- Parents. Absolutely love the Ikea Antilop Highchair,
but as a pediatric occupational therapist,
I honestly hated this highchair.
And that's because when I had a baby sitting
in this highchair, I found that they were more restless.
So mealtimes were more difficult.
I found that they found it difficult to sit upright,
because the bucket it's seat was too big.
And they tended to fall to the side as a result.
And there was simply no foot rest to give them
that added postural support they need at six months of age.
However, because parents love this highchair so much,
there are now accessories that are being sold
for this highchair, which when purchased
and combined with the Ikea Antilop Highchair,
as a pediatric occupational therapist,
my viewpoint on this highchair is starting to change.
So if you're thinking of purchasing
the Ikea Antilop Highchair,
make sure you stick around as I go through
the pros and cons, which can help you decide
whether or not this highchair is best for your baby.
But before we do, make sure you click
on that free PDF document in the description box below,
which covers the developmental milestones
you can be expecting for your baby
in their first year of life.
This will give you invaluable peace of mind
as you will know what to expect and when to be concerned.
Also, if you want to make parenting significantly easier,
make sure you start now by subscribing to my channel,
where you'll learn the tips and tricks I've learned
over the last 10 years,
practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist
and being a mom to two children.
So make sure you hit the bell so you don't miss a thing.
So, let's start with the pros.
The first one is that this chair, highchair
is extremely cheap.
In Australia, you can get it for $25,
and in that, you would get the highchair,
a 3 point harness, and a tray.
The second great point about this highchair is,
it is really easy to clean.
The bucket seat itself and the tray is made of plastic,
which you can easily wipe down.
So that makes mealtimes less stressful for us as parents,
because we know that we can clean up that mess
that is going to happen.
Now, there is a supportive cushion that you can place
in that highchair which I would recommend purchasing.
Now with that, you can remove the cover
by simply undoing the zip at the bottom
and then you can place it in the wash.
The third positive for this highchair is,
it comes with a tray, but most importantly,
that tray can be removed.
And that means that that highchair can slide up
to the dining table and the baby can sit at the dining table
for meal times.
If you don't want to purchase the tray,
I would say that's a great idea to save a bit of money.
If you do want to use that tray,
that tray is dishwasher proof.
So, which is fantastic.
But because it's made of plastic,
you can simply wipe it if you don't want to place it
into the dishwasher.
Which means it's easy to clean.
The highchair itself is extremely lightweight.
It is only 7.9 pounds, which is 3.7 kilograms.
The ability to remove the legs of the highchair
by push simply pushing in a quick release button,
means that it takes up less storage space when needed,
because it separates into a seat
and then the four individual leg poles.
It's also really easy to assemble.
You just slide the legs into the seating system.
And lastly, there are now accessories
which you can purchase for this highchair including,
seat covers of different patterns,
Silicon tray inserts, as well as a foot rest
which is definitely a must for a highchair.
Now, the cons for these highchair include,
the bucket seat itself is too big
for six, seven, eight, nine month old babies.
Even with that supportive seat insert,
I find the bucket seat itself too big.
As a result, babies, when they're sitting in this seat
will fall to the side or they'll wedge their arm
in between the tray or they'll start to bring their legs up.
And that's simply because they're trying
to get some postural stability so
that they can sit upright and eat.
This then results in a baby who is very, very restless
in a highchair,
and then mealtimes as a result can become difficult.
The second con for this highchair which was
the main reason I previously disliked this highchair,
is it doesn't initially come with a foot rest.
A foot rest is really important
on a highchair because at six, seven months of age,
your baby is learning to sit.
They're not able to sit for a long period of time.
And if you do not provide a foot rest when they're sitting
in a highchair, they're going to fall to the side,
they're gonna find it difficult to sit upright.
And they're going to be more restless in the highchair,
which means meal times themselves are going to
be more stressful.
However, you can now purchase a foot rest
for this highchair, which I would say
if you are looking at purchasing
the Ikea Antilop Highchair,
you must purchase a foot rest
which is going to increase the overall cost.
So in Australia, you can buy that foot rest for $32.
Now this leads me on to my third con for this product.
Is that you must purchase a lot of the accessories available
for the Ikea Antilop Highchair,
for it to be a suitable highchair for your baby
to use at six, seven and eight months of age.
So you must purchase the foot rest, which is that $32.
Then you should also purchase the seating support,
which is $4.
And then I would purchase the seating support covers
which is like another $7.
So the overall cost of the highchair
when you include the base price of the highchair
plus those additional must have accessories,
means that the highchair will cost you around $70
if you purchased it in Australia.
Now, if you wanted to buy that Silicon insert for the tray,
that would mean that the overall cost
for the entire highchair would be around $90 in Australia.
Now parents have also reported that the tray
on the highchair is extremely difficult to take off.
Which often results in parents simply leaving
the tray in place.
And then this means it's difficult for you
to position the baby back into the highchair,
because you need to kind of wave their legs
between the holes of the leg rest
without actually being able to see it.
This highchair also has an extremely low weight capacity.
So, it has a weight capacity of 15 kilograms or 33 pounds.
Now, my two year old son is already at 15 kilograms.
He is not overweight, so he would not be able
to use this highchair.
But he's still too small to use a standard dining chair.
So I would then need to go purchase another highchair.
So the weight capacity is definitely a negative
wen looking at this highchair.
This highchair comes with a three point harness,
which is a harness that goes around the waist
and up through the legs.
This is better than no harness at all,
but it is not the best option.
The best option and the safest option for a highchair
is a five-point harness,
which is a harness that goes over the shoulders
around the waist and up through the legs.
And lastly, this highchair does not have
the ability to fold up.
I don't actually think that's a huge negative
and that's simply because I don't think
and I have never seen parents fold up highchairs
in between meal times.
Particularly when you're looking at that 12 month mark,
where they're eating every two and a half hours.
So not having a highchair that is foldable
isn't a big deal for me.
So those are the pros and cons of
the Ikea Antilop Highchair.
If you are gonna purchase this highchair,
make sure you do get that foot rest as well
as that supportive seat insert and cover.
Because it will mean that your baby's gonna
be better supported when using this highchair.
Make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below,
and hopefully I'll see you next week,
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
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