high chairs

[harvey]

Does anyone know where we can get a good, safe high chair with a proper belt for the child. Those sold in Japan seem to be lacking in any practicality or safety, even the ones sold at Toys R Us. We are considering having one shipped from the US.

[Hiyodori]

Shipping from the US is great if there is something you specifically want, though a bit expensive. Did you see this high chair with belt when you went to Toys R Us:

http://www.toysrus.co.jp/baby/cat_big.sp?ITEM_ID=702560&SUB_ITEM_ID=000&TAB_ID=6 &CAT_ID=30&TABLE_NAME=TAB_TOP_0604&x=102&y=58

What specifically are you looking for? I'm about to become a proud parent myself in a couple of weeks. What types are you looking at in the US?

Good luck in your search!

[harvey]

thanks for the reply, I will check out the item you listed on-line. the local toys r us doesn't really have anything we are looking for. the ones I have seen in japan have all been the standard wooden with "pull-over", permanently attached tray, nylon belt to separate the legs and a few have a similar nylon belt to "strap-in" the child. what we are looking for is one with a wider base (legs; it's sturdier), larger tray that can be removed easily, proper belt that really keeps the child secure so he can't stand up and very importantly, a chair that can be folded up. we have our fourth on the way and used the japanese style one for the first two (here in Japan) and a US one for #3 (in the US). We are now back and having had the experience of that one, we'd like it again, hence the post. Congratulations to you on your upcoming parenthood. Will this be your first child? Good luck and we hope your wife has a safe delivery.

[Hiyodori]

Harvey, I spent some time last night looking at what's available in the US, and it's really a whole lot better than what I have seen here (in person, and online). From your description, you probably won't find the toys-r-us high chair to your liking, though it seems a lot better than others I have seen. Let me know which one you eventually choose.

"Will this be your first child?" Yep, and she is going to be born two weeks from today. Despite our best intentions, encouragement, special exercises, and weekly trips to the hospital for the last couple months, our daughter just loves her "head up, legs down" position. I'm afraid that she will have to be born via Cesarean unless she suddenly does a 180 in the next week or two. Her original due date is 1 Aug., so it's only a week early. I'm looking forward to parenthood, but I can't imagine how I'll handle becoming even busier than now! With three other children, this must be old hat for you. Good luck, and I hope you have a big house/apartment!

Cheers

[harvey]

Hiyodori, I am going to the US for a short vacation and will look into shipping costs from there. If it's reasonable, I'll probably do that. If not, we'll probably end up getting one here.

I pray all goes well for your daughter. Don't give up on the possiblity of her changing positions. My sister was had the same situation and miraculously turned only days before her expected C-section. Yes, parenthood does make one's life busy, but for us, it's a wonderful kind of busy. The most amazing experiences in the world for me have been the births of our sons, followed closely by watching them grow. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

In regard to our house, yes, I guess by Japanese standards it's fairly large (4LDK), but it's only about 1/3 the size of our house we had in the US, so it took some getting used to.

Again, our best wishes for a safe delivery.

[Anonymous]

Hi there! I am an American living here in Japan with my husband and 7month old. I am also looking for a safe high chair. Right now I am using a plastic chair which we bought at a used furniture store for 1,000 yen, it seems reasonably safe but I have to sit on the floor to feed my son and it is difficult to keep the cushion clean. Please let me know what you find out about costs of shipping from the US. I also would like to purchase more of an American style baby seat for my bicycle, the ones I have seen here just don't look safe and I never see the small children wearing helmets. I have one more question, this is my first child....Everyone in the U.S. seems to recommend giving vitamin supplements (especially iron) to infants (I'm breastfeeding), but I cannot seem to find any liquid infant vitamin supplements (neither Tengu nor FBC seems to have this). Any advice or suggestions would be hugely appreciated. Thanks.

[harvey]

Greetings all.
Just returned from the US and brought back a high chair with me. The choices there are fantastic and the prices are very cheap. What I really liked was that the chair "folds up" to a very compact size and is quite lightweight. I was able to put it in one of my suitcases, so I didn't have to pay for shipping, but I did do a quick check at the post office for mailing a 15-20 pound package. They said it would be about $30 via ship mail (six weeks). The chair I ended up getting was just over $50 (they range from $40-$100, or so), so even mailing it would be very worthwhile. Surprisingly, Toys R Us would not ship store to store (US to Japan) so that isn't an option. Anyway, good luck.
Regarding the vitamins, I find most parents in American to be overly concerned about this. I think some use them as a substitute for eating properly. Personally, I don't think there is a need for supplements if a healthy diet is maintained.



Post Edited (08-13-03 14:50)