Your baby is going to love sitting in something. A bouncer, a floor seat, a little throne they can survey the kitchen from. Here’s what we actually used across two kids.
BabyBjörn Bouncer
I brought this thing into the bathroom every single time I needed to pee, shower, or exist as a human for more than 30 seconds. Hands free, baby happy, phantom cries silenced because I could literally see him right there.
There are like four different BabyBjörn bouncers now (Bliss, Balance Soft, probably a new one by the time you read this). They’re all basically the same thing. Get whatever one you like the look of, or better, whatever one someone will hand you for free.
I would never pay full price for one. BabyBjörn markets this as a seat your kid will use until they’re three. They will not. Yours will love it for the newborn months, maybe use it sporadically after that, and it’ll be in a closet by their first birthday. Which is fine (those newborn months are exactly when you need it most). But $200+ for something with a six-month shelf life? Find a friend who’s done with theirs. Check Facebook Marketplace. They’re everywhere because everyone’s kid outgrew it.
Put it on your registry. Let someone else buy it for you. And then when you’re done, you get to be the friend who gifts it to the next person. Circle of life.
Ingenuity Baby Base 2-in-1
This is the one we liked better than the Bumbo, especially for Mouse. It’s a little wider in the leg, which meant we could use it longer. And the tray stores right under the seat, so it could be a seat or an eating surface or a play surface depending on the moment. One product, three jobs.
Bumbo
The Bumbo is fine for a window of time that is shorter than you think. Especially if your baby runs big. Mouse was bulkier than Cleo, so he outgrew his noticeably faster. One day it fit. A couple weeks later he was Hulking out of it.
If you get one, know the shelf life is short and it gets shorter the bigger your kid is. When they start leaning or pushing themselves up and out, it’s done. Not “almost done.” Done.
A Note on Elevated Surfaces
Someone in your house is going to want to put one of these on a counter or a table. These seats feel useless at floor level (we exist at grown-up level), but it is dicey. Be intentional and communicate with anyone watching your kid about what’s OK and what isn’t. Rules change fast because babies change fast.
Our Yikes Experience: Cleo fell off a kitchen counter in her Bumbo at 18 months. Evan and I were away on a trip, and the adult watching her looked away for a minute. We hadn’t used the Bumbo in months because we knew she was too strong and could tip herself over. This caretaker didn’t realize that. We hadn’t talked about it.
Cleo is fine, but I cannot describe the terror of your toddler going to the ER, screaming with a black and blue and bloody face over FaceTime, as you spend the ten longest hours of your life getting home to her as quickly as you physically can. We almost chartered a plane. Had a pilot on standby while we waited to hear what the neurologist said.
She is 100% fine. But truly it could have been life-changing, and it was entirely preventable. The failure was ours. We didn’t communicate that the rules had changed.
When your kid hits a new milestone, when they outgrow a seat, when something stops being appropriate, tell everyone. Your partner, your parents, your babysitter. Say it out loud.
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Part of our Newborn Survival Guide.