****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
For our first child, we bought an inexpensive average sort of high chair from Target. He could never sit up in it quite right as the seat was very deep and wide and let his feet dangle. As it turns out, it's ideal for babies to have their feet flat on something, so we bought a little foot plate off Etsy. Our kiddo rarely used it - it was well made and installed at the perfect height, but it was pretty narrow so his wiggly feet wouldn't stay on. When we were able to, we got a Stokke Tripp Trapp. 2 years later, we still have the Tripp Trapp and a new baby. We don't have any hope of being able to afford another one by the time our second is ready to start solids, so I started looking for good budget friendly alternatives. I chose this one out of many adjustable chairs even though it doesn't work for babies. We figured we could give this one to our toddler and use the Tripp Trapp (with its removable chair back, front leg piece, and harness straps) for the baby.The Fornel chair arrived today and it was super easy to put together. The hardest part was getting everything out of the box because I had the baby strapped onto my chest in a wrap. Ha! Putting it together took 10 minutes, including the time it took to get my toddler to sit on it so I could check and adjust the height of the foot and seat plates. The chair is beautiful and sturdy and a FANTASTIC alternative to the popular and excellent but twice-as-costly Tripp Trapp. I wish this chair had the option to buy and add on a harness for a young baby. The fact that it's essentially only a toddler chair is its only major drawback. Otherwise, I'd actually 100% prefer this chair to the Tripp Trapp, as I like the shape of this chair better. And you can't beat the price. If we have another child, I will buy another of these Fornel chairs for our then-toddler while keeping the Tripp Trapp for the baby. And our first would still be using the first Fornel chair as it grows with the child, even holding up to 200 lbs! The Tripp Trapp holds up to 300 lbs, but even so, this chair can be used for a really long time, and may never be outgrown if you're not a large and heavy set person (for example, me! The heaviest I've been is 160 lbs while pregnant). Truly, this is a fantastic chair.I took several pictures of the Fornel and Stokke chairs side by side for comparison, but I'm unable to attach them here for some reason. Both are nearly identically sized - the Stokke chair is around ¼" wider overall, but the seats of both chairs are the same width. The Fornel is maybe ¾" taller from floor to top of the chair. Both chairs are the same depth measured from the front to the back of the legs along the floor. The Fornel does have smaller foot and seat plates depth-wise, which is one con in my opinion. However, the Fornel has higher slots in which to slide in the seat, making it more adjustable. (Perhaps it would work for a kitchen island???)In short, this chair rocks. I love it and so does my toddler. And our wallet.Pros:1. Price2. Easy to put together and adjust3. Grows with your child4. Quality/sturdinessCons:1. Not for babies2. Foot and seat plates are smallish
