Three available modes, with all accessories included in the price: newborn bouncer with toy bar, weaning high chair and toddler seat At the inexpensive end of the spectrum are the budget chairs. These tend to be standalone highchairs (intended to be used by themselves using a plastic tray, instead of being pulled up to a table), short on adjustability features and elaborate design – favouring instead a functional simplicity that often, incidentally, means they’re much easier to clean.

Type: Plastic freestanding highchair with two size trays for growing child | Materials: Metal; plastic; foam seat insert | Suitable from: Birth | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: No What we loveWe asked Charlotte Stirling-Reed what features bewildered first-time parents might watch out for, here are her top tips: As reliable as it is ubiquitous, in our extensive tests the IKEA Antilop excelled, living up to its reputation as the king of all highchairs. While it may not look like anything special, our Mumsnet users rave about this highchair for being budget-friendly, functional and easy to clean up after mealtimes.

While it may just seem like just a place to pop your child while they eat, there's more to what makes the best highchair than just how it looks. Parents want one that is easy to clean after messy mealtimes - because food will get into every little nook and cranny! - as well as straps that are safe and a good size tray. But there are a host of other extra features that you can look out for too. Our testing is based on real-life use, so you can ignore the marketing blurb and find out what it's like to use a high chair on a day-to-day basis. Will the one you choose be the toast of breakfast, or a kitchen nightmare?Stains Will your high chair end up tinged orange with Bolognese, or will it sparkle like new after you've cleaned it? Our stain assessment reveals the easiest high chairs to keep clean. Should I buy it? Type: Aluminium high chair which clips onto tables| Materials: Aluminium; rubber; fabric | Suitable from: 6 months+ | Harness: Yes | Wheels?: No What we love It's probably not the first thing on your mind when choosing a high chair, but once you get it home you've got to get it up. Sometimes it's easier said than done.

Most travel highchairs either attach to an adult dining chair as a chair-mounted booster or clip onto the table edge (sometimes called a hook-on or clip-on highchair) like a vice. In both cases, you need suitable furniture to make it work – though, anecdotally, the chair-attaching kind fit more universally than the table-attaching kind. An almost 50-year-old classic, the robust and intelligently designed Stokke Tripp Trapp continues to perform well for kids of any age. Solidly constructed from high-quality wood and available in a dizzying array of colours, the Tripp Trapp is a firm favourite on our forums – especially second-hand. Great Value models do pretty well in our tests - they need to score at least 60% or more. They're also at least 20% cheaper than the average cost of other high chairs in our tests. Our experts have highlighted these as the best models to go for if you're looking for a bargain. Some Great Value high chairs also score well enough to be a Best Buy.

Best highchairs - at a glance:

These are the big guns of the group – the chairs intended to last as standalone models in babyhood and then convert to table-side models that can be used in toddlerhood, childhood and even beyond.