The organization of children's personal space plays an important role in the development of the child. To do this, first of all, you need to know what kind of children's furniture parents need to purchase so that it turns out to be not only practical, but also of high quality. In this article, parents will be able to learn about the features of the first children's furniture in the life of a baby - a highchair.
Features:
You can use the highchair from the moment the child starts to sit on his own. Usually this period starts from six months. The best option would be a children's wooden chair - this is both the safety of the material used in it, and sufficient ease of use.
Children's wooden chairs have other wonderful properties that play a major role in choosing a product:
- Strength, durability and long service life. It is almost impossible to break a wooden structure either by blows or jumping, and even more so by swinging.
- The chairs are endowed with natural ornamentation;
- Wood does not absorb heat;
- Natural material will easily fit into any interior, and thanks to the variety of wood processing options, any such chair can become a highlight of a children's room or kitchen;
- Some chair designs are notable for their enviable lightness;
- Environmentally friendly material. Even when heated, it does not emit harmful toxins;
- Uniformity of the structure. Thanks to this property of the material, all holes for fasteners will retain their shape for many years, which contributes to the preservation of their original appearance;
- If the elements of wooden furniture are damaged, it can be easily restored. Sanding, stain and varnish can help with this.
Subject to the maintenance requirements, such furniture can serve for many years.
Among the disadvantages of children's wooden furniture, the following facts should be noted:
- The cost is much more expensive than similar chairs made of other materials;
- Such furniture should be properly treated with protective special means;
- Additional installation requirement: it is not recommended to use this category of furniture near heating devices, and also avoid direct sunlight.
Models
The range of wooden highchairs for children is quite extensive. Below are the models of such furniture:
- Wooden chair with backrest. Quite often, this chair design can be found in kindergartens. Children use the highchair while playing, eating, and in a quiet hour - used as a clothes hanger. For the production of such chairs, light species of noble trees are used: walnut, birch, ash, maple;
- A soft chair. The difference between this model and the previous one is the presence of soft upholstery on the back of the chair and seat. It is very comfortable to sit on and the kids like it very much;
- Chair for babies. This chair is used by the youngest children who have just learned to sit. The design of the chair is quite safe, since it has several elements of insurance against the fall of the baby in its equipment. So, for example, almost all of these chairs are equipped with seat belts and restraints. Depending on the modification of this type of furniture, the chair can be transformed into a set of two attributes;
- Chair-transformer. The unique and most popular folding children's chair model made of wood. If necessary, this furniture design can be easily disassembled into two wooden components: a chair and a small table. The assembly of the construct is also quite simple. The safety system of this folding furniture includes armrests and seat belts. The latter can adapt to the child. The use of this chair is possible for a child who has already learned to sit on his own, and until the moment the baby grows out of it - and this is practically up to 5 years. The material used in the construction is beech or pine;
- Growing chair... This chair design differs in that it can grow as the baby grows. This is done by adjusting the height of the footrest and seat. Therefore, this chair can be used even by a teenager or an adult up to 100 kilograms of weight. When using this category of furniture, the baby will be able to eat together with adults at the same table, because the complete set does not provide an additional children's table.
Material
Below are the options for wooden materials from which baby chairs can be made:
Solid birch
The distinctive properties of this type of material are:
- Strength;
- Resistance to material damage;
- Odorless;
- Has a pronounced light shade;
- Hypoallergenic.
Of the minuses, it is worth noting a short service life. However, some manufacturers have started using birch plywood for the production of highchairs, which have a longer service life;
Pine tree species
The structure of the breed is heterogeneous, has knots and a yellowish tint. Pros:
- High impact resistance;
- The presence of a coniferous aroma;
- Practically does not crack;
- Long service life - up to 15 years.
Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the color change during operation - it becomes much darker than the original.
The most popular at present is the Karelian pine;
Beech.
Distinctive features of this type of wood material:
- Flexibility and strength;
- Homogeneous structure;
- Affordable material;
- Has a light shade;
- Resistant to humid environments.
The disadvantages of the material include also the variability of the color color - from light over time it becomes pinkish-brown;
Oak
This is the most valuable material from which children's furniture can be made. Of the distinctive features, it is worth noting its high service life - more than 30 years and its characteristic strength. In its natural form, it practically does not occur - when used, the material is covered with colored stains.
Tips for choosing
This part of the article is devoted to the choice of a highchair made of wood. Here are collected tips for buyers who in the near future plan to provide their baby with the most necessary piece of furniture. So, here's what to look for when buying:
- The quality of the material. There should be no cracks, chips or roughness on the wooden surface. If the furniture is with knots, then there should not be very many of them, since in the manufacture of such furniture, protective shields made of wood are used, the strength of which directly depends on these defects;
- Design. An excellent solution would be to purchase such a piece of furniture with a variety of decor. It can be either Khokhloma or another alternative painting on wood;
- Correlation with the height of the child. In this case, the best option would be to take the child with you for shopping, since there is a high probability that the chair can be either large or small for a toddler. Having seated the child on the highchair, you can observe how his legs will be located - they should stand with all feet on the floor, and the knees should be bent at an angle of 90 degrees;
- Stability of the structure. When buying, it must be borne in mind that a stable construct is a guarantee of the child's safety. A stability test is necessary to be sure that the baby, with his restlessness, will not be able to tip over backwards along with the same growing chair or transforming chair. The chair should not wobble, even with the most active games of the toddler;
- Construction safety. Each model has its own design features regarding the safety of the child being there. For example, for high chairs, these are seat belts and retainers, for a transforming chair, these are also armrests. Additionally, it is worth noting the need for non-slip legs at the chair, as well as strong fasteners and rounded corners, because often kids during active games can touch furniture that can injure them;
- Weighting criterion. It is worth paying attention to how heavy the structure of the chair is. Too heavy a variant is dangerous because it is difficult to move it, and in the event of a fall, it can hurt the child. The low weight of the chair is also not suitable - it often overturns.
When buying, you should demand a quality certificate from the seller and familiarize yourself with the technical characteristics of the purchased product.
You can make a stylish highchair with your own hands, see the master class in the next video.
