Lalo vs Stokke Tripp Trapp: which chair should you buy?

Side by side

The rating rows are the honest version of "grows with your child", a phrase both brands use. Lalo publishes numbers: 30 lb in the high chair configuration, 50 as a booster, 250 as a play chair. Stokke publishes a design instead: a seat and footplate that keep moving, which is why the chair is still marketed for adults.

Longevity: read the 30 lb figure carefully

Thirty pounds as a high chair is not a criticism — it is roughly the weight of an average two-and-a-half to three-year-old, and it brackets the window most families actually use a high chair for. But it does mean the high chair stage ends, and what follows is the booster configuration rather than more high chair. The Lalo specification sets this out clearly, which is more than many brands do.

Stokke's argument is structural rather than numerical. Its own page sells the Tripp Trapp as a chair from six months with the Baby Set and leans on more than 50 years on sale; the seat and footplate relocate to new slots repeatedly, which is why the same frame ends up as a chair a teenager sits in. If you are weighing a premium price over a decade rather than over 18 months, that is the material point.

Honest cons on the Tripp Trapp: the Baby Set and harness are separate purchases, so the real price is higher than the headline one; the wood needs wiping rather than hosing, which matters if you are doing baby-led weaning; and there is no tray by default, which is a feature if you want table eating and an annoyance if you wanted a tray.

The tray is the real split

The Tripp Trapp pulls up to the table and the child eats off the table. That is deliberate and it is the right answer for a lot of families. It is the wrong answer if your table is a delicate surface, if you want to feed the baby away from the family meal, or if you simply want the mess contained in one wipeable rectangle.

Lalo includes a tray, it comes off one-handed, and it is top-rack dishwasher safe. Over a few hundred meals those are not small details. Everything on the chair is wipe-clean, which is where the design-led chairs usually lose and this one does not.

Honest cons on the Lalo: it is premium money for a design premium, the useful life as a high chair is shorter than a Tripp Trapp's, and it is sold direct to consumer — on the day we checked, some colourways showed as backordered, which is a real risk if you need a chair for a specific date. Returns through a DTC brand are slower than through a marketplace.

Safety: the same rules apply to both

Lalo states its products meet and exceed ASTM standards and are Prop 65 compliant. US high chairs are regulated under 16 CFR part 1231 and ASTM F404, explained by the CPSC, and the booster configuration falls under a different rule, 16 CFR part 1237 and ASTM F2640 — worth knowing if you plan to use the booster stage, because the CPSC's booster guidance is where the strapping requirements live.

Whichever you buy, the harness rules are identical and they are not optional. Per the AAP's high chair safety guidance, use the full harness including the crotch strap every time, and never treat a snug tray as a restraint — a child can slide down and out underneath one. Check CPSC recalls before buying either chair second hand, which is a live consideration with premium chairs because they hold their value and get resold a lot. Full list: the high chair safety checklist.

The verdict

Buy the Stokke Tripp Trapp if the premium only makes sense spread over years — it is the chair you are not replacing, and it puts the baby at the family table from the start.

Buy the Lalo The Chair II if you want a tray, wipe-clean everything and a chair that looks like furniture, and you are comfortable buying direct and possibly waiting on a colourway.

Buy the Abiie Beyond Junior if you want most of the Tripp Trapp's longevity argument plus a removable tray: it is a convertible wooden chair rated from six months to 250 lb with a footrest that adjusts independently of the seat. The budget version of this whole question is Stokke Tripp Trapp vs IKEA Antilop, and the full field is the best high chairs.

How we chose

Researched, not hands-on. Configurations, age guidance, weight ratings, materials, chair weight, tray behaviour and standards claims are quoted from Lalo's own The Chair II specification and Stokke's own Tripp Trapp page, both checked on 10 October 2026. Both chairs were confirmed on sale that day; Lalo showed some colourways as backordered, and the page says so rather than implying full availability. Independent hands-on testing of the category comes from Mommyhood101 and NBC Select, with the regulatory framework from the CPSC. Longevity per dollar is weighted heaviest here, because both chairs are priced as once-only purchases. Rubric: how we choose.