Baby Trend Breckenridge Highchair 8878

My first reaction as a new mom to the high chairs on the market was how remarkably unattractive they all seemed to be. I thought, "I don't want that garish thing in my house!" Why couldn't they just make something in a nice gender neutral color that does not also garnish a neon tiger or bright lightening bolts? I did a lot of research and ultimately found the Baby Trend in the Breckenridge pattern and was delighted that I had found a high chair that was relatively affordable and was not unsightly in my dining room and kitchen. I have been very pleased with the purchase and recommend this high chair to friends.

I have had my Baby Trend Breckenridge for more than three years and have used it with two children. Here are some things to think about when selecting a high chair and my thoughts on how the Baby Trend Breckenridge stacks up on each of these questions.

How Does It Look? Perhaps I'm shallow, but this high chair is going to sit in your kitchen and/or dining room every day for a long time. I just didn't want to look at something that was bright, garish colors. The Breckenridge pattern is a nice gender-neutral navy with tasteful white plaid. It has grey legs and a white tray and some navy plastic on the side. I think it is worth considering gender neutral colors for your first high chair if you plan to have more than one child – you might regret the pink and grey high chair when feeding your little boy in a few years. Bottom line: I am thrilled with the look.

How Hard Is The Seat To Clean? This is an important question and there are two schools of thought. Many of the popular high chairs have padding that is vinyl and thus can be cleaned by wiping off the seat of the chair. The Baby Trend Breckenridge has a fabric chair cover that is removable and washable in the washing machine. Note, you cannot put the cover in the dryer so you have a narrow window for washing and air drying the cover. This is something that many criticize about the Baby Trend, but I have not found it to be a big deal. Usually I can clean it by just picking up what has been dropped and wiping it down a bit. When I do wash it, it dries quickly and hasn't been a problem. Bottom line: I am happy with how one cleans the seat.

Tell Me About the Tray. The tray is an important feature. There are a couple things to think about. First, a lot of high chairs espouse that they have a "one hand release" tray. They tell you that you can hold your baby in one arm and pull the tray off in the other arm. I think the Baby Trend advertises that it has this feature. Perhaps it does. I've never tried this and I don't think I could do it. The release for the Baby Trend is under the tray and when I release it, I hold one hand on the release and use the other hand to guide the tray off. I can't imagine trying to take the tray off while holding my baby. My baby is heavy and the tray is heavy. No doubt I would dump the tray of half-eaten banana all over the floor. So, for me, the "one hand release" feature is totally irrelevant. But, if it is important to you, you might not be happy with the Baby Trend. Second, another feature that I think is important with respect to the tray is having a detachable part of the tray that can go in a dishwasher. The Baby Trend has a tray that snaps onto the main base tray and can be removed (with two hands, in my view) easily. Not only is this handy for the dishwasher, but it is also handy for the busy mom who may not have cleaned up from the afternoon snack when it is time for dinner. In essence, the removable top layer gives you two trays. You can remove the snack-laden top tray and reveal a nice clean underneath tray for dinner. Once the child is in bed, you can clean both trays in your sink. (You can put the top tray in the dishwasher, but I rarely do this as it is a tight squeeze.) Bottom line: this is an excellent tray.

Is It Safe? We don't want to be Britney Spears and have our sweet little ones fall out of the high chair, so safety is important. I am happy with the safety features of this chair. It has an excellent strap system that is secure. It also has a sturdy middle vertical piece that the child straddles which prevents the child from slipping out under the tray. I have a pretty strong one year old and my older daughter was also quite clever – so far (knock on wood), neither has fallen out or figured out how to escape from this high chair. Overall, this is a sturdy good high chair.

Does It Recline? Yes. I can't understand why one would want to recline a high chair – I guess if your child falls asleep while eating? Anyway, I haven't used the feature so I can't comment on it, but I do know that it reclines.

Is the Height Adjustable? Yes. Again, this is not a feature I have used much. I adjusted it to fit the height of my table and haven't adjusted it since, but it does have a good height adjustment feature and thus should be good for those who want to transfer between the kitchen and the dining room table.

Does It Have Wheels & Brakes? Yes. Another feature that I don't personally use. I don't move my high chair very much. But when I need to, this has wheels and seems fairly easy to move between the kitchen table and the dining room table. It has never rolled without my wanting it to roll, so I suspect the brakes work well.

Does It Fold Up? Yes. If you want to fold up this high chair (think of folding up a stroller, but more difficult), it has that feature. This is helpful if you are going to dinner at a friend's house, for example, and want to take a high chair. That said, I have never done that. It is much easier to just purchase a very inexpensive booster seat at Target (approx. $25) and use that for traveling. I can't imagine having enough room in the car for a high chair, a stroller, and whatever other gear we might have for a particular outing.

The bottom line for me is that this is an excellent high chair. It is much less expensive than some of its rivals, and I think it is perfectly fine and good. I have had mine for two children and more than three years and it is still as good as new. I highly recommend it.