Phil & Teds Lobster

Don’t recommend Lobster Portable Highchair and Standard Highchair – I had to replace a portable highchair that we used daily. I decided to buy the Phil and Teds Lobster portable highchair due to the clamps being able to open wider than most other brands which means it can be used on tabled with thicker bench tops. Unfortunately, this highchair has a major design flaw. The seat is really deep and the result is… Read more

that my 20 month old has to lift her arms up over to get to her food.

Going from something that was loved daily - she would sit at the breakfast bar and eat while I prepare or cook, to refusing to sit in it longer than 5 mins.

I also bought the P&T regular highchair second hand and it’s also really annoying… the legs ogf the highchair is splayed out and you constantly walk into it. It hurts and it’s annoying.

It seems like this company gets one thing right of their product like bigger clamps or a higher with a rubber anti-slip seat, but then has other really bad flaws with it.

Gets the job done – The chair and attachment parts work exactly as they should. I'm not sure what the point of the tray is as it doesn't attach to anything and ends up on the floor more often than not. The mesh sides may have been one of the worst design choices ever made - they collect all the mess and are close to impossible to clean. I really want to know if they tested this on actual children before making it?

Handy easy and saves space – We used this for our baby up to about 14 months of age, it is super light weight and we could travel with it. Only drawback is keeping it clean really! It's still material not plastic so lots of washing required! We have a small 3 bedroom townhouse in Melbourne so it was so handy to have on our breakfast bench.

Awesome chair! – My twins love being at the table like one of their older siblings and I love that they take up nearly no space on the table or under the table. The Removals trays are excellent so you can use with or without them. They attach really securely to the table top and the straps keep bubs in place. It comes with a travel bag which is really handy for trips out to restaurants. Totally recommend the chairs!

Wonderful for travelling and baby led weaning – Pros: - very portable - very secure - lets us travel and eat at restaurants with ease and baby doesn't feel Left out - easy to clean with wipes Cons - there are a lot of tables it can't be used on if the table isn't completely flat underneath - it's a bit heavy to carry around - the tray doesn't secure in so it can get a bit messy Overall, we love it! Even though we wish it could be used on more tables, it's probably a safety issue

Ok ... if u don't want a tray – Why oh why does the tray not attach! Dissapointed as I searched high and low to find a portable high chair with a tray so bub could get messy wherever we were but spent my whole dinner holding the tray still and trying to stop him from throwing it across the room. Surely the tray is meant to attach ....

Useful and a travel/cafe baby essential – We have had the lobster in use for 4 months and love it. Sturdy and secure. Some table edges mean that the lobster cannot attach as it is not flat underneath, so that can be a nuisance when travelling but have only encountered a few times. The tray table isn't functional as it could be and can be moved by child but useful to keep food mess from spreading! Highly rate and recommend.

Sharp edge cuts baby's finger! – we just bought one and have only used it a few times. the tray doesnt attach tightly and can be easily moved around by baby. the tray edge is quite sharp, not well polished. last week during dinner it cut my baby's finger deeply it wont stop bleeding! disappointed that they didnt put more effort into polishing more for babys delicate skin

Happy with purchase – This is perfect for us as we have a small house and it attaches to our narrow breakfast bar. Incredibly sturdy. Great quality. Only negatives - won't attach to any table with a lip, could be easier to clean and we can't use the food tray as my daughter slides it out and throws it away with the food. Overall though Im pleased with my purchase

Doesn't fit many tables – I didn't realise that you couldn't attach it to tables that have a "lip" or edging. Ours has so can only use on breakfast bar not at family dinners. Went away with it on holiday and holiday villa table also had a lip so couldn't use. As you never know whether it will fit we now have to take our ikea table just in case which defeats object of… Read more

buying! Fits securely to tables with flat top or breakfast bar. Lightweight and folds small. Doesn't fit many tables!

Useful – I bought this recently for an interstate holiday. It was very useful for use at kitchen counters etc but there were quite a lot of tables on which I could not use it. I am not sure how other similar chairs go. It is a bit difficult to clean but to be honest I haven't found anything baby or toddler related that isn't a bit of a PITA to clean. … Read more

Overall a useful item. My 7 month old can sit at the kitchen counter with my older kids and she loves being part of the action. light, easy to use cannot not be used with all tables

Handy in the home – We bought this high chair for an overseas trip and found it somewhat useful. I bought ours in perfect condition at a baby market for only AU$35. Cons... FITTING: While this chair may fit most tables, unfortunately it did not fit the bulky dining table in our holiday apartment so we resorted to feeding our 14month old on the knee (which can… Read more

be tricky!). I wish we'd had a suitable table as this would have been so much easier!

WEIGHTY: We were travelling light on our day trips with just a backpack and a baby sling. The sheer weight and slight misfit in our backpack meant we left in the highchair in the hotel room rather than taking it with. Furthermore, nearly all of the cafes we visited had tables that the weight of the highchair plus baby would have toppled (they were centre-pole construction rather than four-leg construction). We managed to feed bub on the knee or resorted to the available highchairs. We were reluctant to do this at first but when tired from trekking about Penang all day we succumbed to wiping down a grubby highchair and soon got used to this. Bub never got sick (Thank Goodness!!). In fact, I think he enjoyed the novelty of new and interesting highchairs each time :o)

Pros...

SUPER SAFE: The high chair was perfectly suited to use at the grandparents' house. VERY SAFE for grandparents as there are no high chair legs to trip on. Also SAFE for bubs in the respect that it attached very securely to their dining table. Bubs happily eats in it and playfully enjoys swinging his legs whilst sitting in it. It is deep enough that we found we did not need to use the inbuilt shoulder straps.

EASY TO CLEAN: The canvas is super-easy to wipe clean with only a wet wipe or two. Not sure why other reviews state that this is not so (?).

EASY TO USE: Attaches easily to table (twist the vice-like clamps).

PURPOSE BUILT: The high chair is well-designed for comfort for bubs. No pinchy bits or difficult-to-use bits.

COMPACT: Takes up a relatively small amount of space. SAFE, Compact, Easy-to-clean. Somewhat heavy (if you're backpacking in a humid climate, every gram counts!)

Worst thing to clean – Given the positive reviews on this site I purchased the Phil and Ted lobster. I've hardly used it though because its so hard to clean! If bub gets food on the lobster fabric (which is pretty much guaranteed) then you will be spending half an hour cleaning and it will still be dirty. The tray doesn't slot in properly and my daughter finds it very easy to push it away causing the food to fall into the fabric Secure Difficult to clean, expensive

Great, compact and functional – I used my Lobster instead of a high chair until my little girl was 12mths old. It was great because it secured perfectly to our bench and I could talk to her while she ate and also do cooking or wash the dishes at the same time. We have taken it out to restaurants and travelled with it. It folds up so small and compact! Small and compact. Try can go in the dishwasher!

Great – I got this portable high chair because I have a small kitchen dining area a big bulky chair gets in the way. This is perfect bub can sit at the breakfast bar with us. Sturdy and easy to attach. I do check its on right and done up tight all the time. But better then tripping over a big high chair. Overall great chair! portable and easy to attach Tray doesn't attach

Sturdy design and very useful – We bought this so that we could seat our baby when eating out when there were no high chairs available and it has been a very useful piece of baby gear. The design is really simple and sturdy, collapses flat for transport and is super quick to unfold and attach to a table. It's suitable for use from when a baby can sit up (around 6 months) to a… Read more

large toddler (3 years, or 17kg) although as the seat is quite deep, babies and small toddlers may need some padding (like a folded towel) in the seat to raise them to a comfortable height for eating. The five point harness is very secure and the tray is handy feature, although there's no way to fix it firmly in place. As with other clip-on style seats, you do need to be careful with where you attach it - make sure you read the guidelines. Simple, sturdy, portable and suitable for use from 6 months to 3 years. The fabric of the seat is actually quite difficult to clean properly - I've had to make my own wipe-clean cover. Also, with no way to fix the tray firmly in place, baby tends to push it out of position and use it as a toy. A bit of blu tack between the tray and the table has solved this problem for the time being.

Love it..perfect for my breakfast bar – Got this last week. Just love it. It's pretty sturdy when fixed right. My lill bub loves it too. I put him in his lobster when I am doing stuff in the kitchen..he feels so excited when he sits on it.. It's much easier for me too to have him there safely strapped. It's not a big chair like other high chairs so it looks really nice and doesn't… Read more ·  2

standout like a sore thumb!!!

Its very lightweight, put it in the pram carrier and we can take it to parks and attach to the tables n feed him.

Comes with the tray. But unfortunately it's easily pushed out by my lill one. Hope they can get some suckers attached or something to keep it in place. very nice and compact. Tray doesn't have any secure fitting

Worth Every cent – We purchased our lobster for travelling and its now a permanent fixture on our kitchen bench. Its very easy and fast to attach, slide on tray is a fantastic feature, bub always has a clean eating surface while out and about. It looks great and the fabric is very easy to wipe down and clean, comes with a tough carry bag and weights under 2kg. The… Read more

seat belt is easy to access and use and comes with shoulder pads, our daughter has been sitting in hers since five months of age and fits and sits up perfectly with room to grow. Easy to use, easy to clean and affordable. Nothing so far.

Fantastic! – We decided to look at hook on high chairs after moving into an apartment and space became a bit of an issue with our current high chair (ikea - which we love). I had not previously liked the idea of hook on chairs, but when i stumbled upon the lobster, and read a few reviews praising it, I decided to bite the bullet and buy one. It was the best… Read more

thing I have bought in ages! Our baby loves sitting at the table, the chair itself is fantastic, easy to attach and de-attach, easy to clean, is very light (2.5kgs from memory) and folds away into it's own carry bag. The idea, I believe is that you can put it under your pram and in your suitcase for travelling. Love it Love it Love it! - Got it for $79 and it is worth every cent! Lightweight, easy to assemble/attach/de-attach, compact, attractive

Love it! Makes travelling with a toddler just a little easier! – We love this chair! After a weekend away with our 15month old, where we were either battling with ancient and broken highchairs, or waiting to use the only highchair in a very busy fastfood restaurant, we went looking for a solution to make outings and getaways easier. We found it in the Phil & Ted's Lobster chair. It folds up nice and tidy into… Read more

its own carry bag which will easily slide into the bottom of your pram or suitcase when travelling, weighs less than 2kg and it’s worth it’s weight in gold. We were slightly worried that it would not be enough to safely hold our child who is both strong and heavy. But the chair is surprisingly sturdy and she seems to enjoy sitting in it with her feet swinging freely.

The clamping “claw” mechanism is easy twist on and off for adults but a child would not be able to loosen its grip, even if they could contort themselves enough to reach them!. The first time we used it was at a birthday party and it took a matter of seconds to flip down the claws and set it up and get our little one secured into the 5 point harness. While the food tray seems like a good idea, once she figured out how to slide it from the clamp grips, it didn’t stay in place long, although it does provide a clean surface to eat off, when you can convince the child to leave it in place. The birthday cake and green icing wiped off easily, as has any other mess we’ve encountered. We have not yet had to machine wash it, but the fabric does slide off easily if this is required.

The use of the lobster is somewhat limited by the type of table you are sitting at. If there is any type of a lip the claws will not close securely. It also cannot be safely used on a pedestal table. However it’s great when visiting people’s homes as most have a sturdy counter top to clamp the lobster to. We’ve used it about a dozen times and it’s been worth it already. We now take it everywhere we go, and have used it at home, instead of the normal high chair, on a number of occasions as it is so good.

Its maximum weight capacity is 17kgs so it can be used from around 6 months to 3 years for some children. Easy to carry. Wipes clean. Safe and sturdy Not much. Some limited use

Very good product – This chair lives on our bench top, the old high chair hasn't been used since we had it. My toddler can play with play dough/food while she watches me prepare meals, it's been a godsend. Our old chair had a million crevices for food to hide, which could never be cleaned completely. This one wipes down fairly well, and we just chuck it through a… Read more

regular wash when it needs a more thorough clean. Easily portable. Just flip the chair inside out to get rid of any residual chunks of food. Fabric part comes off for washing easily and dries on the line quickly so it can be ready for the next meal. No legs (like a normal high chair) so you can easily put newspaper underneath and throw the whole lot away after a meal. Food smooshes on the front fabric part but it wipes down okay.