I have the ikea high chairs. The white plastic ones and I wasn't aware that there was padding but in any case I wouldn't buy the padding for what its worth. If I had a really tiny one who had difficulty sitting up then that would be different. I love that they clean really well and are easy to store. I have 4 right now and I take the tray off all of them but one and stack them on top of each other, placing the rest of the trays on the top chair. I used to have different ones but found that they are big, bulky and a pain in the ass to clean, and I wouldn't have boosters at my dining table for fear of damage and I also wouldn't want to look at them day in day out. As soon as my daycare kids can sit on a regular chair at the table and eat, they are out of the high chair, usually around the 15/16 month mark.