I am torn with my review for this item because I have liked it for a few months now for my daughter. She is able to get up herself and enjoys watching me do things in the kitchen. I thought that the reviewers saying their kids were falling out maybe just weren't paying attention or the kids were using it improperly. Today my daughter fell out the side while I was standing right next to her. She went to sit down but her butt went out the open side and she fell backwards butt first and hit her head hard on the tile floor. I was on the shapes side so I was close to her. Its so quick and easy to fall out that I wasn't able to catch her. The open sides are dangerous. I think there should be some sort of bar or handle. Even if it were on a hinge or something to keep them from falling. The concept of this is great but the open side is just too easy to fall out of. My husband is going to try to remedy the side to make it safer, until then it has been moved into the garage to prevent any further falls.
Got this after my back spasms were so bad it left me unable to stand straight. It came yesterday and our 18-mo old loves it! My back loves it even more since I no longer have to hold her while trying to do anything in the kitchen!
My husband added 3 latches and a bungee cord on one of the open sides to minimize fall risk.
I am writing this review 5 1/2 years after we ordered this stool. I've always heard it referred to as a "Learning Tower," which isn't in the description, so hopefully including the words here will help people using that search term.
As for the tower itself, I know it's expensive. Before we made our purchase, I agonized over it for weeks, wondering if we would even use this thing. I'm here 5+ years later to tell you that it's the best kid-gear purchase we ever made. My husband agrees. Our daughter basically lived in it for about three and a half years. We placed our tower on the far side of the bar in our kitchen, and if my husband or I were cooking, washing dishes, putting away groceries or sorting bills, our daughter was in her tower, keeping us company. She would color or play with toys or actually help with kitchen chores while she stood there. If I was baking a cake or rolling out pie dough, she was right there, across the counter, helping. This tower helped us spend *hundreds* of hours together that we would have missed out on otherwise, and I can not recommend it highly enough.
My daughter is older and taller now, and no longer needs the safety and security provided by this stool. I'm not generally sentimental about furniture, but we had so many wonderful memories of her, standing at the counter in her tower, that it took me a little while to let go of it. After a year in storage, we recently sold it online to a local couple with a young child of their own. It's extremely durable and was still in great shape, and we were able to sell it for more than half of what we had originally paid for it, which says something about how well it retained its value. But even if it hadn't, it still would have been worth it.
We bought this over 6 years ago and it was one of the best kid purchases we made. We bought it when my son was 2 and used it daily for years. When our daughter was big enough to stand she started using it too! Both of them would stand in it to dye eggs, bake cookies, or help with dinner. I loved having them up and secure. When it was not being used it stored folded up in our pantry. So many great memories were made with our kitchen helper!
My son LOVES to cook with daddy and my husband has been having to baby wear him. It was starting to hurt his back so I got this and it is amazing. My son had so much fun being at the counter with daddy and my husband was able to cook easier not wearing him. Feels super sturdy and stable and love that I can fold and store in the closet. Great product!
So after you are done choking on the price- really consider it because it's great. My toddler is probably the clumsiest kid on earth and falling off stools was a problem for us.. This one is great! He hasn't fallen off it yet! It's super sturdy and gets right up against the counter with no gap. He gets on and off it really easily, the cutout shapes make it easy for him to grab on and hoist himself up. We resisted buying it for some time because holy dolllars, but now that we finally caved, I wish we would have done it sooner. Barely any assembly was required, just putting the little feet on, I handled it in no time and "assembly" really isn't one of my skills..
Mixed review. Loved it. Got it when our son was about 18 months. He/we have really used it a lot. Integrates him into our activities cooking, etc. He's now 2 1/2. Last week we were in kitchen and all of a sudden he went crashing to the floor. The entire bottom fell out. He wasn't hurt, just frightened. We don't open/close it often - it's more or less stationary. But all of the screws were stripped! Had to throw it away. Love the function but hate the quality. Having said that, we're actually buying another (insane right?). We need it unfortunately. We'll just have to keep our eyes on it this time. Chairs are way more unsafe.
I’ve been waiting ages for this to come back in stock, and ordered as soon as I saw it had. There are so few folding kitchen helper/learning towers on the UK market. This one is perfect! It comes assembled (add the feet if you wish, but I left them off for space storage purposes) and it’s very sturdy. It is clearly well made, and worth every penny in my opinion! My 22 month old loves it and I know we will get many years out of it. I do wish I had been able to order it in white, but am happy enough with the colour as it is.
Fantastic piece of kit and I thoroughly recommend to anyone with a toddler. My two year old LOVES it and so enjoys feeling involved in things in the kitchen, even just things like washing up (although her 'helpfulness' is a work in progress, ha!).
The fact that it folds away when not in use was a big factor in my decision to buy, as our kitchen is tiny and therefore space is at a real premium. We just don't screw the platform down and it still appears safe as long as the other latches are secure.
The little blackboard and whiteboard on either side are an added bonus, but to be honest she has so much fun in it, that so far she hasn't really noticed them!
Worth every penny.
Absolutely love this product. Bought it for my 2 year old who is cooking mad! He loves climbing in and out of it and helping us. It’s perfect
I don't ever write reviews but I had to for this.... Absolutely amazing in all ways. Delivery is always great with Prime. There is no assembly- I haven't put the feet on- as I want it to be as close as possible to the kitchen worktop... My 22 monther absolutely loves it and she uses it to help me cook, do the washing up (well her version anyway!) and eat at sometimes too... Brilliantly made, sturdy, easy to wipe off food and water marks. Can't fault it!!
Very stable and serves the purpose. It takes a bit of space, even when folded, but it was great buy overall. Child uses it everyday and loves it.