swing vs. bouncer vs. playmat vs. jumperoo

Jazzra369

There is no end to the amount of stuff to buy, that's for sure.

I'm looking at swings, bouncers, playmats, and jumperoos.  What do you all, especially you experienced moms, think about all this stuff?  Do we really need one of each?  I keep hearing stories about how one baby would only sleep in the bouncer, or this other baby who was colicky and needed a swing to sleep, and so on.  I live overseas and am trying to plan ahaed, since I have to buy everything online.  So what are all of you buying?  What do you recommend?  Thanks for the advice.

Athina09

Carabiner252:

There is no end to the amount of stuff to buy, that's for sure.

I'm looking at swings, bouncers, playmats, and jumperoos.  What do you all, especially you experienced moms, think about all this stuff?  Do we really need one of each?  I keep hearing stories about how one baby would only sleep in the bouncer, or this other baby who was colicky and needed a swing to sleep, and so on.  I live overseas and am trying to plan ahaed, since I have to buy everything online.  So what are all of you buying?  What do you recommend?  Thanks for the advice.

w/DD I used all of the above.  The bouncy seat I was only able to use in the beginning first few months...she got big and then I was worried she would try to move to much and fall out of it.  It was GREAT when I had to shower, do the dishes or house chores...she would sit there and watch me.

the swing was fabulous...she loved her swing....to play in or sleep sometimes.

playmat...she loved her playtime on the mat.  we also used it for tummy time.

jumparoo....I got the walker instead not the one that just bounced.  ours had "breaks" that you could keep stationary or later when she would walk around.

HTH

where do you live? my parents are from europe...they live there...mom is Greek and father is Italian.

Athina09

I think I answered my question...I saw your siggy...ciao bella! ITALIA! My father is from and lives in Capri

ashee

We have everything you mentioned.  My DD and DS don't really care for the swing.  I was tempted to get a new swing this time around for DS but decided not to.  If I did I would have gotten the graco sweatpeace as it's more of a glider swing. 

Love the bouncer, so did/does both of the kids.  I put it in the bathroom when I take a shower so I can kept a watchful eye on the kids.

Love the playmat, it's great for tummy time.

We have the fisherprice rainforest jumperoo.  You could probably do the excersaucer instead.  It took awhile for my DD to figure out the "jumping"  she would just twirl around to all the toys around it.  

lolaxlove

We have a swing, bouncer, playmat, and jumperoo. Honestly, we could have gotten by just fine with only a playmat. We've used the bouncer probably twice and the swing a handful of times, if I had to do it over I would have not bought either of those. We just started using the jumperoo and DS seems to like it, but we don't use it a ton, maybe twice a week. He LOVES his playmat though, he'd play on it for hours if we left him there.

groovygrl

We have all of them & use all of them (I have twins tho, so maybe more need for a stationary safe space more of the time.). The one thing I think I might do differently (it was a gift tho so whatever) is the jumper- we have a baby einstein one and like pp said, they seem more into the toys than jumping even at 7 months b/c it is hard to jump in- it has springs instead of stretchy stuff. At daycare they have the kind w/ stretchy stuff & they jump like crazy! I would like to get a doorway jumper. 

Another thing I didn't really think about but will be getting (for use on first floor) b/c they love it at daycare is one of those walker things.  

Athina09

groovygrl:

We have all of them & use all of them (I have twins tho, so maybe more need for a stationary safe space more of the time.). The one thing I think I might do differently (it was a gift tho so whatever) is the jumper- we have a baby einstein one and like pp said, they seem more into the toys than jumping even at 7 months b/c it is hard to jump in- it has springs instead of stretchy stuff. At daycare they have the kind w/ stretchy stuff & they jump like crazy! I would like to get a doorway jumper. 

Another thing I didn't really think about but will be getting (for use on first floor) b/c they love it at daycare is one of those walker things.  

 

those door jumper things scare me....my nephew had one and it got loose...luckily he was o.k., but after that I will never even think about getting one...they freaked me out before that happened and definitely confirmed my fear after.

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Athina09

Carabiner252:

Wow, thanks for all the great tips, everyone!  I guess I have a lot of shopping to do - good thing I love shopping... 

Athina, yes, I am in Italy!  I'm an American here for the military on a 3 year assignment.  Getting pregnant while being here was a surprise!  But still great news.  I've been here just over a year and a half and so far I like it a lot.  The food and the wine are just amazing.  And we have taken little trips all over Europe - London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Sicily, Berlin, Oktoberfest, Barcelona, etc.  Kind of a once in a lifetime experience!

That's awesome! Make sure you make a stop in Capri and be sure to head over to Greece!!

ashopaholicmom

We are starting with the bouncer and swing. I'll pick up a playmat a few months in and then decide on the jumperoo or not.  They didn't have the jumperoo's when DS was little, so I'm kind of excited about that one.

staryeyes

Do you have enough space for all of that where you are?  When DS was a baby we lived in a tiny urban apt and had a bouncy seat and a playmat that we kept under the couch unless we wanted to pull it out.  I originally had a travel swing but he was not a fan, so I put it away and just used a bouncy seat (turns out he liked the swing going the other way...so if you do choose a swing I highly recommend one that goes front/back & side/side).  A jumperoo is something you can wait on for 5 months.  We got a Graco doorway jumper instead of a giant jumperoo and it was a lot of fun without being giant (less shipping, I would imagine, too).  You can skip a playmat and just do tummy time on a blanket with some of his favorite toys and a mirror.  I know all this gear is life-saving for some, but that's a lot to ship overseas and you really can get by without everything the Target registry list says!

Have a pistachio gelato for me!! 

mrsjohnny

I'm only purchasing a bouncer and an activity mat. I haven't bought the bouncer yet, but I love my activity mat -  Shangrila Multi-Sensory Activity Mat by Kushies. 

If you are interested I have pictures and a review on my blog. HTH!  

amberwildcat08

So far the only thing I have is a bouncer, I'm waiting on the swing for if he doesnt like the bouncer or until he out grows it, and the play mat I'm holding off on til he's around 5 months.

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Bride2bMO

You don't "need" any of it, but I absolutely enjoyed having all items you listed. In order of importance for me: swing, bouncer, jumperoo, playmat. I loved our playmat but I could've gotten by without it if I had to. Swing, however, saved my sanity with my colicky baby.

yourmomwreckedmybike

I like the idea of convertible baby toys. I want to get the Fisher Price swing that converts to a bouncer and then to a toddler chair. That way, it isn't a pointless buy if baby doesn't like swings, but likes bouncers.