Camping Chair for a Toddler With Tray: 4 That Work

A camping chair for a toddler with a tray is one of two things: a free-standing kid-sized camp chair with a harness and a snap-on tray, or a folding booster seat that sits on the ground or straps to a picnic bench. The chair is for a child who can sit unassisted, usually 6 months and up, and the three specs that matter are a harness (5-point for a baby under a year, 3-point is acceptable for a toddler), a weight limit above your child’s weight with room to grow, and a base that stays flat on grass or gravel. Four chairs below cover the range from a 6-month-old to a 75 lb kid; none of them belongs near a fire, and none of them is a place to leave a child alone.

Two kinds of toddler camp chair

The free-standing chair looks like a shrunken adult camp chair: four legs, fabric seat, a harness and a tray that clips across the front. It sits the child about a foot off the ground, folds into a bag, and weighs 5 to 8 lb. The Baby Delight Venture is the common one. It works at a campsite with no table, which is most of them.

The booster is lighter (2 to 4 lb), sits directly on the ground as a floor seat or straps to a chair or bench, and has a tray that doubles as a play surface. The hiccapop OmniBoost and Summer Pop ’n Sit are the common ones. A booster on the ground puts a 1-year-old at the level of the dirt, the dog and the ants, which some parents mind and some do not; strapped to a picnic bench it is a proper high chair.

A third option, the folding full-height high chair like the ciao! baby, is a real high chair that packs to the size of a camp chair. It is the heaviest and the only one that puts the child at adult table height.

Harness, weight limit and ground: the three checks

Harness. A baby who cannot yet pull to stand needs a 5-point harness (shoulders, waist, crotch). A 3-point harness (waist and crotch) is fine once the child sits solidly and is mainly there to stop climbing out. Any chair with a tray and no harness is a chair the child will stand up in.

Weight limit. Boosters are rated 30 to 37 lb, which is roughly age 3. Free-standing chairs run to 72 or 75 lb, which carries a child to age 6 or 7 with the tray and harness removed. Check the limit against the child’s weight plus a year of growth; a 2-year-old at 30 lb outgrows a 30 lb booster this season.

Ground. Camp chairs are designed for floors. On grass, gravel or sand, narrow feet sink unevenly and the chair rocks. Look for wide feet or snap-on discs (hiccapop calls them duck feet), set the chair on the flattest ground at the site, and push down on each corner before the child goes in.

Four chairs with the numbers

Baby Delight Go With Me Venture

A free-standing camp chair with a 5-point harness that comes off as the child grows, a removable snack tray with a cup holder, a sun canopy on most versions, and a 75 lb weight limit, so one chair runs from about 3 months (as a supported seat) to a 6-year-old. It weighs 6 to 8 lb depending on the version and folds to roughly 7 by 9 by 26 inches. This is the one to buy if your campsites rarely have a table. Check price on Amazon

hiccapop OmniBoost

A 4 lb booster for ages 6 months to 3 years with a 3-point harness, a swivel tray that is dishwasher-safe, straps for an adult chair or bench, and removable flat discs on the feet for grass and sand. hiccapop does not put a child weight limit on the product page; check the label on the seat, and plan on the 3-year age cap. The tray is on the small side. Check price on Amazon

Summer Pop ’n Sit SE

A pop-open floor seat and booster, rated to 37 lb, with a 3-point harness, a removable dishwasher-safe tray and straps for a chair. It folds flat to about 17 inches and goes in a carry bag. It works from 6 months until the child can climb out on their own, which is the maker’s own end point. Check price on Amazon

ciao! baby Portable High Chair

A folding high chair that opens to 23 by 23 by 32 inches, weighs about 8 lb, holds 35 lb, and has a tray with a clear wipe-clean cover and a cup holder. Retailers disagree on whether the harness is a lap belt or 5-point, so check the listing for the current version before buying for a baby under a year. It is the pick for RV and car camping where 8 lb and a 34 inch bag do not matter. Check price on Amazon

Using one safely at a campsite

Never leave a child in any of these chairs unattended, even buckled; the whole chair can tip. Keep it at least 10 feet from the fire ring and out of the stove’s reach, since a tray is a magnet for hot cups and pans. Buckle the harness every time, including for a two-minute snack. Keep the chair out of direct sun or use the canopy; the tray and buckles get hot enough to burn. Wipe the tray before meals, because a camp table that was clean at 8 a.m. has had sap, bugs and bird visits by noon.

When to skip the tray

By 3, most children would rather sit at the table with everyone else, and a kids’ camp chair without a tray (or a cushion on the bench) is what gets used. The booster then becomes the thing you carry and do not open. If the child is under 3 and you camp twice a summer, the booster is the cheaper buy; if you are out every other weekend, the free-standing chair earns its weight.

Where the toddler sleeps after dinner is a different problem with stricter rules; see camping with a baby: where do they sleep. For the rest of the kit by age, including the cot that replaces the travel crib around age 3, see camping gear for kids by age and the best camping cot for kids.