High Chairs and Consumer Angst

After the $500 co-sleeper debaucle (will eventually post about why not to spend $500 on a baby's bed), I find myself even more anal about researching the best possible solution for each new item we add to our (very small) home.

So, when it came to purchasing a high chair I was paralyzed. My natural inclination as a thrifty lady is to buy secondhand. However, there are some incredible high chairs that grow with baby, and that seems like the most environmentally responsible solution. Unfortunately, in this case it costs a fortune to be environmentally responsible (Christopher, you should write a post titled "Money is Energy Too") and I'm not super comfortable with that.

If I had a million dollars, I would buy the Svan high chair. It's gorgeous, super comfy for baby, useful even after baby has grown, and has a wraparound tray to keep messes contained. Intuitively, a wood chair seems better able to reintegrate itself with the environment than a plastic chair, but I don't know how much energy is consumed, or how many toxins are required for its initial construction.

Since I don't have a million dollars, I bought the Ikea high chair. It's inconspicuous, fairly stylish, simple, easy to clean, easy to move around, and (most importantly) cheap.

It comes down to this. I chose the $25 high chair (+ $5 tray) over the $330 chair based on the results of a test I conducted. I went to a number of stores and sat Maggie in a number of chairs. In the $330 chair, she smiled. In the $180 chair, she smiled. In the $25 chair, (surprise surprise) she smiled. Sold!