Dear Baby Sponsor Highlight: Boon Inc.

October 7, 2010

Dear Baby Sponsor Highlight: Boon Inc.

Oh Boon, maker of clever and beautiful childrens products.

It all started with their bath toys. A little package full of funky, floating shapes - brightly colored balls, and squishy mesh poofs. They were a last minute addition to my baby registry before Everly was born but have become the shining star of bath time in our house. I dare you to find a photo of Everly over the age of 4 months where she isn’t sharing her bath water with these fun little toys.

When our girl began her culinary adventures in solid foods, she quickly began to outgrow her Bumbo seat. We needed something more substantial and high enough so that she could safely and easily join us during meal time.

With that, I took to the internet - watching youtube reviews, reading amazon buyer ratings, narrowing down our choices based on the following criteria:

1. Easy to clean. Early on I saw a lot of pea flinging and crumb mushing in our future and had no interest in a seat that was going to harbor all that junk down in it’s crevices.

2. Aesthetically beautiful. We have a shared living room/dining room area in our house and if I was going to have to look at this high chair every single day, I wanted it to compliment our space instead of being an eyesore.

3. Easy to use. Most feedings involved a wriggling baby under one arm, baby food, spoons and wet wipes in the other. We needed a highchair that would make getting Everly in (and out) very easy.

And once I’d reviewed every single possible contender, I decided that the Boon Flair was our chair. I was really lucky that Boon agreed to send me a Flair for review, but I can honestly say, had I not had that opportunity, I still would have purchased this highchair.

We’ve been using the Boon for two months now. I wanted to really use it before posting a review on it. I wanted to see how it worked day in and day out. We put it to the test three times a day (sometimes more) every day and I feel confident that I can post this review knowing all the the ins and outs of this highchair.

What I love:

It’s so pretty. It reminds me a lot of a barber’s chair with its wide base, pneumatic lift feature and molded seat. I look at this seat every day and I never get tired of it. We have the light blue/white version but it also comes in white/orange and hot pink/white combos.

It’s incredibly easy to clean. I wipe it down after each use with a seventh generation disinfecting wipe and because it’s a single molded piece, I can easily get under the cushion and around the arms to wipe away crumbs.

It comes with two snap on tray liners that fit in the dishwasher for easy cleaning. I’ve seen some highchairs that offer a very large tray but I really like this smaller version as I think it will help her learn to keep her food contained to a small area as she is learning to feed herself.

And the tray can be attached or removed with one hand.

I also really like how sturdy it is without being a monstrosity. The base makes it feel very solid and I like the bar between the legs to prevent Everly from slipping under the tray. It also can hold a child up to 50 pounds, so as she grows we can remove the tray and use it as a booster seat at the table and if needed, we can also remove the leg bar to give her more room.

I do think the Boon could use a few, small improvements:

The straps on the 5 point harness don’t stay in place. Even at 9 months old and tightened as high as they will go, they fall down Everly’s arms and make it hard for her to move her arms. Instead, we just snap her in around her waist and under her arms. I don’t find the straps completely necessary as the leg bar and tray are secure enough that there is no way for her to slip out - This is a very minor complaint, but I think it should be mentioned.

The cushion can hold stains. I love the clean look of the white cushion but unfortunately, after a few interactions with tomato sauce and berries, ours has collected several stains. I’ve tried to clean them off but haven’t had much luck with my regular kitchen cleaners. We plan to remedy this buy purchasing the dark brown cushion that Boon offers as it is sure to hide stains much better. Another solution would be to remove the cushion all together - the contoured, molded shape of the chair makes it so that any child could eat comfortably without the pad.

Overall, I completely love this chair. It works beautifully with our decor and does everything it should. In the constant battle to keep our main living space from falling victim to baby-stuff overload, the beauty and function of the Boon Flair make it an attractive, unassuming, eye pleasing addition to our room.

I look forward to using it for the remainder of Everly’s high chair days and feel confident that its sturdy construction will see us through several more future Jordan babies.

To celebrate Boon’s sponsorship of Dear Baby, they’re giving away a couple of my favorite bath toys to one lucky reader. (Check out the Boon Inc website for their full line of innovative children’s products)