When to stop using?

helloaustin123 · January 2016

When do you plan to stop using items like - Rock n Play, Bouncer, Swing?

My LO is almost 12 weeks and we currently use swing sometimes (but I think I could retire this one), Rock n Play for naps downstairs (would like to switch to crib naps by 4 months hopefully), and we rarely use the bouncer anymore. Is three to four months a good time to kind of retire some of these items and primarily use activity mat?

I know those items have weight limits that seem to go pretty high so you still could use them for a while technically, but I'm speaking more for development purposes of when you should think about stopping use.

Pontot31 · January 2016

My daughter sat in her rock n play daily to take her bottle when I was at work until she was about 10 months old. It was habit for her and she liked being up off the floor and even with the couch. She also went into it when I showered. She could rock
it herself and sit up in it even when strapped in.

The bouncer she also sat in until maybe 6 months. My MIL has one that transitions to a toddler seat and she still tries to sit in it at 4 years old.

The swing she actually enjoyed until past a year old. She was probably too big for it but I work partial
overnight shifts and we coslept and many nights she would wake up when I left at 3am and the only way to get her back to sleep was the swing. Around a year she stopped waking and we put the swing away.

I say the baby will tell you when they no longer like something. If they're content it in keep going. If they've grown out of it and or don't like it then put it away. I don't think you'll hurt their development in it.

kmd91 · January 2016

This is my first, so I can't speak from experience, but I have to agree with PP. Just go with it and when baby no longer likes it, then that's when it's time to retire that item. I honestly wouldn't worry about development at all, because as they get older and are wanting to play more and such I think you'll find that you naturally use those items less.

Honestly, I think the biggest thing I use as parenting strategy (if you want to call it that) in all areas is never get too caught up in planning, especially planning ahead. Every kid is different, every kid develops differently, likes different things, dislikes different things, grows at different rates, so on and so forth. If you get too wrapped up in "I think we should be done with the swing by X age" and the millions of other things you can plan out, you can easily drive yourself crazy. Babies don't care too much about our plans.

helloaustin123 · January 2016

Great points guys!!!

VexedMommy · January 2016

The way that you're using an item now may not be the way you use an item for an older infant. Think of things like the boppy. You can use it as a nursing pillow in the beginning, then as a prop for tummy time, then as a help in sitting upright and even later as a floor pillow (toddler age.) With my first she got bored with the bouncer when she became mobile, but was fine to sit in it in the bathroom while I took a bath or a shower.

cdepperschmidt · February 2016

I've been thinking about this a lot. I was considering retiring the swing. LO rarely uses it now that we're back at work and it takes up too much space. But then this weekend he took 3 naps in it and one was two hours, so we'll keep it out. We use our bouncer daily. The RnP never got much use. He slept in it when he was sick. I'm going to wash it and lend it to a friend who is due in April.

smnewby · February 2016

VexedMommy said:

The way that you're using an item now may not be the way you use an item for an older infant. Think of things like the boppy. You can use it as a nursing pillow in the beginning, then as a prop for tummy time, then as a help in sitting upright and even later as a floor pillow (toddler age.) With my first she got bored with the bouncer when she became mobile, but was fine to sit in it in the bathroom while I took a bath or a shower.

I second this. Our LO has been crib sleeping for the past 6+ weeks. Luckily we didnt toss out the rock n play because now she has a little cold and the pediatrician recommended sleeping at an incline (& a humidifier) so we got the dust off the rock n play and LO is back to sleeping and napping in it.

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