High Chair brand review: Skip Hop

Recall alert: the Skip Hop high chair was recalled January 9, 2018. See details here. This recall was for chairs sold from Dec 2016 until September 2017 that had front legs that can detach from the chair. The high chair was redesigned in 2018 to fix the problem—but that apparently didn’t work because it was recalled AGAIN in December 2018 for the same issues. As a result, the high chair has now been pulled from the market as of this writing. If you have one, stop using it and read the CPSC recall notice about getting a refund.

Web site: SkipHop.com

High Chair brand review: Skip Hop. While this web site isn’t usually a substitute for Architectural Digest, let’s take a walk down memory lane. The Skip Hop high chair is actually a copy of a “mid-century modern” dining chair called the Eames DSW dining chair. Yep, your baby can sit in an American classic in your thoroughly modern breakfast nook, if you desire.

What makes this high chair, the Tuo ($128), an Eames-style chair? Those wooden doweling legs splaying out from under than egg-shaped seat. The original Eames DSW was made of colored fiberglass and had a pre-curser design (the DSR) that used wire rods for the legs. Both designs became popular throughout American in schools and other institutional settings as well as in homes.

The Eames DSW chair design.

The pre-curser to the DSW, the DSR, had metal rods for the base.

So now that you know Skip Hop’s inspiration, how have they updated these classic chairs for baby? They’ve certainly added quite a bit more padding to the seat. The seat pad is reversible but can only be wiped clean. It has a 5-point harness, dishwasher safe tray insert and beechwood footrest and legs. We like the non-skid feet, but that means you won‘t get any wheels to easily maneuver it around your kitchen.

The Tuo’s secret sauce is that it can be converted into a toddler chair. The straps are easy to remove, then take off the foot rest and the lower section of the legs (remove the rubber caps and replace them on the new, shorter legs). Skip Hop provides plastic caps that slide over the arm rests to cover the track for the tray. Voila! Your toddler has her own Eames chair. See the video conversion at the end of the review.

So what do parents think of the Tuo? They love the style. Many purchase the chair because it looks cool. But that doesn’t mean they universally love it once they use it. While it’s easy to convert it to a chair, if you want to change it back to a high chair, some readers complained it was tough to do.

The tray also has issues: one hand removal is awkward and the removable liner falls off easily. The harness isn’t that great–some parents noted their kids could wiggle out of the shoulder harness. Cleaning is difficult since you can only wipe down the padding and there are several cracks and crevices.

On the other hand, assembly was easy, the small footprint is a plus as is the easy snap tray insert. The $128 price is reasonable compared to other, similar chairs like the OxoTot Sprout at $200. While the Skip Hop Tuo needs some work on its 1.o version features, we like the look enough to give it a passing grade. Rating: RECALLED. DO NOT USE.

Recall alert: the Skip Hop high chair was recalled January 9, 2018. See details here. This recall was for chairs sold from Dec 2016 until September 2017 that had front legs that can detach from the chair. The high chair was redesigned in 2018 to fix the problem—but that apparently didn’t work because it was recalled AGAIN in December 2018 for the same issues. As a result, the high chair has now been pulled from the market as of this writing. If you have one, stop using it and read the CPSC recall notice about getting a refund.