We traveled around South East Asia for 10 months with our infant son and one of the most used travel accessories during our trip was the Totseat foldable high chair. At 1,5 our son could easily sit on a chair by himself… if he chose to. But he was extremely active and didn’t like sitting still, so having the Totseat to keep him in his seat during lunch and dinner was invaluable.
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Totseat: ideal high chair for traveling
We had a simple IKEA high chair at home, but when we started traveling we took the Totseat everywhere we went. This award-winning, portable high chair folds up to a small package and it’s very light, so we always had it in our daypack. On rare occasions, we would get lucky and there would be a ‘normal’ high chair for our son, but mostly we used the Totseat. We used this travel high chair every day and were so glad we bought it!
What is the Totseat?
So what is it? Basically, the Totseat is a fabric chair harness that allows you to turn any normal chair into a high chair. It will fit any type and any size chair, so it’s extremely practical and versatile. It folds into a small package that you can just put in your diaper bag, backpack or whatever kind of bag you carry. Another big plus is that it’s machine-washable. I don’t know about other kids, but ours wanted to do everything ‘by himself’, including eating. So obviously things could get a bit messy. The Totseat website says it’s suitable for children of 6-30 months. We used it til about 25 months. After that, he figured out how to get himself out of it by standing up 😉
The Totseat is durable
This fold-up fabric high chair is a well-made product that’s very sturdy and durable. We’ve used it every day for about 5 months and no wear and tear. The colors faded a bit, but this didn’t affect the safety at all. And a great thing is that Totseat offers a lifetime guarantee for the products that were bought directly from them. It shows how sure they are of the quality of their products. Actually, when our little one grew out of it, we gave our Totseat away to another traveling family. It could easily go another round… or two.
The Totseat is safe
Unlike some other types we saw, this travel high chair is made of very sturdy material and it’s well-made with great attention to detail. And still, at 260 grams, it’s very lightweight. It fits almost all types of chairs. You do have to make sure that the chair itself is on a stable ground (which can sometimes be a bit of a challenge in Asia). The Totseat complies with all required international safety standards and even some that aren’t required. Just to make sure it’s extra safe for your child. Of course, like any high chair, it’s never safe to leave your child unattended.
The Totseat is versatile
When you’re traveling, and especially when you’re traveling long-term and/or on a budget, you don’t have all the ‘luxuries’ that you have back home. No playpen, no high chair… We didn’t only use our Totseat for going out to lunch and dinner, but also around the house. It was great to have him secure in his chair when we were in the kitchen making breakfast (when we occasionally rented an apartment), when we were cleaning or when he was watching tv. The only downside we found is that because the Totseat uses a normal dining chair, your child sits quite low. It isn’t easy for your little one to eat when the table is at eye level. That doesn’t outweigh the advantages though and it helps if you just place a pillow under their bum.
Of course it’s much easier to show you how it works than tell you. Here’s a short video that demonstrates the use:
Summary
To summarize the above we made an easy pros and cons list.
Pros of the Totseat
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- Lightweight & folds to a small package
- Complies with international safety standards
- Can be machine or hand washed
- Sturdy material, suitable for everyday use while traveling
- Turns just about any chair into a high chair
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Cons of the Totseat
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- It’s not a real ‘high’ chair, your child sits quite low
- Although the website says ‘suitable til 30 months, I’d say 22-25 is more realistic
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Our recommendation
Rating: 
Would we recommend the Totseat to traveling parents? Yes, definitely! The Totseat is easy to use, small enough to fit in your bag and it ensures that your little one always has a safe and comfortable place to sit. Funny enough in our case it also turned out to be a great conversation starter! Lots of people had never seen such a product and were curious about it. The perfect icebreaker 🙂
Check prices and availability of the Totseat travel high chair on Amazon >>
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