I have been looking for a good stool for my son (15 months old) to help with hand washing and other sink/counter level activities. The Learning Tower is advertised as "a safe platform for children to work on projects at countertop levels. Sturdy and durable, constructed from wood and is adjustable to three levels," which sounds great, but costs $150+. Is it worth it? If any of you have one/have used one, I'd love to know what you think. Thanks!
I think it's worth the investment if you have the space. You might look into the towers that fold up. Since you are getting it while you child is still young, you will have many years of use out of it. Get the cheapy ones for the bathrooms but invest in this one for the kitchen since they will be standing/cooking in it longer.
I have heard that it's great and worth the money, but that it takes up lots of room. If you have a small kitchen to start with that's something to consider.
If I were you, I'd go with a simple step-stool from Walmart. They sell them for about $10, I think. We've got a 3-yr-old son, and we have 3 step-stools. One is a Cars step-stool from Dollar General ($3) and he's never fallen off of it. As long as the step-stool is tall enough to reach your counter and has nonslip grips on the bottom, it'll do fine. No need to waste $150 on something you could find much cheaper and will do as good a job. Put the other $140 into a savings account for him to use for college. :)
A. W.
Rushville, IL
I bought a step stool at Wal-Mart and it was under $10.00 for my daughter when she was around 2 1/2 years old. She is now 6 years old. It is plastic and very sturdy. Does a 15 month old need a step stool? I use Wet Ones to clean my 19 month old son's hands.
$150 seems a bit outrageous for what is basically a step stool. You could buy several Rubbermaid ones for that price!
That seems like a crazy amount to me. When I was little, my parents went to the hardware store and bought a step stool that allowed me to reach the sink, I still have that step stool and now my daughter uses it. I would suggest not getting a collapsable, those always make me nervous anyway. Other than that, don't think that some brightly colored, over priced step stool is some magical better option. It's all marketing.
I wouldn't spend the money on it. Despite having 3 levels, I doubt you would really want a 15-month old on the top level, anyway. We have one cheap stepstool from Wal-Mart that we use in the bathroom to wash hands. If we are in the kitchen, I can either pull a chair up and help my daughter, or we work at the kitchen table and she sits in her booster seat. That is where we make our cookies, etc.... so that I don't have to worry about her falling off anything.
I love our tower! It allows our kids to stand at kitchen counter level safely and it can be adjusted as they grow. It is big and expensive, but I am really glad we bought it.
