Nursery product reviews
£139.00
Ickle Bubba Orb Review
Finding the right highchair for your little one can be a bit of a minefield – there are so many styles and designs to choose from. We have the Ickle Bubba Orb highchair in for review – let’s take a closer look and see what it has to offer.
Nursery Product Review
Ickle Bubba are better known for their Stomp Travel System, but have now branched out and produced the Orb highchair. Contemporary, fresh and elegant, the Orb seems to be a feature packed product, and here at Mumii we are excited to have this highchair in for review.
What’s in the box?
Orb base and leg, seat unit with harness and seat pad, food tray.
Price
The RRP of the Ickle Bubba Orb Highchair is £139
Colour options
Frame available in white or black.
Seat pad available in red, pink, yellow, lime, blue and purple.
Ickle Bubba Orb Material
The Ickle Bubba Orb has a plastic base and seat unit with a metal leg for support. The metal sections do make this a fairly heavy product, but as it is not one you are likely to be moving around too often it’s not really a problem. The base slides easily on laminated/vinyl flooring so it is easy to move when cleaning or moving furniture.
The seat pad is made of a rubber type material – soft enough to support a small person, and very easy to clean. The seat pad attaches by simply threading through the harness straps. It is not fixed in place, so you can easily remove it for cleaning or to make more seat space as your little one gets older. There are 2 height slots for the shoulder straps to make for a comfortable fit for most children, and the harness itself can be adjusted with the simple slide of a buckle. The Orb harness also comes with soft shoulder pads for comfort.
Ickle Bubba Orb - Using the highchair
Using the Ickle Bubba Orb is fairly straightforward. Nothing is difficult to use. The recline is accessed by 2 buttons just underneath the seat – you need to press both to recline – not difficult but a tad fiddly as you need 2 hands to press the buttons – you may need to use your arm to push the seat. The tray can be attached by just sliding into the 2 holes on the side of the seat. To adjust the tray, find the 2 buttons on the side of the tray and pull outwards – the tray will then slide backward or forwards, so you can adjust to the desired position that suits your baby. Again you need two hands as opposed to a single-handed adjustment feature. To remove the tray altogether, push in 2 small buttons beside the holes where you attached the tray, and pull off. This allows you to sit the highchair up to the table so your tot can join in with family mealtimes. You can adjust the height of the highchair to make this easier too – this is achieved by turning the knob on the frame leg and adjusting the height as necessary.
The real beauty of this highchair comes in the 360 degree rotation. By just pushing in a small button at the rear of the seat, you can turn the seat around in 90 degree turns, meaning there are 4 seating positions available. This is especially useful when trying to take your child out the highchair – just swivel them around to face you and lift them clear. It gives you a much greater degree of flexibility. You can also adjust the footrest too, with the simple squeeze of a button before sliding the footrest up or down – there are 2 positions available which should suit tiny tots and older toddlers.
For storage, you can also fold down the base of the Orb highchair. It's not the smallest fold in the world, but it certainly makes packing it away for a while a much more palatable option. Just release the catch under the seat and the triangular frame section will fold down onto the top of the base, leaving you with a flat, wide fold.
Ickle Bubba Orb Conclusion
I really like this highchair. The 360 degree rotation has to be my favourite feature – it makes lifting children in and out a lot easier – in a similar way to the rotating car seats. It is easy to use this feature, and it is one I would like to see on other highchairs.
The seat itself is reasonably generous in size, and should be suitable from the early weaning days, with the soft seat pad for support and comfort. In the event your child needs more room, you can remove the seat pad to give more seating space. The harness is easily adjustable and plenty big enough for toddlers.
The recline is the only feature that is a bit fiddly. It does require two hands to press the buttons on either side of the frame – this then leaves you with no hands free to adjust the seat angle. I just nudged it with my arm to achieve the desired position as it does move very smoothly, but it is a bit of a fiddle, and a one handed recline mechanism would make this a much easier feature to use.
I am a big fan of highchairs that serve more than one purpose, so the fact that the Orb can be used with the tray or pulled up to the table for family mealtimes is a big hit for me – it gives it a longer life span. It is not the cheapest highchair on the market, but at £139 it is much cheaper than similar looking models, and I think you would easily get a few years worth out of use – plus you could happily use for more than one baby too. In my opinion it is worth the investment.
If you are searching for the perfect highchair for feeding time, I would recommend checking out the Ickle Bubba Orb – it has a lot to offer!
We give the Ickle Bubba Orb 4.5 out of 5 stars
Join Ickle Bubba on Facebook and Twitter
