A baby bouncer was, for us, an essential playtime toy for Lily. My darling younger brother bought this particular bouncer for her as her 'welcome to the world' present on my recommendation. I had seen it in Babies R Us and loved the fact it was so colourful, came with some nice little toys and the addition of sound and vibration. All at a pretty good price point too, as some of the baby bouncers seemed to be really expensive despite not offering as much!
As you can imagine, we were a little disappointed when we first put Lily in the bouncer - at just a few days old - to discover that she didn't share our enthusiasm! Fast forward to now though and it's a whole different story. She absolutely loves it! In hindsight - and having looked back at pictures we took of her in the bouncer - she was just far too little to enjoy the experience of being in the bouncer in the early days. The poor wee thing nearly fell through the little seat she was harnessed into. No wonder she cried!
I would say for the first month or so the bouncer was simply used as somewhere to put Lily in to let her sleep. At such a young age the toy bar, which comes with four detachable toys, or the sound or vibration function (the bouncer plays a medley of melodies which can be accompanied by a soothing vibration) held no real interest. But as soon as she started to become more alert and aware then the bouncer really came into its own. She's gone from staring at the toy bar in bewilderment, to tentatively reaching out for them to now tugging, pulling them and bashing them together. The vibration feature sometimes has the ability to send her to sleep; at other times I am sure it must feel quite nice, a bit like her own personal massage chair. And mummy can entertain Lily clapping and singing along to the melodies. Ironically we rarely bounce her in the chair. She makes it bounce when she is wriggling in it, but for the most part it's really a comfy chair for her to sit in which comes complete with its own entertainment station.
The bouncer has a number of benefits. Firstly it is lightweight which means that we can move it around the house with ease. That means that Lily can sit in it wherever we are in the house. Often she sits at the end of the dining table while we are eating. She sits next to daddy in the study when he is on the computer. And of course she will happily sit in it in the living room. As it is easy to transport I often take it back to my folks when we are visiting.
The toy bar is great and comes with four very different toys to entertain Lily; a green frog teether, a mirror, a purple rattle ring and a soft turtle. These toys can be moved into different positions on the bar for a bit of variety. It's also easy to attach other small toys you may have to the bar. We've done just that with a purple rattle. It hangs down a bit lower so Lily can not only reach it with ease but also give it a good gnaw (yep, she's teething!!)
The bouncer is also easy to clean - a must have should your little un decided to reject some milk (as Lily often does!) - and an important consideration should you choose to feed your little un in the chair in the early weaning stages (as I know many mummies have done when their babies aren't ready for a high chair). The good thing about this chair is that I am sure the pretty pattern and blue colour would disguise the odd stubborn stain more than a lighter coloured bouncer would.
With your baby's safety paramount, I often strap Lily into the chair if I need to leave the living room to do something. I know that she is safely harnessed in, occupied with her toys.
This is one product which I can hand on heart say I could not do without and when Lily gets too big for it - as she will eventually do - I will certainly be able to say she got good use out of it. A must buy in my opinion.
© 2011 Sharon Marie Denman
