Martha, 2, was attracted to this highchair – we had the Barcelona in the Fun at the Zoo design, which is very bright and cheerful. The frame is made of metal, and it has one height and sitting position. t folds up so that it can be stored between meals. The main outer tray is fixed, but there is a removable inner tray that you can pop out to clean. The footrest has two positions, so you can adjust it as your child grows.
What we love
This highchair is fairly simple to assemble, easy to clean, and cheap compared to a lot of others on the market.
Once in the seat, Martha seemed to find it comfortable.
If you just get the chair out for mealtimes, and then want to fold it up and put it away, it’s light and easy to move around.
The tray is really big and without the inner part, is good for doing drawing or craft.
What to watch out for
The highchair’s specifications list the tray as removable, which is misleading, as only the inner part can be taken off. The main outer tray is fixed with four screws, so unless you want to get the Philips screwdriver out every five minutes, you won’t be taking the tray off very often! One disadvantage of this is that it’s a really tight squeeze to get a bigger baby or toddler out of the chair. I banged and scratched Martha’s legs every time, and after three goes, she refused to get in again. Of course, you’re not going to have this problem with a 6-month old – but 6-month olds soon become1-year-olds etc, etc, so you may well find that this highchair becomes difficult to use long before your child is ready to sit in an adult chair.
The other disadvantage of the fixed tray is that you can’t really pull the highchair up to the table so that your baby can be part of the family meal.
The bonus of removing the inner part of the tray is supposed to be for cleaning, but it’s very big to fit in the sink, and can’t be put in the dishwasher.
The instruction manual also says that the legs can be easily removed for travel or longer-term storage. But when I tried to take the legs off, I broke one of the clips that pops up to secure the bottom half of the legs to the seat part of the chair. I think the chair would still be safe to use, as the legs are not going to fall off when they’re opened up and in position, but it didn’t give me any faith in the quality of the product.
It’s also a very big highchair – it takes up lots of space when in use and would be impractical in a small kitchen.
Who is the Mothercare Barcelona highchair best for?
Mums or grandmas after a cheap chair that can be folded up when it’s not needed.
This is a no-frills highchair that’s good for a small baby or toddler. However, it takes up a lot of room when in use, has some drawbacks that you could find annoying and isn’t as well-made as others on the market.
