Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair Review: Why This Chair Is Worth Every Penny for Our Family

As a first-time mom, I felt the pressure to get all the shiny, new baby gear items my friends recommended. The problem was, and still is, that a lot of these items are expensive. One crucial item is a high chair, and the one recommended to me over and over again was the Stokke Tripp Trapp that grows with the child. It's known as a Norwegian design icon, but it does come with a premium price. I can say now, though, that it's worth the investment over standard high chairs for several reasons. Read on to get my Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair review.

What is the Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair?

Unlike most baby gear, the Tripp Trapp high chair comes with quite a design pedigree. It was created by Peter Opsvik in 1972, with several iterations available in the last 50-plus years. Opsvik designed it around his own children, who had outgrown high chairs but who weren't big enough to sit in a regular adult dining chair. Rather than buying a new chair for each phase of childhood, the chair can be reconfigured as the child grows from newborn to adulthood—it can hold over 200 pounds comfortably. The clever design centers around an adjustable seat board and footrest that slide along angled rails, allowing you to extend it for comfort as your child gets taller.

It has a minimalistic Scandinavian design, available in soothing and design-forward colours like natural, glacier green, cashmere gray and vanilla white. It has become so iconic that it is even in a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Set up and assembly experience

I purchased my Tripp Trapp secondhand from someone who could not figure out how to assemble and use it. (Lucky me—I got a huge discount off the retail price!) That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear as I Venmo'ed her in her driveway, but I took everything she gave me and completed the assembly at home myself.

Like other Scandinavian furniture, it comes partially flat-packed with an Allen wrench included for assembly. The wood pieces feel premium, smooth, and appropriately heavy. I was frustrated finishing the chair, though, as I am not the best at diagram-based instructions. I've heard people have trouble with getting the seat board in the correct channel the first time, and thankfully, that was already done for me when I picked it up. Since completing the assembly, I've had no problems with it or need to disassemble it. Every couple of years, I do have to tighten the bolts at the bottom of the legs, but that's it.

Design and build quality

What draws many modern parents to the Stokke high chair is the design and quality. It is made from lacquered beechwood and feels more like a piece of furniture you'd want in your home than baby gear. The neutral Scandinavian-inspired colours help with that, too. It's a substantial chair, weighing about 14 pounds, but not so heavy that you can't move it around the kitchen or dining room. It stands about 81 cm high and 46cm wide, with a compact floor footprint of 46cm by 56cm. It comes in about 15 rotating colours like walnut, natural and vanilla white that work with a variety of interior styles.

My absolute favourite feature of the chair is how it pushes under our dining table, leaving no "high chair" footprint. That's really important to us in a small space.

Adjustability and ergonomics

While I do love good-looking design, a comfortable chair that promotes proper sitting posture is also important to me as a parent. One of the top-selling points of the Tripp Trapp is that the seat board and the footrest both slide along the chair's angled rails, allowing a personalized configuration based on your child's height and comfort. This puts kids in a comfortable, ergonomic, natural, flat-footed position with no legs dangling.

I have used the Tripp Trapp for over 6 years with two kids and have found it easy to adjust the footrest once I see my kids' knees start to creep up out of alignment. It's really easy to do—you just slide the footrest out and reposition it. We haven't had to reposition the seatrest yet, which requires the Allen wrench.

Ease of use for parents

I did not use the newborn set, which is kind of like an elevated bassinet to place a baby right at the table height so they feel part of dinnertime. I did use the Baby Set, which includes the harness straps and bucket high-chair style seat, once my children were old enough to hold their heads up. The Baby Set front piece and harness are easy to get on and off; what's not easy is cleaning the straps, something I discovered lots of other parents struggle with online, despite there being videos on how to do it. To this day, I still have not been able to figure out how to pop them off completely to deep-clean them. We relied on spot-cleaning them, and my now two-year-old just pushes them aside when she wants to sit in the chair.

The Baby Set bucket seat and chair are very easy to wipe down, and we haven't had any issues with chipped lacquer in almost 6 years. We opted to purchase the Classic Cushion set and additional tray, which was easy to clean, but many parents like that you can pull a baby right up to a dining table, no tray needed, with this chair. The cushion set is not necessary, although it was also easy to un-Velcro and clean.

Safety features and performance

The Baby Set provides the safety features parents want. The 5-point harness is easy to use, although hard to pop off for cleaning. The Baby Set seat, which provides additional back and side support, by contrast, is easy to pop off. There is an Extended Glider set available that gives the seat an additional rear foot (the brand says it is good for soft carpet or where kids can push against the underside of the table with their feet and move away from it). We did not use this product with either of our children.

I like how stable the chair is on our wood floors, and I have never once felt like it was going to tip over—even now, as both my children (5 and almost 2) like to sit on it side by side.

Longevity and real-life use over time

We've had our Tripp Trapp for almost 6 years, and I kind of regret not getting two. It really is the best high chair for baby and beyond. My kids are spaced out far enough that I didn't think it was necessary, but my 5-year-old really still enjoys sitting in the chair, which was unexpected. This chair has seen it all—two rounds of baby food, snacks, ramen, spaghetti, mac and cheese, all the messy foods—and it's always been easy to wipe down, except the aforementioned harness straps. My girls enjoy sitting in it side-by-side doing crafts, and I might move it over to our kitchen counter as a bar stool for them instead of the space-gobbling kitchen helper we currently have there.

Accessories and add-ons worth considering

There are several add-ons you can purchase for the Tripp Trapp high chair. The most essential one is the Baby Set, which is used from the time they are sitting upright until about 33 pounds. We took ours off around 18 months, but every family will be different. Everything else, such as the pop-on Tray, Cushion Set, Newborn Set, Extended Glider, and Storage are completely optional, although first-time parents might find comfort in using them.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Timeless Scandinavian design
• Longevity—it can support newborns up to adults over 200 pounds
• Small, compact footprint
• Quality of materials: beechwood, not plastic
• Ergonomic design
• Easy to clean, except for the harness straps
• Adjustability
• Add-ons for parent and child comfort
• Resale value

Cons

• Price, although the cost per use can be very low
• Assembly pain points
• Harness straps can be hard to get on and off, making a deep clean difficult

Is the Tripp Trapp worth it?

The Tripp Trapp has been the most long-standing piece of baby gear in our home, and gets used daily by one (or both!) of my children. It is durable, well-designed and iconic for a reason. I feel good about the comfort it offers my children, and I love how it does not take up a ton of space in our small home. I foresee us getting at least another 4 years out of this chair, for a total of 10 years—at a minimum. My kids might still be fighting over it by then! It really is the best high chair.

First-time parents might feel more comfortable adding on accessories like the Newborn Set or Cushion Set, but they are not necessary. While expensive, I believe that a chair that lasts for years and is used every day—and doesn't feel like a nuisance, but more like a piece of furniture—is worth the buy.

Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair