Nursing chair - do you need a rocker / glider?

[Annie2222]

Hi ladies, FTM here :) Hoping for some advice on nursing chairs as I have no idea what the best option is. I’m looking at the OBaby or Il Tutto glider / rocking armchair styles (as shown in the pic) but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere near SW London where I could try it out before investing £400-500! I’m worried it’ll be quite unsteady and difficult to get into and out of while holding a baby, and maybe a stationary chair with footstool is better? Or do people’s babies really love / need the rocking / gliding movement to be soothed? Def want a comfy chair but unsure if I need a moving one. Any advice would be so helpful! Thank you :)

I don’t think you need one but if you’re heart is set have a look on marketplace it will be full of barely used ones.

No of course you don’t need a rocker. I just had a high back firm chair which was fine. I probably would have fallen into a deep deep sleep in one of the big comfy ones!

a rocker might be nice though as sometimes you’re sitting for a while.

I would def be looking around second hand though, at those prices, and the short period of time youd be using it. You would also be able to try it first.

I got one and never used it, she always fed to sleep. I'm actually selling mine now after not using it for 2 years. I can imagine for some people they're invaluable though

This is probably the #1 baby item that you can definitely live without (closely followed by a changing table).

I don't know anyone who had one, and I never missed it. I did, like you, spend ages considering them though, the cost and where it would go, etc. Never thought of them again once baby was here!

See how you feel once baby arrives. I bet you will have forgotten all about it!

Definitely not. IKEA Strandmon with the footstool is great, I know so many people with one.

I used an armchair and a breastfeeding pillow. If baby hasn't arrived yet, I suggest to wait and see how you get on with the chairs you already have.
U shape breastfeeding pillow is essential though!

Second ikea strandmon chair.

personally I wouldn’t want a chair with moving parts around a small
crawling and toddle child, mine would have 100% crawled underneath and try and get his hand in moving parts which would be dangerous. Remember it’s not just for feeding tiny non moving baby. By 5-6 months many are already rolling around and starting to crawl. We still use the ikea strandmon in Ds room for reading every night before bed and he’s 3.5 years now. The chair will last years as it’s just normal colour

If it's a night feed, why would you want to get out of warm, comfy bed when you can just reach over and pick up baby from crib.

If it's a day feed, you'll probably either be out or sat on the sofa downstairs watching box sets anyway. Why would you want to stop what your doing to go traipsing up to the nursery to feed.

Early on they feed all the time, it's much easier just to feed wherever you happen to be.

Haha, I also disagree with a breastfeeding pillow being essential - I just arranged actual pillows and cushions around myself! Was easier than lugging a specific huge pillow around the house. But yes, some kind of pillow support essential in the early days. (Older babies can support themselves, if you stick at it that long).

And yes I didn’t buy the ikea chair until Ds was around 9months. Fed in bed overnight and downstairs daytime.

Only when he was old enough to start bedtime routine and nap in his cot. Then fed before nap and bedtime in chair. And then used it for reading. I wouldn’t have gone up to his room for every feed though, he slept in our room the first year anyway for night feeds, and daytime you feed like every 90mins so wouldn’t be able to only feed in chair.

I would say you don’t need one, but I got one (second hand maybe £50?) and I loved it, actually more for the toddler than the baby.
my older child still asks when we will get one again (it eventually fell to bits)

I’ve always just sat wherever I am. At home that’s sofas or beds, out and about, some recent highlights have included a garden wall and various bits of playground equipment as I follow DD1.

I wouldn’t waste money on special chairs or pillows.

Short answer, no. I love antiques and happened to have a Victorian nursing chair (with arms) that was crazy comfortable to breastfeed my newborn in the early days. But I didn’t use it once my babies had head control. As a preference I also like to feed lying down especially at night. A designated chair wouldn’t get much use because I feed where I am: living room, kitchen, coffee shop, bed or whatever.

@Labradoodlie agree with the feed wherever comment, I think my highlight would be the communion rail.

If you want one, get one, but no, you absolutely do not need one. As above, I just sat wherever, but a nice comfy chair for baby’s bedroom might be a good plan.

I got a lovely chunky armchair, originally from ikea, on Facebook marketplace for free from a local holiday let, super comfy! I’ve used it every night for the book and feed part of his bedtime routine since he was a month old. Before that, he was in his Moses basket by our bed so I just sat in bed to feed.

I just used a wingback chair that I already had in the bedroom and ordinary pillows. You definitely just bf whatever you are. Best/weirdest one, sitting in the Mayor's official chair at the local Council Chambers, when we went to register DS 1's birth.

You win @PurBal .

I have got a glider in my little girls room. She’s 2 next week and I’ve used it every day to have a cuddle/ read stories with her before bed. She can get on and off herself now so will sit on it to look at books by herself too. For us it was worth every penny especially helpful when she had colic as a newborn.

You don’t need one but they can be nice. I had a wingback chair with my first and picked up a nursing chair for £10 on Facebook marketplace for my second. I used it a lot, kept it in my room when baby was sleeping there and then moved it to their room with them. Fed them on the sofa in the day. I think the footstool was more useful than the rocking.

I bought a wooden basic rocking chair second hand in a charity shop. Yes I used it, no I didn't need it and certainly fed wherever. It was more useful for rapid(ish) rocking rather than pacing the floor with a grumpy newborn.

Here's a question - what happened to rocking cradles, the kind you see in nursery rhymes and fairy tales? I was very surprised to discover that they basically don't exist now!

Our moses basket was on rockers, but it kind of migrated across the floor while it rocked. I think some of the more complicated rocking mechanisms have been phased out due to little fingers getting caught.

I used an ikea chair as pp but only because I already had one, as it happened, DS hated anything touching his feet while feeding and would just refuse to feed. As soon as he was long enough to be able to kick the arms, any chair with arms was unusable for feeding. I’m don’t think we fed in the armchair past 6/7weeks.

This may be completely unique to my child, but I’d still say it’s worth waiting until baby is here to see if you actually need one.

You don't need the chair.

I used to feed sitting up in bed at night and on the sofa in the day.

Babies have enough crazy sleep associations to break later on without needing to be rocked in a specific chair 🙈 don’t do it.

Sorry no advice about what type of chair but I have to say I disagree with a lot of posters saying not to bother. I personally didn't have one but I wish I had. I bought an armchair from fb for £20. I spent so much time in that chair feeding to sleep at nap time and bedtime. I still use it when reading stories for my three year old and I've spent a long period pretending to be asleep in it so that she also goes to sleep. A rocking chair would have been amazing to help her drift off. If you have the budget then go for it!