How to choose a high chair for your baby

The right high chair should suit your baby, your dining space and the way your family handles meals, clean-up and storage.

28 July 2026

A baby sits upright in a grey high chair with their mother standing beside them in a bright kitchen-diner.

Choosing a high chair can feel complicated, but it becomes much easier when you focus on the details that matter in everyday family life. Start with a five-point harness, clear age or weight limits and enough adjustment in the footrest, tray or seat height to suit your child. Fit matters more than a long list of extras, so rule out chairs whose limits or allowed settings do not match what you need.

Next, picture the chair in your dining space. Will its full base fit comfortably around your table? Do you want to use the tray, pull the chair up to the table, or switch between both? Compare the assembled and folded dimensions with the space you actually have.

Finally, be honest about daily clean-up. Smooth surfaces, accessible straps and genuinely removable parts can save time after messy meals, while extra padding and fiddly seams may take more work. The best features are the ones that make your own routine easier.

Choose for everyday life

Choose a chair whose stated limits, dimensions, five-point harness and adjustment range suit your baby and home. Once it is assembled, check every lock and the restraint before first use, then confirm your child’s fit before the first meal.

Start with the harness, limits and locks

A feature that sounds reassuring is only useful when its limits and operation are clear. Look at how the harness, tray, folding mechanism and adjustments are designed to work together, as well as the chair’s stated use limits and assembly instructions. This lets you rule out an unsuitable chair before deciding whether the convenience features matter.

Treat the current standard as a reference

BSI lists BS EN 14988:2017+A2:2024 as the current requirements and test-methods standard for children’s high chairs. If you see this number when comparing chairs, remember that the number alone does not prove that a particular chair is certified, compliant or safe.

Use the reference as one point to check alongside the chair’s current instructions, use limits, restraint design and the ways the chair can be used. Do not treat a printed number, a base that looks broad or any single feature as a complete safety verdict.

Check how the harness and locks are meant to work

NHS safety guidance says to use a five-point harness every time a baby or toddler is in a high chair. Check that the restraint can be adjusted to your child and that the current instructions clearly explain how it fastens. The tray is not a restraint.

If a chair folds, has a removable tray or includes other adjustable parts, the instructions should also explain how each relevant latch engages, which set-ups are allowed and how to use the moving parts. Descriptions such as ‘folding’, ‘removable’ or ‘adjustable’ do not tell you whether the mechanism will be clear or practical to use.

Plan a safe position for the full base

Use the assembled base dimensions to plan where the chair will stand during meals. It needs enough room to sit away from walls, tables or other surfaces that a child could push against, as well as cords, hot items and other reachable hazards.

Dimensions cannot prove that a chair will be stable, but they can show whether its full footprint will fit in a safe, usable position. An adult should supervise throughout the meal, never let a child climb in or out without help and store a folded chair out of children’s reach.

Confirm the assembled chair before first use

The final safety checks happen once you have the chair and it is assembled. Follow the current instructions, keep hands clear of hinges and moving parts, and do not use the chair if a lock, restraint or part does not work as described.

Before placing your child in it:

Assemble the chair exactly as instructed on a level, non-slip floor
Check that every foot sits securely and the parts you can inspect are in good condition
Operate the tray, folding and adjustment locks
Fasten and adjust the five-point harness
Confirm that the chair is clear of reachable hazards and surfaces your child could push against

An empty blue-grey high chair with wooden legs stands on a tiled floor next to a wooden dining table in a bright kitchen-diner.

Before first use, check that every lock engages and that the five-point harness fastens securely and adjusts to your child. The tray is not a restraint.

Match the fit and adjustment range to your baby

Age or weight limits can help rule out an unsuitable chair, but they cannot guarantee a good fit. Compare those limits with the available harness, footrest, seat and tray adjustments. The aim is to choose a range that is likely to suit your child, then confirm the actual fit before the first meal.

Check readiness for mealtimes

According to the NHS guidance on first solid foods, solids normally begin from around six months, when three signs are present together: your baby can stay in a sitting position with a steady head, coordinate their eyes, hands and mouth, and swallow food rather than push it back out.

Around six months is a guide, not a guarantee that every baby is ready, and sitting is not the only sign. If you are unsure whether your baby is ready for solid food, ask your health visitor, GP or another health professional.

Compare the adjustment range with the fit you need

For meals, your baby should be alert, supported and safely upright. Useful adjustments are the ones that help the restraint fit securely, support the thighs, leave room for the knees to bend near the seat edge and bring the feet to a usable footrest position.

Check which adjustment combinations are allowed and note the use limits rather than assuming that more settings always mean a better fit. A chair with several footrest positions may offer more scope than a fixed footrest, but the range still needs to work with your child’s size and the height of the tray or family table.

Confirm the fit before the first meal

Once the chair is assembled and your baby is ready for mealtimes, secure them in the five-point harness and check the fit from the front and side. Look for feet that are supported rather than left dangling, relaxed shoulders and room for the forearms to rest on the tray or table.

Your baby should not be hunched, slumped forwards or leaning to one side. The seat should support the thighs while leaving room for the knees to bend near the seat edge. These are practical signs of fit, not exact medical angles or a guarantee about comfort, development or swallowing.

Before the first meal, confirm:

An alert baby supported safely upright
No hunching, forward slumping or side leaning
Thigh support with room for the knees to bend near the seat edge
Feet supported rather than dangling
A tray or table height that allows relaxed shoulders and forearm support

An alert baby sits upright in a high chair with their feet supported on the footrest and an adult seated nearby.

Before the first meal, check for upright support, thigh support, room for the knees to bend, supported feet and a tray or table height that allows relaxed shoulders.

Match the tray or table set-up to your dining space

Decide how you expect to use the chair for most meals: with its own tray, at the family table, or by switching between the two. Neither arrangement is universally better. The right choice is the one that can be set up securely and fits your child, table and available space.

Decide how the chair will be used most often

If the tray will be the main eating surface, check its dimensions, adjustment range and locking instructions. It needs to leave suitable space for your child and be practical to remove and store if that matters to your routine.

If you plan to bring the chair to the family table, measure the table height, the underside and any crossbars or legs. Compare those measurements with the chair’s seat height and base dimensions, and check whether the instructions allow it to be used without the tray. The chair must not need to be wedged beneath the table or placed where your child could push against another surface.

If you plan to switch between the two, confirm that both configurations are allowed and that the tray has somewhere practical to be stored. A removable tray adds little if the chair still lacks enough clearance at your table.

Measure the height, clearance and floor space

Take the dining-space measurements before choosing, then compare them with the chair’s assembled dimensions. Allow for the full base, room to move around it and the space an adult needs to place and remove the child safely.

Intended set-up	Measure at home	Check on the chair
Tray	Floor space, room to move and nearby hazards	Base size, tray dimensions, a suitable adjustment range and clear locking instructions
Family table	Table height, space underneath, crossbars and surfaces your child could push against	Seat height, base dimensions and instructions that allow use without the tray
Both	Space for each set-up and tray storage	Instructions that allow both set-ups, with suitable adjustments

Boosters, clip-on seats and travel high chairs are designed around portability, so compare those separately if that is what you need.

Weigh cleaning, storage and useful adjustments

After you have checked restraint, limits and likely fit, turn to the practical details you will deal with every day. Ease of cleaning, room fit and adjustment should solve real household needs rather than add impressive-sounding features.

Check how the messy parts come apart

Consider the tray, straps, seat surfaces, seams, crevices, cushions and removable parts. Fewer awkward joins and clearly removable pieces may make common spills easier to reach, but a part only helps if the care instructions explain how to clean and refit it correctly.

‘Wipe-clean’ means a surface is intended to be easy to clean, not that it is automatically hygienic. Follow the chair’s current care instructions, including those for removable parts, and do not assume that one material prevents bacteria or illness.

Compare the in-use and folded size

Compare the full in-use footprint with the dining area, not just the width of the seat. Include the route past doors, cupboards and other furniture, with enough space for normal movement around the table.

If the chair folds, compare its folded dimensions with the intended storage space and check that the instructions clearly explain how it locks when opened and folded. Follow the storage instructions and keep the folded chair out of children’s reach. Compactness, low weight or folding can be convenient, but none is a safety advantage on its own.

Count only adjustments that solve a real need

An adjustment is useful when it helps the harness, foot support, tray or table set-up continue to fit your child, or helps the chair fit your home. Compare the available range with the need it is meant to solve, then use the current instructions to confirm which combinations are allowed and the stated limits.

Do not rely on ‘grows with your child’ as a guarantee of lifespan, durability or savings. A wide adjustment range only earns its place if the settings remain usable for the child and dining space.

Before committing, confirm: