Gearhead Mom

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Me, Too! Me, Too!

Posted by Missy W. @ 12:36 PM

I should file this review under: things I am totally bummed that Sy won’t use anymore. Phil & Ted are known for their widely popular (and astronomically expensive) double stroller, but they also make one of my favorite products around, the metoo chair. Coming in at around $50.00, it aint exactly cheap either, but I think it’s worth the money.

The metoo chair is a portable chair that latches directly onto the table using the kind of clamps you used in woodshop in the seventh grade. I like that it enables the kiddo to be right there where the action is, directly at the table. That way the food actually has a chance of getting into said child’s mouth, not lap, and you don’t have to worry about adjusting the height. The chair is designed for a child who can sit up by themselves and weighs under 40 pounds. The chair itself weighs around two pounds, so you can pop it in your diaper bag on the way to a friend’s house, out to dinner or on vacation. We like having it around for toddler dinner parties, it’s so easy to store in a closet or cabinet and makes an instant seat for a visiting small fry. Because the fabric is washable nylon, I just scrub it in a sink of soapy hot water and hang it on the faucet to drip dry.

At almost 3, Sy would absolutely still fit in this. Alas, she’s decided she’s all grown up now and likes to sit either in her booster seat or on her knees in a big girl chair. Anything to distance herself from babydom. I also stopped using it when she and her pals hit about 30 pounds because our kitchen table is a cheap fiber board number from Ikea and if a kiddo started to mutiny in the chair, I feared the table would topple!

Some restaurants we’ve been to would not let us use it and offered up their high chairs or boosters instead. I think they realized what I should have earlier, that big metal clamps can sometimes leave marks! I used it once on my grandma’s antique table. Because the finish was so old, it left two stripes where the clamps had been. And that was the last time we used that table for toddler dinner parties! Back to the kitchen table we went. The clamps do have rubber on the back to help grip the table and protect it, but it was still too much for the finish.

There are straps in the chair to secure junior in case they are prone to making escapes. I rarely used them because Sy is so chill. I often worried about the table toppling or the chair somehow popping off (uh, yeah, it NEVER did). Due to those concerns, in the beginning, I’d put a chair underneath the metoo so Sy would have somewhere to land. That was all fine and dandy until she figured out all she had to do was put her legs down and she could stand up and eat, or better yet, try to escape. So basically I was making it less safe. Once I wised up to that, I just moved the chair out of leg range, used the straps and had faith in the product. I still keep it in the hall closet for when we have friends with younger kids come over for dinner. I think it’s a brilliant invention and I plan on using it for years to come.

Snapshot
• Great for travel, lightweight and a snap to attach. Piece of cake to clean, just hose it down in the kitchen sink.
• NOT suggested for use on your grandmother’s antique table.
• Comes in red, navy or black.
• Great for small homes or apartments since it replaces a bulky highchair.
• Look for them at your local baby/kid stuff consignment shop. I picked ours up for ten bucks!

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