Bloom Baby Fresco Review

When we first started Isabelle on her weaning journey we had a high chair that wasn’t really supportive of her so we resorted to feeding her a lot in her Bumbo seat but it wasn’t practical at family meal times. When she was finally able to go into her high chair we were disappointed with the support and functionality, I couldn’t remove anything to wash and as a result of this, food built up in the little nooks that I couldn’t get to. Along with this the seat was in one position only, there was only one height setting and although she ate her meals with us she still had to sit away from the table. We wanted her to be a part of family meal times so she could interact with us. The final straw came when after 3 months of use the seat material ripped along the side of the chair at the seam, since the material was what gave the seat its shape and stability she could no longer use the chair. A little disappointing to say the least

Then came along an offer I could not refuse, we were offered the chance to review the Bloom Baby Fresco I was delighted, having made no secret in the past of my love for innovative and stylish baby gadgets; this one really is the cherry on my cake.

Behold. The high chair that I have lusted after and yearned for, the Bloom Baby Fresco

There’s no doubt about it, the Fresco looks stylish and wouldn’t look out-of-place in a celebrity penthouse. The unique almost egg/pod like shape of the seat is what caught my eye first, followed by the variety of vibrant colours and Micro-suede and leatherette upholstered seat inserts. We were sent the white seat unit with the colourful Rosy Pink insert which I love, its bright and fresh. I believe you can purchase the seat inserts separately to,  so you can change them to suit your mood, room decoration or even if you have another child as it is suitable from birth. It is a very contemporary looking chair and I very much doubt that the design would date so would be suitable in my kitchen for years to come.

The day finally came and a parcel arrived, there was no doubt as to what the item was. I wasted no time in setting up the chair, I wanted it out of the box and operational as soon as possible (I don’t like to wait).  Armed with all the components and a rather large user manual I was a little overwhelmed. The user manual made the set up out to be more complex and the longer that I looked at them the more puzzled I became. On the brink of giving up and waiting for my partner to assist me when he arrived home from work I looked online, maybe there were others that had the same problems as me? I discovered that there were and to my luck I found tutorial videos on how to set up the Fresco. Whilst watching the video I realised what I had to do when I was following the written instructions and it made everything a lot clearer.  I soon had the chair built and ready to go in the suggested position for Isabelle’s age,  she was very eager to test out her new contraception and clambered into the seat. It is certainly one of the best looking high chairs available on the current market in my opinion.

Now how can you use a high chair from birth I hear you ask, well they have been rather clever at Bloom Baby HQ and developed the Fresco to adapt as your child grows. Starting out the seat unit fully reclines to form a very supportive newborn resting cradle. You can also purchase the newborn snug which adds a little more comfort for your newborn.

When your child reaches the ages of 6 months you can than adjust the seat recline lever using a cleverly designed handle at the rear of the chair. From this the chair has further recline positions to suit your child. The seat features a multi position footrest that is easy to adjust as your child grows and a T-shaped safety bar that can also be removed.

What I love about the chair is that it grows with your child, when they no longer have the need to eat their meals in a high chair the Fresco can be quickly turned into a play seat with a maximum weight limit of 79lbs.

Isabelle is always comfortable in the Fresco and has no protests about being seated in it. On a few occasions she has even fallen asleep whilst eating and remained in a comfortable position due to the supportive shape of the seat. I have also found that unlike other high chairs, I do not have the problem of placing Isabelle into a cold seat which I have discovered in seats with the plastic wipe down materials.

The Fresco is fully height adjustable with the pneumatic-assisted seat which provides easy lift height adjustment allowing infinite positions with very little hassle involved.  The chair itself is very sturdy and the height can be adjusted to suit various tables around the home.

It features a lockable 360 degree swivel base with safety lock for ease of access but will not spin freely so your child is in a secure position.

The large (62cm diameter) solid circular flat base with has two enclosed castor wheels to allow you to move the chair without having to lift the entire unit or scraping along the floor, it adopts a simple “lift and glide” technique.

The high chair can be used with or without the use of the trays which is great for us as Isabelle can sit at the table with us at family meal times. The fresco comes with choice of two trays, a super-sized adjustable feeding tray with 3 positions to move away or towards the child for comfort which features a deep lip to help prevent the risk of spills. The tray is very easy to remove for cleaning and it is also dishwasher safe and made of FDA compliant food contact grade plastic. Then you have the smaller tray which we use as a play tray whilst Isabelle is waiting for her lunch or dinner, it also proves useful for when we have had to remove the larger tray after dinner for cleaning.

Now for safety, the Fresco features a fully adjustable 5 point safety harness, I was amazed as to how adjustable it was. Isabelle is quite dainty so we always struggle with harnesses being too slack on their lowest setting but the Bloom Baby Fresco did not let us down and we can adjust the harness with ease as she grows. Did I mention the harness has comfortable colour matching pads? No…well it does. Again I was pleasantly surprised as they were very padded to ensure maximum comfort. The Velcro padding covers up the buckle so she can’t pinch her fingers or undo her strap and they can be removed for cleaning. The straps are secured in place inside of the storage compartment.

All the surfaces are wipe clean on the Fresco but have found that there are little nooks and crannies that seem to attract food, especially where the safety bar and the lower harness clip connect to the seat. Again this it not a problem for me as they are both easy to remove in seconds so I can give them a quick wipe as I am cleaning down the chair after every meal. Having toddler that feeds herself means that we have a lot of mess and the chair is certainly put through its paces at feeding times but we still have a chair that looks as good as new even with heavy use for the past few months. Although the seat materials are removable they are hand wash only but they come up looking lovely as new each time I take them off to wash.

One of the great features of the Fresco is the storage department which is located underneath of the seat insert, here you can find the spare parts to convert your seat so they can always be found and also store your instruction manual.

One of my main concerns was the rather large footprint of the Fresco as it could not be collapsed and folded for easy storage but I haven’t found it to be a problem even in my small terraced property. The chair is also heavy but I very rarely have to move it and when I do I don’t notice the weight due to the castor wheels and it glides smoothly across my floors.

 The Bloom Fresco does come with a rather large price tag which made my poor partner choke on his tea, but after explaining that the chair was suitable from birth up to the age of 5 years he got his head around the fact that we would get a lot of use out of it and the price tag didn’t seem to be too much of an issue. I’d consider paying £100s on a pushchair that I probably wouldn’t use past the age of three so why not a high chair?

So overall, I fell in love with this high chair and will be using it for years to come and despite the cost I would certainly recommend them to other parents. It is an outstanding high chair with state-of-the-art features which incorporates the functionality that you would expect from a top end high chair. For me, enabling your child to sit at the table is a real perk by allowing them to enjoy a meal with the rest of the family, this is why I love the Bloom Fresco.

[widgetkit id=3163]

The Bloom Baby Fresco is available to purchase with prices starting from around £270

For more information please visit http://www.bloombaby.com