Skip Hop Tuo Convertible Highchair

As a first-time dad-to-be, I honestly wasn’t that excited about picking out a highchair. Most of them seemed pretty straightforward and looked kind of similar … at least that’s what I thought until we found the Skip Hop Tuo Convertible Highchair.

This is one well-designed highchair. It looks like a nice piece of furniture instead of a clunky piece of gear. Our little one isn’t quite old enough to use the seat yet, but we’ve had it set up in our dining room for weeks because we honestly don’t mind seeing it every day. It fits right in with our home’s style and decor. I like that it’s so streamlined and modern from the wooden legs to the rounded seat back. There’s no unnecessary bulk—but still plenty of comfort for your baby.

For the most part, assembling the Tuo was very straightforward. The manual was clear and easy to understand; there were maybe five steps total. You simply have to screw in the upper and lower legs and attach the footrest and tray. After that you just adjust the harness as needed. We also tried flipping the seat pad, which took all of three seconds.

The only part that gave us some trouble was screwing in the front upper legs. There’s a hole on each leg where the footrest will be attached with two screws. (Side note: You will need a Phillips head screwdriver for this, but that’s the only tool.) So, those holes have to be facing forward when each leg has been screwed tightly into the bottom of the seat. Ours were always off to the side after many attempts. We tried starting with the holes in different positions. We also tried swapping the two front upper legs, which seemed to help the most. That got one hole perfectly straight on, but the other was still a little off. After trying many times, we finally resolved the issue by adding a thin washer, which took up just enough space to make the hole land squarely at the front. If we hadn’t had any issue with the legs, assembly would have been done in 5 or 10 minutes, but it ended up taking us closer to 20.

Once you have the legs and everything attached, you can turn the no-skid feet to make sure the entire highchair is level with your floor and doesn’t wobble in the slightest. This feature was one I hadn’t even considered, but I quickly learned to appreciate because our home—and the wooden floors in it—are more than 60 years old, so being able to adjust as needed was a smart design element on Skip Hop’s part.

The highchair’s clean lines also mean it is very easy to clean. There aren’t many places for crumbs to hide, and after mealtime is over you can simply wipe the seat and seat pad down. (The seat pad is also reversible, so you can have white or dark gray showing. My wife was particularly excited about this bonus feature.) The tray has a pop out insert that you can stick in the dishwasher, which makes cleanup pretty effortless.

The tray slides on and clicks into two positions to give your child more room as he grows. All you have to do is hold the release button in at the front to move (or remove) it. And the five-point harness is easy to use and adjust to fit.

The chair is lightweight if you wanted to move it from room to room, but it doesn’t have wheels. We plan to let it live in the dining room and occasionally use it in the neighboring kitchen, so baby can have a safe spot to hang out while we cook. It doesn’t fold for storage, but as I mentioned before we don’t mind having it out all the time. Our dining room is cozy (that’s my way of saying there isn’t a ton of extra space), and thankfully the Tuo doesn’t take up very much room at all.

The height of the chair is not adjustable, so you might want to keep that in mind if you have a table that’s taller or shorter than average. The Tuo sits right at table height for us, so it’s perfect.

If there were one thing I could change (besides only having to screw in the upper legs one time), I think it would be nice if the seat had the option to recline, so you could use it a little sooner with early eaters. As is, the Tuo can be used from 6 months to 3 years, and the seat seems like it would be roomy enough and comfortable for that age range.

Another nice perk: Once your child outgrows the highchair function, it can transform into a small toddler chair with a few minor tweaks. The toddler chair can be used from 3 to 5 years old, which extends the life and usefulness of this seat quite a bit.

Overall, my wife and I are very happy with the Skip Hop Tuo Convertible Highchair. It is easy to use, and we love the modern design details that make it look so nice—plus, it’s sold for a reasonable price. What more could a new dad want?

Price: $160

To buy: amazon.com