Comments on this post

1. elz says:
   
   

   My SIL have a Mamaroo for my newest nephew & they love it. Mine didn’t use a jumper (but my niece LIVED in hers), both of mine had a crazy looking bouncy chair, swing, and excersaucer. We dealt with it because 1) they were HAPPY and quiet and AHHH, 2) there was no choice. I know there are lots of people who make their homes look like children don’t live there but we aren’t them. Our bouncy chair and swing were in our living room because that’s where we were. I never really minded their design; it’s their house too after all. I’d be worried to walk into a house with kids and not see anything that indicated a child lived here. In fact, once you enter our home, one of the first rooms you come into is the girls’ playroom. BEST decision I ever made.
   elz´s last [type] ..It’s a Mystery

   28. September - 6:38 pm
1. bethany actually says:
   
   

   We never had a swing for either kid. Annalie liked a swing we put her in at a friends’ house a couple of times, but we had a really small house and tried to cut down on the baby stuff as much as we could. Mostly she got very upset if I wasn’t holding her 24/7. So I held her a lot.

   We didn’t have a swing for Elliora either. We just kind of never got around to buying one, probably mostly because we never got used to using one for Annalie. Elliora also wanted to be held, by MAMA ONLY, 24/7. So she spent a lot of time in the Ergo, which leads me to…

   When you’re in the market for a baby carrier, get yourself an Ergo! They’re expensive but worth it. I wish I’d had one with Annalie. We had a Baby Bjorn we used with her, which she liked, but I couldn’t use it once she weighed about 13 pounds because it was hell on my back. The Ergo, on the other hand, is amazingly comfortable, and it’s adjustable so Troy can use it too. I like the idea of using cloth slings because they’re really simple and easy, but the fact is, the Ergo is much, much more comfortable to wear.

   We have a combo bouncy seat/rocking chair (you fold the bar thing underneath and it becomes a rocker for toddlers) that we used very little with Annalie till she was older and used it as a chair. Elliora used it every time I was in the bathroom taking a shower or whatever, but she didn’t like it much.

   It really depends on BoB’s temperament, whether you’ll need a swing only, or a swing and a bouncy seat, or neither. Some kids love those things and some kids hate them (mine mostly disliked them because they wanted to be held).

   And Elz is right; you will find that it’s all about doing whatever it takes to make the baby HAPPY and QUIET. :-) Unless you’re blessed with an exceptionally mellow baby, in which case it probably won’t matter much and BoB will just go with the flow. And I totally, totally understand your thinking of not wanting a bunch of baby crap all over the house; and it’s entirely possible that you will manage that just fine. But don’t be too surprised if you look around your house six or seven months from now and realize that the primary-colored plastic crap has multiplied and taken over your lives. :-) It’s not a given, I know people who do keep it from happening, but it does tend to happen to most parents. And the funny thing is, you don’t even really mind, even though you swore up and down you weren’t going to let it happen. (Not that I, um, speak from experience or anything here.)
   bethany actually´s last [type] ..she’s got a brand-new smile

   28. September - 7:05 pm
1. Nanette says:
   
   

   Oh, I tried the “no baby-looking stuff in our place, yo!” approach. That didn’t last long. Heh.

   We loved, loved, loved the Fisher Price papasan swing. It’s the only place my gal napped (other than on me) for the first 4 months. I got it used on Craigslist, and even picked up another one to keep at Grandma’s.

   We didn’t have a bouncer, but I already know that with our eventual next one we’ll get one of these – http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Newborn-Rock-Sleeper-Yellow/dp/B002M77N22/ref=pd_cp_ba_pw_1
   Nanette´s last [type] ..Portland perks

   28. September - 7:36 pm
1. regan says:
   
   

   We are lukewarm on the mamaroo over here. For me she’ll chill in it for maybe 10 minutes. For Jason she’ll go an hour. I have no idea why.

   I would say to plan for one place to put BoB on each floor of your house at first. Then see what BoB likes and buy whatever else you need based on that.
   regan´s last [type] ..status: incomplete

   28. September - 7:53 pm
1. Erin says:
   
   

   We solved the baby gear issue by just borrowing stuff- the swing was fabulous, but we didn’t need it after she was 5 months so we returned it to the friends who’d lent it. If you don’t have someone to borrow from you could find it at one of Portland’s great re-sale shops (Piccolina & Bella Stella are wonderful) and then pass it on when you’re finished. The bouncer is only useful til the baby can sit up, but until then it was really, really useful to us- it enabled us to shower and eat, both semi-cruicial daily activities. The exersaucer was great for when I needed to cook dinner (from 4-9 months), but we’ve passed it on to a neighbor baby now so it is no longer cluttering up our basement.

   Now we just have a bike, a wagon, and quite a few toys in the living room (but that’s because her room is teeny tiny and there’s no other storage space in our house). For toys that are fun & beautiful and not just plastic crap we’ve had great luck with Spiel Werk, Kids at Heart and Finnegan’s.

   28. September - 8:16 pm
1. Melissa says:
   
   

   We also thought we would confine the baby stuff to the baby room only. What we didn’t realize was that when you do that, YOU spend all the time there so that you dont get anything else done anywhere in the house (dinner made, showering, letting the dogs out, etc). We didn’t have a mamaroo, but we did have a fisher price lamb swing in our upstairs family room and a bouncer in the bathroom (It was $20 from target and had an owl and two other critters on it. I could shower, dry my hair AND put on make up.).

   You may care now how your house looks (I know we did), but a happy non-screaming baby and clean hair will become more important to you.

   Our baby is 20 months old. We recently moved a soft cloth bin of toys from her room to the family room. She leaps into the bin, calls each creature by name, and shrieks with joy when she finds what she is looking for. Would I want to miss that because her toys are only in her room and our family room is immaculate? No!

   29. September - 4:29 am
1. Isabel says:
   
   

   I can not figure out why all bouncy chairs and swings and walkers have to be HIDEOUS and full of colors and shapes and animals?! Dude, can’t someone make one in plain black?! Here’s my opinion (since you asked):

   Buy (or borrow) a cheap bouncy chair. My babies LOVED theirs and even then they only fit in them for a few months. It wouldn’t have been worth it to buy something expensive and super fancy. Just one that vibrated a little.

   We had a (borrowed) swing with Babboo. It was super short and folded down to fit under our couch when not being used. He liked it, but not enough for me to actually buy one or even try to borrow one for Rerun.

   It sounds like you are a lot like I was when I was pregnant…I wanted to get everything bought and put together before I had the baby. The King, on the other hand, kept telling me to “STOP BUYING EVERYTHING” and while it pissed me off at the time, I’m glad he said that. Honestly, every baby is different and you really will be better off waiting until after BoB is born to buy all the gear. I promise.
   Isabel´s last [type] ..In which we take our kids to Germany

   29. September - 7:25 am
1. Mama Bub says:
   
   

   We had both a swing and a bouncer and these are just so baby specific, it’s hard to say what will work. My son LOVED the swing and just tolerated the bouncer, while my daughter loved the bouncer. The bouncer is nice because it’s easy to move with you from room to room to have a baby placing spot. I would like to highly recommend, if you get a swing, GET ONE THAT PLUGS IN. Those things burn through batteries that you wouldn’t believe.
   Mama Bub´s last [type] ..Quick!

   29. September - 7:25 am
1. Mary says:
   
   

   My experience is that every kid is different about the gear. Some love [insert item here], some hate [insert item here]. My son put up with the swing for awhile, but never loved it. He loved the bouncy seat for about a week (only the vibration portion, no actual bouncing), and then hated it with the fire of a thousand suns. Once he was big enough he LOVED the exersaucer, but was luke warm on the jumper. One good option for reducing the clutter is getting the travel version of the swing- take up much less room and can be folded when not in use. I also had an exersaucer that folded flat. Anything that is capable of being stored easily is worth it’s weight in gold!
   Mary´s last [type] ..Daily Goober 9/29/11

   29. September - 10:51 am
1. Jimmie says:
   
   

   We have the Bright Starts Ingenuity Cradle & Sway swing in Briarcliff from Target. It’s still babyish, but not as offensive as many of the patterns/colors out there. Zoey LOVES it, and we still use it regularly at almost 17 lbs and 6 months old. I hear that many babies have a preference as to which way the swing “swings”, per se, (i.e., traditional back-and-forth or the cradle left-to-right motion). I don’t think my kid cares, but our swing does swing both ways (he he he), so that’s a nice option.

   As for bouncers, we have two…and only used one. We got the Bright Starts Ingenuity Grow With Me Rocker in Turtle Dove from Amazon. That one really *isn’t* baby-looking, so I LOVED that. Unfortunately, Zoey didn’t care much for that one. What she really liked was the Fisher Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker in Princess Mouse (Amazon). Ugly, yes, but very functional. It fully reclines and turns into a little bed nest, of sorts, for newbies, and sits up like a “big girl” chair for older babies. Still using it, and it’s still one of her favorite places to hang out.
   Jimmie´s last [type] ..Ten on Tuesday

   29. September - 11:23 am
1. HollyLynne says:
   
   

   I’m not hip to the Mamaroo, I did manage to find an inexpensive bouncer that I thought was cute though (http://reviews.fisher-price.com/6194/47790/reviews.htm). We used our swing (the matching one, Fischer Price Woodland) a grand total of once, to try it out. It sits in storage now, practically brand new.

   An inexpensive bouncer is for sure worth having . . . ours was used rarely but was very handy on those few occasions (somewhere for Rhys to sleep semi upright when he had a cold, somewhere for him to sit while I showered, etc.) The swing, however, can wait until you meet BOB in person and can decide if the constant motion thing would be soothing to her and/or handy for you. No need to invest in one from the get go.

   (There I go assuming BOB is a girl again . . . )
   HollyLynne´s last [type] ..Halloween Wreath

   29. September - 12:18 pm
1. Hollie says:
   
   

   I have a friend that returned the Mamaroo about two weeks after the baby was born she hated it. As for the bouncer I didn’t get one at first either but after my husband went back to work and I was left home with the baby I couldn’t figure out how to take a shower. So we went and bought one of the cheap ugly fisher price one’s at Target. It allowed me 20 min of sanity each day. I left it in the bathroom so the only person that saw it was me. We also got the Fisher Price lamb swing Faith took every single nap in that swing until she could flip herself out of it. I could not for the life of me get my child to nap anywhere but the swing or on me and since its not feasible to work FT and have a baby sleep on you all day long I was thankful for the huge ugly lamb thing in my living room :) My house looks like a bomb went off every single day but after she goes to bed we pick it all up and enjoy a few hours of peace in a semi-adult looking house!!! Basically you will do anything and buy anything to keep your baby happy.

   29. September - 3:05 pm
1. Melissa says:
   
   

   I have some sad news – most kids are either a bouncer or a swing kid, and you won’t know until he/she gets here. If you can beg, borrow or steal one of each, that’s a good start.

   My son hated the bouncer seat (we had the hideously patterned yet affordable Fisher Price “Rainforest” one) with the fire of a thousand sons; the swing, on the other hand, was one of two places he would sleep (the other being in our arms) for the first 3 months of life. I owe my sanity to the Fisher Price papasan sheep swing
   Melissa´s last [type] ..Pretty Gets a Face-Lift *Site Under Construction*

   29. September - 5:25 pm
1. Melissa says:
   
   

   Oops – I meant “suns”, not “sons”, but that kinda works too. Tee hee.
   Melissa´s last [type] ..Pretty Gets a Face-Lift *Site Under Construction*

   29. September - 5:27 pm
1. Shelli says:
   
   

   It need not be fancy, as ling as a swing swings, and a bouncer bounces, you’re golden. Also, don’t get too much until wee one is in your home for a bit, as in reality, all babies are different, as, for example, Malka LOATHED the swing, and Noah Matan practically napped in it exclusively for the first 4 months.

   When really wee, all you need is a swaddle, some dipes, some onesies, and a boob (if you go that route) ;)
   Shelli´s last [type] ..Here’s what I wrote…

   30. September - 7:44 pm
1. Heather says:
   
   

   I’ve heard over and over that you never know until baby’s here (which is the most frustrating answer!, so I’d suggest borrowing one or making sure there’s a flexible return policy so you can make sure baby likes it first. :)

   3. October - 7:20 am
1. Anna says:
   
   

   I’m echoing what most are saying here; it’s hard to know what your baby will like. We had booth a swing and a bouncer (both hand-me-downs) and my baby would tolerate the bouncer for showers and first thing in the morning, but not for long periods of time. The swing was a godsend as it was the only place he would nap that was not on my person. He didn’t really want to hang out in the swing much, but he would take naps in the swing.

   My advice is to burrow what you can to try out various contraptions and when you find something your baby likes, splurge at that point.

   I also want to echo the vote of support for the Ergo! My son lived in that thing his first year. I could take him absolutely anywhere strapped into the Ergo and often he would take a nap in it while we were out and about. It is very comfortable and can be used as a front pack, or a back pack (although my baby always hated being on my back).

   4. October - 1:59 pm