Where Should We Put the Baby?

Before Jack was born, I figured we wouldn’t go hog-wild with the baby seats.  We’d have the carseat/stroller, a baby papasan, and eventually a highchair, and that was it.   How wrong I was…

We got the baby papasan at our baby shower, and we used it from day one.  It was great because he could lie in it before he had head control, and it was pretty secure when we belted him in.  It was light and could easily be moved to wherever we were, and the cover was easy to take off and wash.

Then Chris’s older brother and his wife sent us a Baby Bjorn bouncy chair.  Jack was too small to use it at first, but was soon able to sit up in it.  He ignored the bears in the beginning, but slowly learned to spin them around, and eventually learned to have a lot of fun with it.  I often put him in there facing the sliding glass door in the family room so he can hang out and look outside.

When Jack was two months old, we bought a swing in a desperate attempt to get him to nap somewhere other than in our arms or in the sling.  It took him a little getting used to, but it turned out to be quite a boon, and he took 2-3 hour naps in it.  We only used it for a couple of months, but during those months it was a lifesaver.  When I started transitioning his naps to the crib at 4 months, we more or less stopped using it.

Next up was the “Johnny Jump-Up”, a hand-me-down from my sister.  Neither of her kids really took to it, but Jack has a lot of fun in it (for varying lengths of time; sometimes he will hang out in there quite a while, and sometimes only a few minutes).  It’s been a handy place to put him while I’m in the kitchen (it hangs in between the kitchen and dining room).

When Jack was around 4 months, we purchased a highchair.  He didn’t start solids until 6 months, but he enjoys sitting in it when we’re having dinner, and it’s another good place to put him when I’m busy in the kitchen.  He doesn’t always sit with us at dinnertime; depending on a) when Chris gets home, b) how tired he is and c) how long it takes me to make dinner, we often eat after he goes to bed.  Also he is not always in the mood to sit in the high chair for a whole meal.  It was fun having him in the highchair this weekend when we had my family over for a BBQ; he sat in it for a while during dinner while we all ate in the dining room, and was entertained by his cousins.

Finally, there’s the Exersaucer.  This was a hand-me-down from a friend.  I put it in our bedroom upstairs and he hangs out in there while I’m in the shower.  (In the early days, I put him in the crib under his mobile while I was in the shower, but when we took the mobile out of the crib in an effort to get him used to sleep there, I stopped.  Then I put him in the Bjorn seat, which worked for a while.  The Exersaucer is great because it really keeps him entertained.)

We’ve moved the baby papasan and swing into the garage for now, but we are using the rest of them pretty much every day.