2026 Winner: Mockingbird 2-in-1 High Chair
A high chair built to easily wipe clean, with silicone-coated straps that don't stay gunky, a dishwasher-safe tray liner, and a solid beechwood frame that converts to a child chair as your kid grows.
Mockingbird High Chair, 2026 Best of the Year Award Winner, Courtesy of Mockingbird
If you dread the daily cleanup that comes with feeding a baby, the Mockingbird chair was built for exactly that mess. Its harness straps are coated in food-grade silicone, so instead of scrubbing gunky woven webbing you wipe them down, and they come off to machine-wash for a deeper clean; the tray liner is dishwasher-safe, too. It sits on a solid beechwood frame, assembles without tools, and converts into a child chair once the high-chair years are over. At $249, the chair, tray, tray liner, and placemat are all in the box.
It's a gamechanger if you're starting solids and dreading the cleanup that comes with a new eater. It features wipeable surfaces instead of fabric pads and nylon straps that stain, and it keeps its place at the table after the purée years by converting to a chair your child still uses. It fits smaller, early eaters best, and it's a convertible high chair rather than a seat that reclines for newborns, so it pays to match it to the right stage.
Standout Features: Why It Won
The silicone straps solve a real problem. Instead of woven webbing that soaks up every meal and never looks clean, the harness wipes off, clips shut with a magnetic buckle, and comes away to machine-wash for a deeper clean.
Cleanup doesn't stop at the straps. Smooth wipeable surfaces and a dishwasher-safe tray liner mean you're not disassembling and scrubbing after every meal.
It grows with your child instead of getting replaced. The chair converts from a high chair into a child chair, so it holds a place at the table well past the baby years.
The build is solid, not flimsy. A solid beechwood frame with FSC-certified legs and BPA-free plastics, and, per the brand, food-grade silicone straps.
Everything you need comes in one box. At $249 the chair, tray, tray liner, and placemat are all included, with no add-on modules to buy separately.
Mockingbird High Chair
View on TargetHow We Tested
Mockingbird provided the high chair directly to evaluators, with distribution coordinated by Best of the Year. Two consumer testers used it at home with their own children during everyday meals, while three expert judges also assessed the chair through hands-on use. Families evaluated its overall quality and performance, ease of use and likelihood to recommend, and shared what worked well, what they would change and where they felt the chair fit best.
Expert judges looked closely at how easily the chair cleans, how the silicone straps and buckle perform through repeated meals, its fit and adjustability, tool-free assembly, materials and the safety standards it meets. Best of the Year analysts and editors also reviewed the entry, submitted materials and safety credentials alongside the judges' and families' hands-on feedback before reaching a final decision.
What Experts and Consumer Testers Said
Cleanup is where this chair won people over. One judge didn't dress it up: she found it "not heavily fabric'd, so it wipes down easily, and the silicone straps are so much easier to keep clean than woven straps that get gunky." The rest of the chair follows the same logic, she noted, wipeable surfaces, a removable dishwasher-safe tray liner, and adjustable feeding angles she called innovative, plus a foot support that's a smart touch for babies learning to feed themselves.
“It's not heavily fabric'd, so it wipes down easily, and the silicone straps are so much easier to keep clean than woven straps that get gunky.” -Best of the Year Judge & Parenting Category Expert
It held up on the things that matter once the meal is over, too. Our reviewers described a well-built, good-looking chair that suits smaller homes and grows with the child, and more than one came away impressed by the value for a premium piece. One judge who used it at home with his own kids put it most plainly: "Well made, sleek, easy to use, and especially clean. Other high chairs have been a disaster to clean; this is by contrast very easy to wipe down. We love it." He counted the convertibility, the way it grows with the child, as another plus.
"Well made, sleek, easy to use, and especially clean. Other high chairs have been a disaster to clean; this is by contrast very easy to wipe down. We love it." -Best of the Year Consumer Tester
The guidance here is really about fit, not quality. The chair is best suited to smaller, early eaters: a center bar can make getting a larger baby in and out a little trickier, and because this is a convertible high chair, it doesn't recline for newborns. The bigger unknown is simply how it will age. We haven't lived with the silicone straps for years of daily meals yet, though they're designed to be wiped or washed clean and easily replaced if needed. For now, the everyday appeal was pretty clear. As one parent put it, "The wipe-clean materials take the daily hassle out of it."
Best of the Year Bottom Line
If you want a high chair that doesn't turn every meal into a scrubbing session, this is one we'd recommend. The wipe-clean silicone straps solve a problem the whole category had shrugged at, the rest of the chair cleans in seconds, it converts to a child chair as your kid grows, and at $249 with everything in the box it's strong value. Match it to the right stage, it's ideal for smaller, early eaters and converts to a child chair, and it holds its spot at the table for years.
Mockingbird High Chair
View on TargetWhy Trust Us?
The Best of the Year Media team comprises award-winning editors, analysts, subject-matter experts and consumer specialists who have built their careers helping people make smarter, more confident decisions. With deep expertise across consumer lifestyle categories, our team brings decades of experience evaluating products, brands and services. Our recommendations are grounded in rigorous evaluation combined with expert judgment and consumer insights, giving readers trusted guidance on products, services, and experiences worth bringing into their lives.
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