Team Smith Baby Buys: Baby Bjorn Bouncer Seat

When I was pregnant with G-Man, I must've read literally hundreds of posts about the "essential" baby gear and spent hours upon hours curating the perfect registry. Even though most moms admit that every baby is different and there really aren't any magic bullet products, I was still obsessed with finding the right gear. When you're sitting around expanding with every blink and counting down to the birth of your first child, it's pretty easy to convince yourself that the right amount of research will somehow guarantee a happy little one. 

I'm saying all that to let you know that if you landed here looking for baby recommendations, I really do totally get where you're coming from. After reading so many high quality reviews when it was my turn, I decided to pay it forward into the universe and do a series on my favorite baby buys. I feel like it's time to share what I've learned and vouch for the gear that worked best for our little guy. If we're going in order of usefulness, I knew I had to open with my current lifesaver, the Baby Bjorn Bouncer.

This thing is a workhorse that has made it into every room in the house. It's crazy lightweight and keeps G-Man at an angle where his neck is totally supported, but he can look around enough to feel like he's part of the action. My favorite use is during bath time. I was terrified when I heard that moms never had time to shower and knew that I had to find a way to break that stereotype. When I wake up in the morning wreaking of spilled milk and baby spit up, I run a bath and put the little guy in the bouncer right next to the edge of the tub. I can steal a solid 15-20 minutes in there getting clean and relaxing with my coffee while he bounces next to me and listens to my terrible singing. Bonus points go to the striped navy and white shower curtain that he discovered at 7 weeks and can't stop staring at!

The reason I like the Baby Bjorn Bouncer instead of a lot of other cheaper choices is it's longevity. It has three different heights so that baby can progress from lounging to really sitting as he gets older, and then it flips around and converts into a toddler seat. I'm already drowning in baby gear so I don't like having things around that are only good for a few months and then need to be stored in my tiny apartment.

Look how much he's grown in just a few weeks!

 

Then there's its simplicity. There are no lights, music or toys and it's truly just a "plain" seat. I agree that there's totally a place for those kind of distractors when you need them, but I'm a big believer that the whole reason to elevate baby and let him look around is so he can engage with the real world around him. I want him to look at our faces, stare at that striped shower curtain that he loves, and also have a chance to chill out. The seat rocks gently with his own movements so that he's stimulating himself instead of being artificially engaged by lights and toys. We realized pretty quickly that G-Man gets over-stimulated fast, and this way I don't need to worry that his seat is actually making his problems worse instead of winding him down. If your baby requires more stimulation and engagement, they do make a gorgeous attachment of wooden toys that you could add later on. Who knows, we may end up with one in a few months if G-Man starts to get bored.

Remember when I said it's been in every room? Now that he can see a bit further (around 8 weeks old) we place him in it right at our feet when we're eating dinner. We chat with him while we eat and occasionally use a foot to give the seat an extra bounce. He can still see our faces, and the lack of crying means that momma gets to eat with BOTH hands. After weeks of dumping rice in my lap and dripping soup on his back as I held him through meals, eating two-handed basically feels like dining at a 5 star restaurant. 

I've got the cream and brown right now, but I am so, so tempted by this rust orange. I was all about being neutral when I was first shopping, but honestly the crazy colors overtake the house pretty quickly and that cream isn't exactly stain resistant. The black would've been neutral and hidden those diaper blowouts a bit better, so maybe learn from my mistake and go darker. If you do go for a lighter color, don't worry too much as the entire fabric piece just slips right off and goes straight into the washer.

I know it seems pricey for a seat that "does nothing" as my family liked to say in mild sticker shock horror, but it's honestly been my number one lifesaver. Part of the investment that felt right was knowing that even if it took baby 3 or 6 months to warm up to it, the seat has such a long life span that it wouldn't be a waste of money to miss out on a few months of use.


==> Check it out here at the best price on Amazon

What was a lifesaver for you as a first time mom? Or give me some advance warning and tell me about the best tips and tricks once you've got more than one rugrat under foot! 

And stay turned for more of my Team Smith Baby Buys.

*Note: these are my genuine opinions on products that I really own and love. I do use affiliate links with Amazon and will get a small fee if you decide to buy a product from here. I loved reading reviews during my pregnancy and just hope to trumpet products that are working for us!