We jokingly refer to it as the “barber chair” but there really is a lot to like about the Boon Flair high chair.

I had spent much too much time deciding on a high chair for the Munchkinette, and I almost bought a Stokke Tripp Trapp until I saw this. Yeah, the chair now comes with plastic extenders that supposedly make the whole falling-backward-so-they-can-crack-their-head-open thing not happen, but if I am going to be spending almost four hundred dollars on a high chair (paying extra for the infant adapter AND the cloth cushion AND for a tray) I decided that I should NEVER have to think even for a nanosecond that my daughter could push the chair back from the table like that. Her chubby little legs are surprisingly strong, and she likes kicking as much as David Beckham, and with almost as much accuracy. As my kitchen table has quite a significant drop down portion beneath the table top proper, the Tripp Trapp was just not an option for me, no matter how “cool” it may look.

The Boon Flair is a single piece of molded plastic that rests on a pneumatic lift, thus giving it that old-timey barber chair vibe. But, it is insanely easy to clean, has a removable tray with two plastic liners, all of which fit in the dishwasher. As any parent who has had to clean off dried baby food knows, ease of cleaning is huge. It also has very cool casters on the bottom which make it a breeze to move around the kitchen, which my daughter loves since there is quite a bit of distance between the table and the kitchen sink, where she enjoys watching me do the dishes. I actually don’t enjoy doing the dishes, but it makes it less of a chore when I can interact with her.  The Flair has a five-point harness for keeping the squirmers in their place, and the removable tray means that I can still push her up to the table when she gets older.  And obviously, the pneumatic lift makes it ridiculously easy to adjust up or down.

The only drawback I can see is that for small kitchens, the bottom of the chair where the casters are placed might take up a bit too much room.   It doesn’t have any reclining features or huge plastic-y cushions, which might be a minus for some  but which I view as a plus.  It isn’t a chair for napping, and the plastic cushions just make the child sticky and whiny in the warmer months.  Not to mention they are a pain to clean.

Other than that, having dealt with a more traditional high chair with my first child, I’m actually looking forward to feeding times with the Flair!

*I was given no compensation for this review. Money spent on this product was my own hard-earned cash.