. The little ones can explore, play, grab a mouthful, and swallow all by themselves.

Safe & Secure - Almost all high chairs have a safety harness (3 points or 5 points). The harness hugs the baby tightly without letting them fall off. High chairs are designed specifically for an infant or toddlers. So, they are customized with extreme safety measures for a growing infant to make sure they are comfortable.

Easy Feeding - You don’t have to run behind the child for making them eat food if you have a high chair. A food tray on a high chair usually has a cup holder to hold a bottle of water or a cup so that you can serve and keep their food close at hand.

Optimum Backrest Support - The contemporary high chairs offer multiple recline positions to suit the needs of your growing child. High chairs with adjustable backrests can be adjusted from fully upright to reclined positions to allow you to alter the position of what your child sits in as they grow.

Versatile- The high chairs come in multiple modes with feeding, playing as well as sleeping modes. These baby gears are space savers that are easy to fold and carry. Their portability adds to the convenience of the parents.  You can make the space-saving high chair a smart solution for parents and babies.

Ease Of Cleaning - All the modular high chairs are easy to clean. Also, the feeding trays are dishwasher safe. You can easily clean and wash them at your convenience. The plush fabric inserts are removable and machine friendly. Moreover, the plastics are BPA & Phthalate free with wipeable surfaces. Food trays can be easily removed and refitted without hassle.

What are the characteristics of a good high chair?

The following characteristics can be considered while going for a baby high chair.

• Tight safety harness - The safety belt, mainly 5 point harness system keeps the baby tugged in and prevents the baby from displacing from his/her position.
• Follows the rule of 90 degrees - The ideal baby high chair conforms with the 90-90-90 rule of the 90 degrees angle at hips, knees, and ankles.
• Easy to clean - Washable and removable seat allows for a neat and hygienic environment.
• Removable tray - The removable tray allows for a full range of motion for the baby while eating.
• Comfy footstool - A footstool keeps the baby’s positioning stable and straight.
• Adjustable legs - Variable legs allow for an adjustable height as per the table.

Safety Standard 

These are the following safety standards that a high chair must follow. 

ASTM F404-18 defines a “high chair” as “a free-standing chair for a child up to 3 years of age which has a seating surface more than 15 in. above the floor and elevates the child normally for feeding or eating.” The ASTM standard further specifies that a high chair may be sold with or without a tray, have adjustable heights, or recline for infants.

ASTM F404-18 requires high chairs to have a passive crotch restraint (i.e., two separate bounded openings for the occupant's legs) and a three-point restraint system; some designs also include rigid front torso support or a five-point restraint system with shoulder harnesses.

 EN 14988:2012 -This European Standard specifies safety requirements for freestanding children’s high chairs that elevate children to dining table height usually for feeding or eating. Children’s high chairs are for children up to 3 years of age who are capable of sitting unaided. Except for special high chairs for medical purposes, this standard applies to children’s high chairs for domestic and non-domestic use. NOTE If a children’s high chair has to or can be converted into other functions, additional European Standards may apply.

Best Places to Find your Ideal High Chair

With the passing time, high chairs are being more and more into existence across all the baby product shopping platforms; but the point is can they provide you with the best answers to all your doubts regarding the high chair in their product itself?

Well, well, well the answer is a no. Toys4all is the one-stop place where you can get the best quality high chairs. It ensures that the product it brings to its customers passes through a series of checklists, meets government standards, and provides you with the best and most affordable solution.

Here are some of our top selling high chairs:

• Joie Mimzy 2in1 High Chair - for 6M To 15 Kg
• Joie Mimzy Spin 3in1 High Chair - from birth to 15 kg
• Joie Multiply 6in1 High Chair - for 6 months to 72 months

Now that you've read this blog, we're optimistic that you understand where to find the best high chair for your baby.