Joovy Nook Review
Price $129
BUY NOWFor the Joovy Nook, they took the customer feedback from the original Nook and made some cool changes — gotta love a company that listens to parents!
Joovy Nook Review — at a glance
The biggest pros: A swing-open tray, you guys!! I was saying someone should do this for years before anyone did… And the Nook is VERY portable.
The biggest cons: Lots of nooks and crannies for food to find its way into — and that some users find hard to clean — and a seat that’s fixed at a slight recline (i.e., you can’t adjust the incline on the seat at all).
Anyway.
The main difference between the OG Nook and the New Nook is the larger, adjustable tray (no more cup holder). The tray can slide (front to back) as your kiddos grow while also reducing the “food fall potential” from tray to mouth (for self feeders). Joovy also gave the Nook a little style update: a newer, modern look.
Assembly/Fold
There is no assembly. Whhh-aaaa? You heard me. Just pull it out of the box and pop that puppy open. Take off the packaging, and you are ready to eat.
Yes, the Nook folds up-oh-so easily: a simple pull of the lever and it collapses right quick — tray and all. Throw it in your trunk and head off to Grandma’s (and relax, she won’t get upset about her seats getting dirty from the baybeeees).
Cleaning
I was skeptical about the “leatherette” seat cover and the straps being easy to clean, but I was happily surprised. My kids are some messy eaters, and these straps wipe clean with just a dishcloth. The seat does have seams and crevices, but it’s also relatively easy to wipe down (to the ground… for the dog to eat…). <— Nod if you’ve been there.
If things get really dirty, you can remove the seat cover and throw it in the washer. It does take some time and effort to remove the cover, but sometimes you gotta do it.
The tray has a nifty tray cover, too, which pops off and goes right into the dishwasher; in other words, you don’t have to take this big huge tray off to be washed.
That said, many parents complain how difficult the chassis on the Nook is to clean — and it’s true there are many crevices where food can get jammed and… stuck. This isn’t a problem unique to the Nook, but you should know about it. Some of the Amazon reviews are pretty colorful.
Features
The Nook accommodates growing toddlers up to 50 lbs. The seat is “leatherette” with a five-point harness. (You cannot adjust the incline, see more on this below.)
Like I said before, the best thing is the one-handed, swing-open tray. Makes me do backflips, I tell ya.
I can successfully carry both my twins to their chairs, put one in, close the tray, and then put her sister in the other chair. The girls can even close the tray on their own (but can’t open it!). My mom has issues with removing the tray on our other high chair, so she was really excited about the easy swing tray (a win for grandparents everywhere).
Note also that the trays are large enough to fit a toddler placemat (our fave is the ezpz mat) on the tray.
Another point: the Nook is 31″ from ground to tray, which is a little too high for us to pull the tray-less chair up to the table, though it might work if you have a tall table. But especially with the removable tray insert, I actually prefer cleaning it rather than my table.
My big hang-up with this one is the slight recline of the seat: it doesn’t sit completely upright. My girls have taken to the gangsta lean-and-relax-while-eating position; they even put their little toes up on the underside of the tray (not necessarily bad, but not exactly good either…). Because of the recline, the Nook is for the 6-month+ crowd, who should have upper body control.
Bottom Line:
I really like this high chair. For the price, it looks great and has tons of nice features. The modern design and different color options give it an elevated look in a sea of junky-looking baby gear. The easy-wipe seat (and straps) with removable tray insert and the one-handed swing tray make it worth the money in my book. The compact fold makes it easy to store anywhere, especially in tight spaces. Heck, you can even travel with it. But cleaning the chair itself can be difficult, and the seat’s slight incline is something to consider.
If you like the look of the Nook, but would also like to be able to recline the seat (for younger babies) and adjust the height of your chair, Joovy also makes the popular Foodoo high chair.
BTW: Joovy has great customer service — and a 30-day no questions asked return policy. Also comes with a 2-year warranty/guarantee (and by then you should be on to a booster seat, hah).
Twin win: Joovy offers parents of multiples a lifetime discount; just call them at 877-456-5049 or email [email protected]
See Also: Twins
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I just put this on my baby registry for our first little one! Mostly for the swing-open tray; I haven’t seen it anywhere else and all my friends who are already parents have said the tray-while-holding-kiddo struggle is real. Also we are staying in our small apartment for the time being so I like the easy, compact, self-standing fold to help us avoid getting totally overwhelmed by baby stuff. My husband is still not totally convinced we shouldn’t get one with more height and recline adjustments, but I would think that before solid foods, we’d always be holding the baby to bottle- or breastfeed anyway. Any thoughts from current parents on any of these fronts would be much appreciated!
Hi Claire! Tell your husband I agree with you 😉 . You can use another “baby holder” that you will already have if you need a place for the baby to hang out while you eat. Bouncer, swing, etc. Then once you are ready for solids it is fun milestone to get out the highchair. Plus the features you really want are the ones that will make mealtime easy, the others are more nice to haves. Congrats on your pregnancy!
Really its easy to use and designed properly. the new feature is trey used to put the baby product in trey. Very flexible, feel more comfort, easy to Clean.
So I thought I would love this high chair, but the slight incline makes it impossible for my lo to sit up properly. I thought it would get better as she grew, but she looks so uncomfortable and is now 11 months old. The seat has lots of crevices too. It’s hard to take the cover on and off to clean. Also once it is opened up the base is giant and I trip over it. I love how small it folds and the tray, but wish I had gone with something more comfortable and easy to clean.
I thought I would love this chair, but the incline makes it impossible for my child to sit up comfortably to eat. We have tried it from 7 months to 14 months and she just slouches and struggles to sit up. Also it’s actually hard to clean the seat with all the ridges. Not a good every day high chair IMO.
I agree with you! This chair is a nightmare to clean! Bigs regrets!!!