Mockingbird High Chair Review: Worth It?

Wondering if the newly released, 2024, Mockingbird high chair is any good? I'm happy to say after testing it out compared to the Stokke high chair and Ergobaby 3-in-1 chair it's our new favorite!

NOTE: I was gifted this high chair – and all of the high chairs shown for comparisons – minus one which I borrowed from a neighbor. I was *not* required to write a review. I evaluate and test thousands of kids products and only honestly share about what makes sense.

Mockingbird High Chair Review:

The Mockingbird high chair is easily one of the best high chairs currently on the market. It's neutral and minimalist design ensures it'll look great in your house without taking up too much space.

You can adjust the footrest and tray without any tools. The design features minimal crevices making it easy to wipe clean. The tray liner and 5-point safety harness can even be removed and tossed in the dishwasher for even easier cleaning too. It's not the most expensive or the cheapest – yet it solves all the common complaints parents have with high chairs.

It ships for free and you get a 30 day at-home trial.

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Let's take a deeper look:

Set up / Assembly

The first thing my husband said after assembling the high chair was, “this is my new favorite high chair! The assembly was the easiest ever.”

Now I technically assembled the Ergobaby – which I thought was incredibly easy – and I'd say the two are comparable.

This may be a hair easier since it has less pieces overall. But you can do it in about 10 minutes with the provided allen key.

What's included:

Positioning

The Mockingbird high chair allows you to customize just about everything you'd want.

Footrest

The foot rest has 4 adjustable positions – technically 5 if you were to remove it and just use the step for super tall kids, but that's not how they recommend/approve.

The most difficult part of this high chair is learning how to adjust the footrest – at least it was for me, my husband found it easy. But it took me a few tries to learn how to untwist the knobs on either slide, pull them out, slide it where you want, push and twist them into lock the position.

I'm also directionaly challenged, so that may be a “me” problem.

Tray

The tray features 3 depth positions – which I love for SO many reasons!

You can push the tray out as baby grows to give you more space to navigate your little one in, then bring the tray closer so they can reach their food without having to lean forward.

It also means less space for food to fall down! To adjust, simply push of a button and slide.

Early Eaters to Toddlers and Beyond

For early eaters I find it provides better support than the Ergobaby high chair and is about the same as the Tripp Trapp.

Early eaters shouldn't be slouched or rounded, instead their feet should be firmly planted and with their core engaged. The Mockingbird encourages this position. It also includes a 5-point safety harness.

Once your child reaches 35 lbs or is around 3 years old and can climb in and out of the chair on their own, you're ready to convert it to the child chair setting which they can use up to 150 lbs!

To do the adjustment – once again – no tools are needed! You'll just press and release the buttons to slide the high chair seat off.

Cleaning

One of my biggest issues with our Stokke Tripp Trapp was how HARD it was to clean! The Mockingbird is insanely easy!

First, the clean lines ensure an easy wipe clean experience.

Second, while most highchairs use nylon straps that eventually get caked in mess, the Mockingbird features silicone-coated high chair straps unlike any other. Their one-of-a-kind straps for the harness truly wipe clean or can be tossed in the dishwasher!

Third, the tray is smooth on the top and bottom. The included tray liner actually curves over the tray. Meaning no tiny cracks or crevices to fight against. And like the straps, it's dishwasher safe! You can also remove with one hand.

It really has minimal crevices with smooth lines and easy to clean material.

Footprint

The Mockingbird high chair has a smallest footprint of a highchair currently on the market that I'm aware of.

It's perfect for small spaces and slides nicely under a kitchen table to avoid tripping while walking by.

With that said, it has the smallest footprint largely due to how narrow it is. Which makes it great for squeezing an extra seat at the table.

Style + Design

The sleek lines and neutral color palette ensure the high chair will look good in your home for years to come.

When first getting familiar with the high chair one of my complaints was the harness straps. The easy clean material is kind of bouncy-ish and it kept getting in my way.

Then I realized they actually created seat-back strap holders to keep them out of the way while cleaning or getting baby into the seat. It's such a genius move – because even the nylon straps would drive me crazy in this regard (I'd forget to lift them up before putting baby in – and once again they solved a problem I didn't realize annoyed me so much until I no longer had to deal with it!

Additionally, there's some confusion on the internet on the harness – it's a five point harness, but the two shoulder/body straps come together into a single buckle, so it's a 3 clasp buckle. Meaning you get 5 straps, but don't have to finagle all 5 pieces into the buckle like some strollers – making it as easy as a 3 buckle clasp, but with the safety of shoulder and waist straps.

Lastly, you'll be happy to know it's stain resistant if serving messy red sauce!

Safety + Materials

Aside from the 5-point safety harness I mentioned earlier, the high chair itself has undergone the most rigorous government regulations from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ASTM International. Additionally, their products are certified with the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association (JPMA), and all of their materials are submitted for testing of harmful substances such as lead, phthalates, mercury, and cadmium.

The legs of the high chair are made from sustainably sourced FSC-certified solid beechwood. The straps are made of FDA-approved food-grade silicone. And the tray/tray liner are made from non-toxic, BPA free plastic.

Parents will also be happy to know the tray *actually* works with suction plates. This is such a common issue I've run into with high chairs, but the Mockingbird has worked with every bowl/ toddler plate I've tested.

Mockingbird High Chair Reddit Review:

While the high chair is new, I wanted to see what other mom's were saying. I was able to find out Mockingbird high chair reddit review who said:

• the tray is a great size and can be adjusted in and out, so I could move it closer to my daughter, which meant less food getting through to the seat
• they have a tray liner on top of the tray that pops right off for easy cleaning. And the tray’s surface is smooth with none of those indents that are hard to clean on the Stokke (and my mushie suction plate stuck much better to Mockingbird’s tray)
• the seat was so easy to clean since there’s no fabric and it’s smooth, so i could just wipe food off quickly
• the silicone straps are genius. My Stokke straps have built up so much food on them and gotten disgusting, but the mockingbird ones wipe totally clean and seemed like they’d last so much better over time (I only used the high chair for a week, so can’t say how well the straps will actually hold up over years and years, but i felt like they’d last so much better than my Stokke ones)
• I could adjust the height of the footrest without needing tools (you just loosen a little knob and can slide the footrest up and down). Same with the high chair part – my daughter wasn’t ready to sit in the chair without it yet, but I tested removing it to see how it looked as a regular dining chair, and converting it was so easy (you literally just push a tab and pull up on the seat, and it comes right off).

Which is basically exactly my experience as well.

Mockingbird high chair vs Competitors

The Mockingbird high chair is a budget friendly alternative to the Stokke Steps high chair.

It basically hybrids the Steps and Tripp Trapp legs to create a Y shape, while offering a smaller footprint.

Beyond that, it looks and works relatively similar to the Steps with the major difference being the Steps adjusts the back of the chair in and out, while the Mockingbird adjust the tray. I think the back adjustment may ultimately provider a better “ergonomic” posture for early eaters, but in the long run, the tray adjustment will be significantly easier on parents for navigating baby in and out.

For a nearly $200 cost saving, I'd say that's a nice trade-off.

I got into more details on the Mockingbird high chair vs Stokke and other competitors here.

Final thoughts on the Mockingbird high chair

I really can't think of anything bad to say about the Mockingbird high chair other than a slight learning curve for my directionally challenged self in turning the knobs on the foot rest adjustment.

The price, foot print, easy clean, and aesthetic make it a no brainer as the best high chair currently on the market.