When you’re having your first baby there are so many products to research! You’re trying to pick what you think will work best for your family. One of those items is a high chair. Now let me tell you that your baby won’t really need a high chair until closer to 6 months. So don’t feel pressured to have one before they arrive! But for those that want to add it to the registry, you may want to decide sooner rather than later. I own both of the high chairs in the title and they seem to be options that pop up frequently when searching for high chair recommendations. So I’m going to give you the low down on what I love and don’t love about both of them.

Grace Duo Diner 6 in 1

This is the high chair we registered for, received at a baby shower and began using initially- from about month 6-10 or 11. We picked it because of it’s ability to grow with baby and switched away from it due to cleaning challenges.

Graco Pros

1. Has an adjustable footrest- important for getting a good, safe eating position for baby.
2. Has a 5 point harness- important for safety! But can also convert to a 3 point.
3. Grows with baby- works as a high chair, booster seat and stool.
4. Has an adjustable height- it can work next to our kitchen table, dining table or our bar just as easily. It has 5 heights!
5. Cushioned for comfort- keeps young baby more comfy and the cushion helps a smaller baby to fit a bit better.
6. Tray is fully removable and easy to clean- clicks on and off super easily, rinses and wipes well.
7. Folds up easily

Graco Cons

1. The footrest doesn’t adjust high enough- I like that it has one but my baby was never tall enough to actually reach it (even at 11 months on its highest setting). Admittedly my baby is on the short end but it still bothered me.
2. 6 in 1 is a stretch- they say it has 6 options for seating but a few definitely overlap and aren’t that different like an infant high chair vs toddler high chair (only difference is whether or not your recline the seat). I think it is probably most commonly used in 2 ways- high chair and booster.
3. Large footprint- it does fold easily to take up less space but when you’re eating multiple times a day you don’t want to be folding it up and down all the time and it does take up a fair amount of space.
4. SO hard to clean- while the tray is simple to clean, the rest of it is such a challenge. It’s fabric so it gets so dirty but is a pain to remove and clean. SOME of the fabric snaps off (with some effort) and can go in the wash but other parts would not come off and could only be sponge cleaned
5. Cost- it runs around $150-$160 depending on where you purchase it from so while it is cheaper than some of it’s more new and trendy competitors, it is definitely pricey.

IKEA Antilop

We switched to this around 11 months. I had finally grown too weary of the fabric issues with the other seat and just wanted something simpler. This was suggested by a few friends and I decided to give it a go!

IKEA Pros

1. Cost- this has got the be the biggest pro for this seat. It is only $29! It was one of the reasons I was willing to try it because even if I didn’t like it, it wasn’t a huge hit to the budget.
2. Fully washable- the WHOLE thing can be wiped down (or hosed down on spaghetti nights!). The seat and tray are both a plastic material so they wipe super simple. And in super messy situations we have used the hose outside (although be sure to dry it afterwards!).
3. Simple and Clean Look- I love that it’s just white and silver and doesn’t look overtly “baby”. It will match and fit right in to whatever style home you have.

IKEA Cons

1. No adjustable height- this is probably my least favorite thing because when we sit at our bar top baby is a bit too low to be scooted up to the bar so has to use the tray. But at the kitchen table it’s the perfect heigh and he can use the tray OR lose the tray and sit right at the table with us.
2. No footrest- this is recommended for baby to be in the safest eating position and this one doesn’t have an option for that.
3. Only a 3 point harness- no shoulder straps. This is fine for my current baby but would have preferred a more secure option when he was little to help get a good fit in the seat.
4. Could be a bit big for young/small babies. We didn’t start using this till our son was almost a year- so he has no trouble with the large seat. But I think when he was 6 months old, it might have led to slouching. So you’d need to put something behind them to get a safe eating position.

So Who’s the Winner?

In general and certainly for our current phase of life the IKEA Antilop is the winner in my book! In my opinion, for that price and that ease of cleaning it can’t be beat! And I think the cons could be troubleshot pretty well (ex. Adding padding behind for a small baby or making a makeshift footrest). But if you’re wondering if we got rid of the Graco… I did NOT, at least for now. A safe fit and eating position will outweigh cleaning simplicity for me with any future younger babies. If I can’t get a good fit in the Antilop like I suspect I’ll stick with the Graco when getting started but I’ll definitely switch to the Antilop when able!