Advice: highchair and pack n play

[kimkim]

My 6 month old is starting to crawl.  Now I'm realizing we need a few baby items to make meals and showers happen smoother :)

Does anyone recommend any specific high chairs? How important is it for the snap on table? Or should I just get the fold up cloth ikea one that pulls up to the table? I like that it folds up.  I dont' like plastic so was thinking of getting an  old fashioned wooden one if not the ikea...

as for pack and plays i can find the basic old ones used for $30 but my husband thinks we should get this one: http://www.amazon.com/Graco-TotBloc-Pack-Carry-Quilt/dp/B000056C86/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1299962905&sr=1-1

because the reviews are so high and it's bigger so it "should" last her longer.

Opinions?

Has anyone found feature they don't care for?
I'd prefer to get secondhand but if this playyard will last longer then it's worth it (plus it's marked down on amazon for the price of most pnp's that come with the bassinet...which i do not care about.

tia

[Knitting Mama]

We never use our pack n play. Right now it is for toy (and cat ) storage. Instead, we've gotten a nice area consisting of living room, most of the hallway, and her room cleared and baby proofed, and she travels around and plays.

As for highchairs, I wanted a nice wooden one that would look like a piece of good furniture, so we got this one: Graco highchair.

It was not $158 when we got it; more like $90. Maybe you can find a used wooden one on Craig's List?

[PatioGardener]

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=2687904

I love this one. It is compact, fits my DS well and even travels if needed.

[crystal_buffaloe]

In hindsight, we shouldn't have gotten a high chair. DD used it for her ceremonial first solids and that's been it . She used the bumbo up til now, I imagine that she'll just sit on my lap for a bit, and I'm looking for a booster seat just to put in one of our regular chairs so she can scoot up to the table with us.

As far as the pack n play -- are you planning on using it as a travel crib? I can't imagine that DD would have been content in one for very long as just a play pen. Our main floor is babyproof and I'm comfortable just letting her explore -- we do have a couple of baby gates that we move around, though, to sometimes keep her out of our room (it gets the messiest) or occasionally the kitchen if I'm baking/lifting hot things out of the stove. My mom and my MIL both have pack n plays at their houses for when we come visit, or I probably would have wanted one as a travel crib/changing table.

[rachael07]

We have an arm's reach co-sleeper, which basically functions as a pack-n-play... we don't really use/need it as a pack-n-play. I think it depends on your baby. Ours likes to crawl and explore, so he doesn't like being confined. I suppose if your baby was stationary, you'd have less need for one anyway! I'm glad we have it for the sleeping functionality, and we have brought it with us when we travel. But we use it for sleeping, not playing.

Our high chair, on the other hand, is one of the most used pieces of baby gear in our house. Before DS could sit up on his own, we'd put him in the high chair and he would have a blast handling toys. Our house is not easily babyproofed, and the high chair is a good way for him to join me in the kitchen when I'm making dinner, etc. We do BWL, so the highchair is great... it is secure and has a large surface area that he can use to play with food. The double tray makes cleaning very convenient.

We have this high chair:

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-1776144-Blossom-Highchair-Clairmont/dp/B003O69NNW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299977900&sr=8-1

It transitions with the baby... tray... pull up to table... a travel chair... a booster seat... etc. It was expensive, but I like it a lot. I think if I was doing it over, I'd either go with the Graco (the one we have) or go with a *super* simple one, like the ikea one.

Alternately... we have one of these that we got off of craigslist for like $10, and it's great. It just doesn't fit our dining room table (bummer!). If something like this fits your table, I recommend it... very sturdy, packs away easy, and does the job it needs to:

http://www.amazon.com/Chicco-Caddy-Hook-Chair-Red/dp/B000A7V1EM/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1299978124&sr=1-2

[McGucks]

We used a Bumbo for a highchair for a long time...it was like he was our little centerpiece!  For several months (he is almost a year), we have used a Graco Double Tray that was passed along to us.  We love it.  We don't have a Pack and Play or the equivalent, mostly because we don't have the space.

[kimkim]

well i decided to get the fp booster seat. then it can grow with her. i'm excited about that! dinner is getting messier and messier

i'm undecided still on the pack n play. part of me wants to just get the totblocker so we have a larger option, but it's twice as much as a used basic one...but it sounds like they don't get too much use anyways....we'll see.

[BirthIsAwesome]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener 

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=2687904

I love this one. It is compact, fits my DS well and even travels if needed.

This is what we have :) Ds sits in it for about an hour a day playing with toys and practicing his sitting muscles. It folds up nicely also, for when I need a place to place him while working out at the gym (treadmill) or eating with another family that doesn't have a high chair. 
 

[lexapurple]

We had a pack and play and DD hated it. She wanted to be out and exploring and not caged up and cried any time we put her in. Couple of my friends had this http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Secure-Surround-Play/dp/B000G1YW98/ref=sr_1_4?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1300441125&sr=1-4 and it is something that I would get if I needed a play yard for my second. It does not look as fancy or bright as a pack and play but it is so much more versalite. It can be set up to fence off dangerous areas instead of caging a child in. It can be taken outside and left in the rain without ill effect. It can be cleaned very easily in case of accident. You can get another set or extension to make it bigger. You can get inside of the fence to play with your child without breaking it, etc.

[JulieInChicago]

We LOVE our high chairs!!  We splurged a little and got a Svan, used from Craigslist.  It ended up costing the same as a new "normal" high chair.  It's great because we can pull it right up to the table and he's part of meal time.  For travel, we found a used Phil & Ted's MeToo on CL for $20.  I love it because it folds up and carries easily and fits our 6 mo old way better than those huge restaurant ones.  We keep it latched to our kitchen counter and he loves playing in it while we cook.