Regular readers of this weblog will know of my love for the Stokke Kinderzeat. And if you're new here, I'll tell you now: we have it, and we love it.
Except that we've never been able to figure out how to adjust the length of the safety strap. For the first year, it was amusingly snug. Now it's becoming oppressively tight. We talked it over and decided that we'd rather let our kid keep eating and growing, even if it means she'll never be on the cover of Cookie Magazine, and so we'd like to loosen the buckles and lengthen the straps from their original setting.
Does anyone know how to loosen the buckles on a US-spec Kinderzeat? On the off chance that your staring at them for a few minutes will be more productive than our staring at them for two years, here's what they look like.
[And before you ask, yes, I contacted Stokke, but I haven't heard from them yet... Maybe I should've told them my backup plan: to post my complaint on a prominent parenting website.
Buy your own Stokke Kinderzeat from babystyle or amazon, $199
Looks the same as my Canadian version.
On the back of the buckle there is a locking bar that the strap fits around. You need to push it toward the front of the buckle which releases it's jaw from the strap. Then you can feed the loose end of the strap through the buckle until you have the requisite slack for your toddler.
Tension will make it lock back into place.
We also really dig our kinderzeat.
Thank you!!
I dig my Kinderzeat too, or I should say my Tripp Trapp, since it's the European version we got when we were living in Belgium. I used to think it looked cooler than the Kinderzeat because it has a wooden safety bar with leather strap instead of the fabric straps, but now I think it's a pain since my 15 mo has been climing out of it regularly since she was just under a year old since the bar is obviously not adjustable.
We have the European version with the wooden bar, but we've always used a set of reins to hold our daughter in. She was able to climb into it herself from about 12 months old and now that she's 2, we've removed all the bars and straps.
Child two is due in 8 days, so we're going to have to buy a second chair.
To all your KinderZeat/Trip Trap experts. What is the best configuration to get for a baby that is ready for a high-chair:
- Tripp Trapp vs. KinderZeat?
- Cushion?
- Does anyone recommend the trays you can attach to them?
Best, Florian
[from the beginning--6 mos or so--we didn't use the cushions, only the straps, and pushed the chair up to the table. Several EU/Tripp Trapp message boards had suggested the cushions weren't necessary. I agree; they'd just be a matter of preference. -ed.]
What's the difference between a kinderzeat and a tripp trapp? I have the kinderzeat for my now-5 year old and we're buying the same chair for our 2 year old. It looks like tripp trapp is being phased in and kinderzeat is phasing out--Is that right? We're happy with our kinderzeat and want another one that matches. The kinderzeat we have is "cherry" but it looks like that is now "rosewood" and "cherry" is a light-colored wood. Is that right?
I'd be grateful for comments. Thanks.
[hmm, I don't know how it goes at the finish-level, but the kinderzeat and tripp trapp are the same thing, just different branding. Here's a link about the switch. -ed.]
Suzanne, this is a very belated response, but we purchased the Cherry ZeatSeat for our dd 5 years ago and the Rosewood KinderZeat for our son last year. They're the same finish and the same chair. I hate rebranding!