Customer Reviews

Combi Transition Cherry

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the worst chair to buy for your baby. I bought this chair when my daughter was 4 months old (she is 16 months today) and I have been using it the entire time since she started solids. The only nice thing about it is the style is funky and people ask me about it all the time. I bought it because I thought it would be useful as a table and chair as well as a highchair. She is about 32 inches tall and still too short to use it as a table and chair. Assembly was easy and quick with plastic "screws" that you can use a quarter to tighten it up. I have found that the screws loosen all the time and have had to tighten them up at least six times since I have bought it. Secondly, there are two slots in the back for the safety straps, but only one opening in the seat cover, so the upper slot is pretty much useless since the cover openings are only positioned for the lower slots. Also, threading it through the slots and the cover was really difficult. The seat cover is not machine washable, but can be wiped clean. After a year of using it, I noticed that the plastic layer on the cover was separating by the leg area and has since ripped off (like plastic wrap). The absolute worse part about this chair is the huge space between the tray and the back of the seat, both in the innermost/upright position, there is about 11 inches of space there. Unless you have a super chubby huge baby, most of the food will end up in the baby's lap. I use a Bibbity, and the food still falls past it and into her lap. Also, there is a safety "stump" looking thing attached to the seat that prevents your baby from slipping underneath the tray. The strap that goes between the legs comes through an opening right in front of this "stump". So, you can imagine the kind of food bits that end up around the strap and inside the seat bottom. This part is not easy to clean, and if something liquidy goes in there, you'll have to take it apart with a screwdriver. My baby had a lot of trouble with her gag reflex and would often throw up in the chair. Many times (at least 50 times that I remember), some of the throw up would go in that space, and under the "stump" and I would have to take it apart to clean it. It was a pain, but then I got smarter and had a plastic bowl handy during mealtimes to try to catch it before it went into her lap. Of course, anyone who has a baby with this problem, knows that it isn't easy to anticipate or catch it in time. There are also two colored "buttons" on the tray which seem to have no purpose other than to collect bits of food under it. The safety clip is very snug and I have pinched my fingers and my daughter's tummy in it many times while securing it. I always got a bruise that would last a few days, it is that sore! This chair would be great if the seat cover was more durable and had openings for the upper slots, and if the tray could slide in closer to your baby. I wish I had bought the Fisher Price Healthy Care highchair instead. It is a bulky chair that takes up a lot of room. It is hardly portable in its assembled state, although I do admit to taking the "chair" part with the tray to visit relatives since it fits in the back of my SUV.
I now use the Fisher Price Healthly Care booster chair during visits instead. I also have a Combi stroller and have used the Connection infant carrier which I loved, so I was very disappointed that Combi put out such a poorly designed highchair.

Update (April 2010)
I have kept this highchair with hopes that I might get some use out of it. Since having another baby, I took it out to check it. The colored lift out tray and the two colored "nubs" somehow got tacky with age, you know how some plastic gets that way? So I have tossed out the colored tray, and used pliers to wrench out the colored nubs. There are now two holes but at least they are not sticky and whatever food goes in there, I can wipe off, and it ends up on the arm part when you slide the tray off completely. As for the huge gap, I bought a foam seat insert and put it in a 2 gallon ziploc bag to keep it clean, and I use it as a backrest, which puts baby right up to the front. Though it looks ugly, at least the highchair is still functional as a highchair. I had to cut out parts for the straps and have those loosened all the way in order to buckle in baby.

I like this high chair so much that I bought two! It is easy to clean and my children seem to like it. I love toys and baby gear that serve multi- purposes. The idea that this will convert into a table and chair later on is great. The only downfall is that you have to constantly check the plastic screws that hold it together to make sure that they stay tight. We can even have picnics outside by using just the chair part. It converts with just the push of a button and since it is mostly plastic we can hose it off on pasta night.

I'll just ADD to the other reviews, but I must complain about the harness buckles.

1. Safety harness/belt buckles - my wife's finger was bleeding recently - that's how hard they are. Extremely hard to open and close.

2. Reclining back rest. There are three positions and you need to pull up a locking handle behind the back rest, then recline. Almost impossible to adjust - it gets stuck, you need to use force, it then "snaps" into the new position. Don't even try to change the angle with baby in the seat - you may hurt the baby when it snaps.

3. The removable plastic food tray. It arrived slightly deformed. It's not completely flat, so it wobbles in its base and makes noise.

4. Static. Because the chair is entirely made of hollow plastic parts - it's like a static dust and hair magnet.

As the other reviewer said, this thing looks cool, and we do get comments on it, which is fantastic, since it's sitting in the middle of our great room. The buckle is the problem. It is very stiff, and both my husband and I have received extremely painful blood blisters on our fingers where we've been pinched while fastening our little girl into place. We'll continue using it for now, but if it becomes a wrestling match trying to keep her hands away while we fasten her in, the chair will hit the curb - no telling what would happen to her tiny fingers in that horrible clasp!

Cons:
1) Seat belt (buckles)
- very difficult to use; I caught my fingers in it a few times
2) Seat cover
- it can be washed (delicates / air dry or hang dry) but you have to remove some screws each time you do this ~ this is the only reason why the seat cover is listed under the cons. The way around this is to clean it using disinfectant wipes and it works fine and we never had problems w/ the plastic as noted in some of the reviews (even after washing)

Pros:

1) Multi-purpose use, of course - high chair & desk/chair!

2) Very sturdy
- both as a high chair and as a chair & desk
- my daughter can climb on it with ease and I don't have to worry about her flipping over while going on/off of it (unlike other toddler chairs)

3) Easy to clean - use disinfectant wipes!

4) My daughter just loves sitting on it
- She loved it as a high chair (9 months onwards) which allowed me to do some chores while she ate her food/snacks
- Now that she's almost 2, she loves it as a desk/chair - it's where she eats her snacks and colors/scribbles w/ her paper & crayons

I'd rate it 4.5 stars. :)

We just adore this super cute Space Rockety chair. Our sweet little daughter is now three and still fits in this! I think this is a fantastic chair when your cute babe is starting to eat until at beyond school age...as the high chair turns into a little chair and table...very transformers for those of us 80's kids.

This chair is so easy to move, and several times we have made it into a "short" chair when we have dinner on the floor in the living room around the coffee table on our "India" nights or when we have dinner parties and need to more room than we have in the dining room or kitchen.

The only complaint is that the chair pad is starting to come apart and I can not find a replacement!

Also this is SUPER easy to clean. The tray, insert (which we do not use really but great for smaller kids) and the entire chair is easy to take apart and clean.

Oh, and we love that there are some really great colors in this line!!!

I got this as a shower gift for my twin girls. I loved it for the longest time, but as they got older and more mobile (rocking the highchair and being silly in it) the plastic screws would come loose. You only uses a quarter to screw them in and now my 21 month olds are climbing in and out of them and the screws come undone quickly.. also the plastic on the pads started to come off and looks bad so i threw them away but it looks fine without the padding!

Its really easy to clean and easy to convert from highchair to chair and table.

As for the snaps, I 100% agree they HURT if you snap ur fingers in it, and ive even snapped my girls skin on their stomachs too!! OUCH! You get 4 straps and i changed them out so im using the ones that are suppose to be over their shoulders on their waist (if that makes sense?)so we dont worry about the blisters anymore! I would recommend them as long as you can remember to check the "plastic screws" and watch those fingers and bellys when ur putting the safety belt on!!

Super Fast/easy assembly which is great! Aestetically, it is great! I have four major complaints however...

1. The space between my child and the tray is fairly significant. My son is in the 98th percentile for his age (5 months) and weighs 22lbs...even with his cute belly popping out, there is more than enough room for him to lose his food before he even reaches his mouth. I can't imagine how frustrating this would be if he were any smaller!

2. The seat that sits on the table (when put in highchair position)simply just sits on a slot. No bolts, No locking mechanisms. There is some sort of "mechanism" that makes a sound when you push the seat into place, but it doesn't actually do anything constructive. My issue with this is pure safety. My son hasn't thrown a temper in the seat yet, but if he did and rocked himself back and forth I wouldn't be surprised if he rocked the seat right off the base!

3. I read other reviews about the bolts becoming lose. I haven't had that trouble YET...but I have to say the bolts suck, simply put. Using a coin to sucure them into place is just silly. I didn't like that feature.

4. The tray...aside from being far away from my son, it's a pain to actually put into place. Everything has to line up just so. It's like a balancing act everytime I put it on...and that's on a good day when my son isn't trying to wack the tray as I'm trying to do so.

As a personal table and chair set it is GREAT! My niece used it as her table & chair at our holiday party and loved it. So in that regard I would give it 4/5 stars...as a highchair it does have a few flaws however.