Mamas & Papas Prima Pappa Highchair

Mamas & Papas Prima Pappa Highchair

What THEY Say...

This multi-award winning highchair with anti-scratch wheels features a new and improved four-position seat recline which adjusts with an easy one hand operation to suit your baby's needs. The anatomically shaped seat provides guaranteed essential back support and comfort for your baby. Features:

- The foot-operated, easy folding mechanism provides a smooth and simple folding action for storage

- Seven seat height positions provide flexible dining heights to suit you and your baby

- Five-point adjustable safety harness

- Crotch post provide additional safety restraint to keep baby safe, secure, and comfortable

- Suitable from four months to three years approx.

- Weight: 10.3kg

Website: www.mamasandpapas.co.uk

Mamas & Papas Prima Pappa Highchair

What WE Say...

This highchair has won a whole pile of awards, so I had expectations of it being good - you don't really expect much less from a company like Mamas and Papas. But my own last highchair left me with a feeling of mistrust for these big plastic highchairs, so I was ready to give this one a proper run for its money. I was determined that just because Mamas & Papas want to advertise with us I would NOT recommend another tricky, duff highchair. My last one (from another well-respected manufacturer) had been heavy, cumbersome, difficult to clean, the tray sat impossibly far away from the seat, the 'fold flat' option was a joke... Oh yes, this Prima Pappa was not going to blind me with its pretty teddy bear design. Ella and I were going to use it daily for four weeks before we decided on the review...

The HUGE box arrived (much to small boys excitement - blow the new highchair for Ella, there's a BIG box in the offing :D ).

As fast as I could get the wrapping off the parts, they were clicked together. The instructions were clear, the assembly was minimal and simple - and even with two excited boys hanging off my ankles I managed it painlessly, single-handed.

So here we are four weeks later. How has it done?

Well... It's good! really!

I put the highchair away every night, so the folding and storage was important to me. It folds fairly flat, and the mechanism is simple. Dropping the chair to its lowest position first was a pain in the beginning, but now I don't even notice it. And unfolding it is a silly moment of gliding fun in my day. :)

The wheels on the bottom make it easy to move - I'd forgotten how often I move the highchair with a resident in it. Ella sits in the kitchen munching while I prepare dinner, then we wheel her to be with us all at the table while we eat. The castors are great for maneouvreability, but the brakes are solid enough to make the castors safe on laminate flooring.

The cushion is really well designed; lots of padding for she-who-won't-sit-up, and she doesn't ever do the sideways-slump- wriggle in it.

The tray is stil too high to be practical for her to use (see the blog for some funny pics of this), but as she's not spoon feeding herself for a while yet thats inconsequential. She happily sits back and eats a rusk or toast finger, and I feed her far more easily with no tray in the way.

The height of the chair is the only drawback for me. I'm 6' tall, and would love the chair to go higher - feeding when I am standing causes me to stoop painfully. But this has made me sit down in a chair beside her and feed her at eye level, which is actually far nicer for us both, so I'm not going to say this is a problem. Just my fault being a busy mumma, trying to feed her on the hoof.

And the last important question - the cleaning. Well, its not better than the rest, but no worse either. None of the big padded plastic highchairs are easy to keep clean, there are too many nooks and crannies and parts of the harness where food can be smeared, stashed or dribble into. But the seat is all in one piece, so there are no awkward seams that hide food. The straps are wide and smooth, and a good firm wipe seems to clean them fine after every meal. Of course, Ella's not feeding herself yet, so I think this will get worse - but I really don't think there are any better options available in this type of highchair.

So, in all we're liking the Prima Pappa Evo very much - WAY more than the last nightmare chair - and are happy to have it living in the playroom for the next couple of years :)