Compact fold, lie-flat recline or a beautiful wooden chair that lasts for years? Our highchair buying guide explains the main types and helps you find the right fit for your kitchen, your baby and your weaning journey.
Quick Summary: A friendly guide to choosing a highchair. It covers when babies are ready to wean (in line with NHS guidance) and the four main types: compact folding, multi-height reclining, wooden grow-with-me and portable boosters. Picks are grouped by kitchen space and by baby's stage (from birth, long-term and travel), followed by what makes a chair easy to clean and the key safety habits. It closes with a quick guide to choosing and an invitation to see and adjust the chairs in the shop.
Few pieces of baby kit get used quite as often as a highchair. It's where first tastes happen, where breakfast gets thrown on the floor (repeatedly), and where your little one slowly becomes a proper part of family mealtimes. It's also the piece of kit that lives in your kitchen every single day, so getting the right one makes a real difference to how smoothly those mealtimes go.
The good news is that today's highchairs are cleverer than ever. Some recline flat for newborns, some fold away so slim they'll slide behind a door, and some are beautifully made wooden chairs that will still be at your table when your child is at secondary school. This guide explains the main types, how to match one to your kitchen and your baby, and the features that really matter once the puree starts flying.
When Does Your Baby Actually Need a Highchair?
For most families, the highchair comes into its own when weaning begins. The NHS recommends starting solid foods at around 6 months, and your baby needs to be able to sit up properly before they're ready. The key signs to look for are:
- Sitting and head control: your baby can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
- Hand-eye coordination: they can look at food, pick it up and bring it to their mouth by themselves.
- Swallowing: they swallow food rather than pushing it back out with their tongue.
These are the same developmental milestones that tell you your baby is ready to move from the pram into a more upright pushchair seat, which we cover in our guide to when to move your baby from pram to pushchair. For a full walkthrough of the early food stages, have a look at Starting Weaning: Everything You Need to Begin Your Baby's Food Journey.
Many families still buy their highchair before the birth. That's because a growing number of models recline flat or come with a newborn pod or bouncer, so your baby can be close to you at the table from the very first week. If you'd love your newborn to join in with family dinners, it's worth choosing one of these from the start rather than buying twice.
One important note: a reclined highchair or newborn seat is for keeping your baby close while they're awake. If they drift off, move them to their cot or Moses basket, flat on their back, which is the safe sleep advice from the Lullaby Trust.
The Main Types of Highchair Explained
Walk into any baby shop and you'll see highchairs in all shapes and sizes. They broadly fall into four groups, and knowing which group suits you narrows the choice down very quickly.
Compact folding highchairs
These are lightweight, usually plastic and metal highchairs with a tray and padded seat, designed to fold flat when mealtime is over. They're brilliant for smaller kitchens and anyone who likes to clear the floor at the end of the day. Most are suitable from 6 months to around 3 years.
Multi-height reclining highchairs
Think of these as the all-rounders. They offer several seat heights (so they work at a low dining table or a high kitchen island), multiple recline positions and often wheels for moving from room to room. Many recline fully flat for newborns, so they're ready to use from day one.
Wooden grow-with-me highchairs
This is where highchairs start to look like furniture. Typically made from beech wood, these chairs have an adjustable seat and footrest that move up or down as your child grows. A baby set with harness and tray keeps younger children secure, then comes off once they're older, leaving a proper chair that can last well into the teenage years, and in some cases adulthood.
Portable boosters and multi-mode chairs
Portable boosters strap onto an ordinary dining chair and fold flat for travel, which makes them ideal for grandparents' houses, holidays and eating out. Several full-size highchairs also convert into a booster mode, so you get both in one purchase.
Which Highchair Suits Your Kitchen?
Before you fall in love with a design, take a quick look at your space. How much floor do you have? Where will your baby sit: at a dining table, a breakfast bar or a kitchen island? Will the highchair stay out all the time, or does it need to disappear when it's not in use?
Smaller kitchens and flats
If floor space is precious, a slim fold is your best friend. The Joie Mimzy Micro is one of the most space-savvy highchairs we stock. It weighs just 5.2kg, folds flat and stands up on its own, so it will tuck neatly into a cupboard or beside the fridge. The Joie Mimzy Snacker is another lovely option, with a one-hand fold that stands by itself, three recline positions and a handy basket under the seat.
Want a smaller footprint without giving up newborn use? The Silver Cross Gourmet reclines to lie-flat from birth and offers seven height settings, yet still folds into a slimline, self-standing shape that fits under the stairs or behind a door. Its sleek all-black finish looks great in a modern kitchen too.
Kitchen islands and breakfast bars
If your family tends to eat at a high counter, you'll need plenty of height adjustment. The Joie Mimzy Recline has seven height positions and five recline options, plus two large wheels for moving it around easily. The Mamas & Papas Snax is another good fit, with six height settings and castors so you can wheel it up to the counter and back again.
Open-plan living and a design-led home
When the highchair is going to be on show all day, it's worth choosing one that looks like part of the furniture. Wooden highchairs really shine here. The Cybex Click and Fold 4 in 1 is made from European beech and, unusually for a wooden chair, folds with the press of two buttons into a self-standing shape. Its sister chair, the Cybex IRIS, offers the same beechwood craftsmanship from Cybex's Gold range, making it a more accessible way to bring that timeless wooden look home. The Maxi-Cosi Nesta pairs beech wood with 100% recycled fabrics for a warm, timeless look, while the iCandy MiChair brings iCandy's design flair to the kitchen in beech and birch plywood, backed by an impressive 10-year warranty.
Which Highchair Suits Your Baby's Stage?
The other big question is how long you'd like the highchair to last and when you want to start using it. Here's how our favourites line up.
If you want to use it from birth
The Maxi-Cosi Minla Plus is a fantastic all-in-one. It reclines into a lie-flat cradle with a padded newborn inlay, becomes a highchair or booster from 6 months, then turns into a stool for children up to 14 years. The one-hand rotating tray makes lifting your baby in and out much easier, and front swivel wheels with brakes mean it glides wherever you need it.
If you love the idea of a bouncer that clicks onto the highchair, look at the Silver Cross Nest & Nurture 4 in 1 Bundle. The lightweight 3kg bouncer rocks and bounces your newborn, attaches to the highchair to bring them up to the table, and the seat then carries on as a child's chair to around 14 years. The iCandy MiChair Complete Bundle with Newborn Rocker works in a similar way, with the rocker docking onto the chair for eye-level feeds and cuddles.
If you want one chair for the long haul
Families who would rather buy once and be done will love a modular, multi-mode chair. The Tutti Bambini Nova Maison 7 in 1 changes from highchair to booster, toddler seat and even a child-sized table and chair set, and is suitable from 6 months to around 12 years. It assembles without tools in about a minute and has a dishwasher-safe tray. The Joie Multiply 6 in 1 is another star performer, with six modes including a portable booster and a play table, plus three recline positions for younger babies.
For a classic wooden chair that adapts year after year, the Cybex IRIS is a brilliant choice. Made from European beech and weighing just 5.8kg, it has a seat board and footrest that adjust in both height and depth, keeping your child's knees at a comfortable 90° angle for good posture at every age. Add the Baby Set (sold separately) for little ones from 6 months to 3 years, then take it off and the IRIS carries on as a proper chair all the way to adulthood, supporting up to 120kg. The Callowesse Elata 3-in-1 is a gorgeous Scandi-style alternative that goes from highchair to booster to toddler chair. Its A-shaped legs and anti-wobble mats keep it wonderfully steady, even on uneven floors.
If you need something for travel and visits
The BebeConfort Moly Portable Highchair straps securely onto a dining chair, has three height positions and folds flat in seconds, with the straps doubling as carry handles. It's perfect for keeping at the grandparents' or popping in the car for weekends away. The Joie Chestnut is a smart choice if you'd like a full highchair at home that also becomes a portable booster, with nine modes from birth to around 6 years.
Cleaning: The Feature Everyone Underestimates
Ask any parent a few months into weaning and they'll tell you: how easy a highchair is to clean matters just as much as how it looks. Yoghurt finds its way into every gap, and a chair that takes ten minutes to wipe down after each meal soon becomes a chore.
Here's what to look for:
- A dishwasher-safe tray or tray insert: easily the most useful cleaning feature. Pop it in with the plates and you're done.
- Wipe-clean seat fabrics: smooth, water-repellent or PU-coated seat pads wipe clean in seconds. Machine-washable covers are a bonus for bigger spills.
- Fewer seams and crevices: simple, smooth shapes give food fewer places to hide.
- A removable harness: harness straps are a magnet for mess, so check whether they can be taken off for a proper wash.
The Bababing Una was designed with exactly this in mind. It has a dishwasher-friendly tray, a wipe-clean PU seat cushion and a sleek shape with no hard-to-reach areas, and it assembles in seconds without tools. The Mamas & Papas Snax is a long-standing favourite, with a padded wipe-clean seat made from 100% recycled polyester, a removable tray insert, six height settings and castors for easy moving. For a Scandi look with easy-clean surfaces, the Venture Mico combines wood-effect legs with a soft, neutral seat pad and a removable tray.
If you're building up your weaning kit, our guide to must-have products for the weaning to mealtime transition covers the bibs, bowls and splash mats that make clean-up even easier.
Highchair Safety Essentials
A good highchair is designed and tested to BS EN 14988, the safety standard for children's highchairs, but how you use it at home matters just as much. A few simple habits keep mealtimes safe:
- Always use the harness. Babies can wriggle, stand up or slide down surprisingly quickly. A five-point harness is the gold standard while your child is small, and the tray alone isn't a restraint.
- Stay with your baby while they eat. Never leave your little one alone in a highchair, especially with food, as babies can choke quietly.
- Think about placement. Position the highchair on a flat floor, away from walls, worktops and table edges that your baby could push against with their feet. Keep it clear of hot drinks, kettles, cords and blinds.
- Check the locks. Make sure the frame is fully open and locked, and that wheels are braked before you put your baby in.
- Don't let them climb in on their own. Toddlers love to clamber, but climbing into a highchair is a common cause of tumbles.
- Use boosters on sturdy chairs only. A portable booster should be strapped to a solid dining chair with four legs, never a stool or a chair that swivels or folds.
Once your baby starts crawling and pulling themselves up, the highchair becomes just one part of making your home safe. Our guide to crawling, walking and home safety is a great next read.
Our Quick Guide to Choosing, and Where to See Them
Still weighing things up? Here's the short version:
- Short on space: a slim, self-standing fold like the Joie Mimzy Micro or Silver Cross Gourmet.
- Want your newborn at the table: a lie-flat recline or bouncer bundle, such as the Maxi-Cosi Minla Plus or Silver Cross Nest & Nurture.
- Buying once for years of use: a modular or wooden grow-with-me chair like the Tutti Bambini Nova Maison, Cybex Click and Fold, Cybex IRIS or Callowesse Elata.
- Easiest clean-up: a dishwasher-safe tray and wipe-clean seat, like the Bababing Una.
- Out and about: a fold-flat booster like the BebeConfort Moly.
Browse the full range in our highchairs collection.
Highchairs are one of those things that are much easier to choose in person. Seeing how high a seat goes, how smoothly a tray slides and how small a chair really folds tells you far more than a photo ever can. Pop into our shop to see and adjust the highchairs on display and find the right fit for your kitchen and your baby. If you'd like dedicated time with our team, book a 1-to-1 personal shopping appointment, or if you can't make it in, we offer WhatsApp video consultations so we can show you the chairs live. And with our UK price-match promise, you can buy with complete confidence.
