Ahh, the joys of feeding our little ones, usually fun but ALWAYS messy! That's why I never understood those crazy fabric/frilly highchairs with all those nooks and crannies to get filled with mashed banana.
Fortunately, companies like Boon have re-thunk the highchair, and made it more user- friendly without compromising on design. Of course, there is always the risk of over-designing something, but more on that later.
Overall the Boon Flair is a fantastic chair that my youngest seems to like (she's only 5 1/2 mo's) and my oldest is jealous of. (At 2 1/2 she can still fit in it but we're using it for the baby).
Click "Read More" for the full review.
All ratings out of 4 stars.
Functionality ** 1/2 -
In looking for a high chair, the most important things I look for are ease of clean-up and fit/comfort for the kiddo. The Flair designers did an excellent job in thinking about clean-up, with a seat pad, tray, tray liner, and straps that are all easy to remove and wash . Plus, the stream-lined design makes for no crevices for food to collect.
They also did a pretty good job with the fit/comfort. The seat itself is really shaped well, curved in all the right places and there is a foot rest. The seat pad is soft but could maybe be a little more padded. The strap height is adjustable, as is the tray to fit your diner.
Where I think they went overboard is with the pneumatic lift feature...I really don't see the need for adjusting the seat up and down on a regular basis...at least not enough to validate incorporating a hefty pneumatic lift into it. We set it to fit our table and it's done, we aren't in need of constantly changing the height. I may be missing something here but am guessing most people are the same way?? On the other hand, it should make for a good barber chair on the side!
The biggest upside to the Flair (besides how nice it looks) is that it's on wheels. I never thought about how handy that would be to have. We move ours from the kitchen to the dining room all the time and it's a nice smooth ride.
It looks cool, sleek, and modern. No frilly fabric or baby graphics. There are three fun color combos - white/orange, pink/white, and an icy blue/white. Note, the pink is VERY pink and may be pretty clashy with most kitchens/dining areas. We don't have an eat-in kitchen and wanted to make sure what we got looked ok in our exposed dining area so we opted for the white/orange combo. The only negative I have here is the white part of the chair and tray has some smudges in them that can not be washed off. Since I was once involved in manufacturing and tooling I know that this means that either their tools weren't clean or they were exposed to dirt too quickly after being made. It's a little thing that most people probably wouldn't notice, but given the price of this product it's a little annoying.
Materials/Durability **** -
This is one of the areas that really separates Boon from other companies. It offers an exclusive chemical-resistant, waterproof pad that is super easy to remove and clean. Plus, Flair is BpA-free, Phthalate-free, and PVC-free. The seat is seamless which means no nooks and crannies for food to take refuge in.
The tray itself is really easy to clean and comes with a removable liner that is top-rack dishwasher safe. This is great because it's so much smaller than the whole tray and it catches the bulk of the mess.
The straps are also really easy to take off and soak/scrub in soap and hot water. And the straps have the 5-point harness system to securely lock your tot in place.
The Flair is on six urethane casters that will not scratch floors, while the hands-free braking system locks the chair in place. Everything on this high chair feels well-built and sturdy, it will last well beyond my gal.
Assembly/Adjustability ** 1/2 -
The pedestal and base are big and HEAVY. It probably took 10 minutes to get everything out of the box. The seat is pre-assembled with the chair pad and straps on. The pedestal is separate and has to be inserted into the base. It's pretty straight-forward but I would say it's a two person job to get it right. I did it myself but for some reason the pedestal's pneumatic feature wasn't working right and my hubs had to wiggle with it to get it more on track. Once the pedestal is securely in the base the rest of the assembly is very straight-forward. However, the pneumatic feature still doesn't glide very smoothly up and down, we really have to push or pull on it. I'm hoping it improves over time.
The seat straps can be adjusted through two hole options depending on the height of your child. The tray is waaay more intuitive and easier to take on and off than pretty much all other high chairs I've encountered, however, it would be SOOO much better if you could remove it with one hand vs. two since I'm usually holding my gal to put her in it. The tray can be placed in one of two positions depending on your kiddo's "girth"...(I've always wanted to use that in a sentence.)
Price ** -
Depending on where you shop, it ranges from $220-$230. HOWEVER, it's on sale at Amazon right now for $183....which is still pretty pricey but much more palpable. It's not as expensive as the Stokke or Svan high chairs but you're still definitely paying for the design and materials.
Overall *** -
The Flair is a really well thought out, well made, good looking product that could last through many children. I definitely think it's worth considering if you're in the market.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment