While it’s clearly very comfortable for your baby, the Bruin Playa Highchair is very big and would be best in a large kitchen-diner, or folded away after every use. It's also not the most attractive or stylish highchair to have sitting around, as it's big, bulky and plastic, but it’s easy to keep clean and functional.
It has a deep padded seat and wipe clean tray. Once folded, it's quite a decent size and doesn't take much effort to unfold.
What we like
Despite the fact I've never really understood the purpose of an underneath basket on a highchair – I think it's meant to be for toys, but seems a bit of a strange place to keep them – we did discover a great alternative use, which was that, with a toddler who likes to throw food around quite a lot, it caught lots of the stray bits and stopped them going all over the carpet!
The Bruin Playa Highchair also very good value for money – at £54.99 it's one of the cheaper highchairs I've seen in a similar vein. And while it's probably a good idea to strap babies in most of the time, it's easy to keep older babies in there safely without all the straps because there's a raised plastic bit on the seat, which goes between the legs, ensuring your little one doesn't slip out and under the tray – which they do tend to try sometimes!
The fabric is also very easy to keep clean, and the tray can be removed and taken to the sink for a good proper clean if it gets really mucky.
It's also comfy so your baby can sit in it for a while to finish dinner – and if he falls asleep before the end it can be reclined for a nice snooze!
What to watch out for
My little boy kept getting his feet tucked behind the foot bar and couldn't get them back out again, and got quite upset until we helped him. After the 10th time, though, he soon stopped doing it!
I personally don't think it's that attractive, but it is functional so it really depends what you're looking for in a highchair, and what your personal tastes or home décor are.
While in theory the tray at the front can be removed to push the chair up to the dining table, it's not actually that practical as it's a bit too high and the bits and pieces, like the tray mount, just get in the way.
It was also quite a faff to put together from the box the first time as the sprung metal clips were tricky to use, but once it's together it's very easy to fold away and get back out again.
Who is the Bruin Playa Highchair best for?
Parents with messy babies after a good all-rounder that won't cost the earth.
The Bruin Playa Highchair is a good sturdy option. It’s quite big when in use, though is easy enough to fold away. While not the most stylish highchair available, is functional, easy to keep clean, and good value for money.
