Graco's Neat Seat: High Chair or Baby Laz-e-boy?
Written: Jan 21 '02 (Updated Mar 01 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 5-Point harness, easy to clean, one hand tray, easy to move.
Cons: hard to adjust height, seat cover fades quickly when washed and sides tend to unhook.
The Bottom Line: A great mid-priced high chair that is durable, comfortable and easy to use. Offers a range of options and should last through several children with ease.
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| marysmom's Full Review: Graco Neat Seat High Chair 3656 |
We decided before the birth of our daughter that we were very well educated consumers and that we would spend a vast amount of time immersing ourselves in literature, recall notices, consumer reviews and real-parent trials to assess the best products for our new precious little bundle.
Well, we did all of those things, and then we registered for what we had deemed to be the best. This included a $169 high chair with 8 height positions and 5 recline positions that basically did everything but feed the baby for you.
We opened up this cadillac of high chairs at a shower, oohhed and aahhhed over it and stuck it in the garage.
Over the next few months, we spent time developing as parents and getting acquainted with our new daughter. We saw our own laid-back style merging into our parenting selves and started to think that maybe feeding our baby wouldn't take NASA equipment. So we reevaluated our choice and decided to lug the deluxe high chair back to the store and trade it in for a more "laid-back" model.
What we chose was the Graco Neat Seat high chair. Mid-range in price, but pretty high on features, we decided that it was a safe alternative to our previous choice. Here is a breakdown on the features of this model:
ASSEMBLY:
I actually put this one together myself (normally my husband is the engineer)and it took less than one sitcom to do it. All of the parts are clearly illustrated and numbered in the manual and there is a diagrammed sequence that is virtually foolproof. The toughest thing about the assembly was putting the plastic seat cushion and seat cover on the chair and getting all of the straps to go where they should. And on that note. . .
CHAIR:
The chair portion of the high chair is comfortably curved (it looks like it at least--my daughter has not yet offered commentary)and has both a waterproof padded lining and a fabric seat cover. The seat cover is fully removable and washable, but I have one small gripe. The blue of the fabric fades quickly with either spot washing or machine washing. This gripe pales in comparison, however, to the bonus that the fabric actually comes clean easily so I can deal with it. We don't own it for it's aesthetic addition to our decor anyway.
One other small problem with the seat cover is that the side "wings" of the cover have little plastic clips that are supposed to snap over the plastic side of the chair body to hold the cover in place and these tend to pop off frequently. Snaps would have been a better choice here. This does not affect the whole seat cover, though, just the sides.
The chair has a five-point harness system which we think is excellent, though a bit slow when hooking and unhooking. This was really the only model at this price range with a five-point harness system and I applaud Graco for adding it.
The straps are easy to clean and appear to be comfortable.
TRAY:
The tray is, in a word, HUGE. It has wide, curving arms and fits very snugly against our baby. It is fairly deep and has a separate compartment for snacks and one for a sippy cup (although we haven't used them yet). The tray does move easily with the one-hand operated handle on the front, or with two hands by using the handles on the side. We had one moment where the plastic lines that operate the handles popped out of their tracks beneath the tray and the whole thing was stuck in place, but once we popped them back, we haven't had any more trouble.
HEIGHT AND RECLINE POSITIONS:
One of the things we realized upon pondering our initial high chair choice was that we would most likely NEVER utilize eight height positions and five recline positions. And in hindsight, we were right. We have changed the height twice, and that was really just to find the right height to leave it on for good. This did prove a bit difficult, however and stuck a little. The chair does offer five height positions if you are the type to change height often.
We started out with the chair reclined slightly and have since gone straight up and down, so we don't use the recline feature anymore, but it was extremely easy to do, and almost could be done one handed. You simply lift a lever in the back (it helps to keep a foot on the base of the chair while doing this)and tilt the chair--then just pop the lever back in place.
CASTERS:
This is one area where we were taken by surprise. We initially thought there would be no need for wheels--I mean, how hard can it be to move a high chair? We were very happy that we purchased a high chair with wheels once we began to use it. I often move the chair from the dining room to kitchen, and it is very simple to push the chair by the large curved handle in back--even with my baby in it. The casters roll great and don't lock up or spin. You can lock all four with individual locks once you have the chair where you want it.
COMFORT:
I know I have covered the comfort in small detail, but it really seems like our baby loves to be in this chair (and it's not just the cheerios). The seat seems to be comfortably shaped and the padded seat wraps around and is pretty plush. She has leaned back in it several times and almost fallen asleep.
My only complaints with this high chair have really already been covered, but they are: that the seat doesn't raise and lower easily, the seat cover fades easily when washed and the plastic tabs that are supposed to secure the cover to the chair back aren't very effective and the "wings" tend to stick out.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
marysmom
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Location: Highland Village, Texas, USA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 0 members
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