Did your baby have a fab Rocker / Bouncer that is/was fab

[Freyfreysmum]

We are searching the web for a rocker for DD2 Due Oct, and have too many to choose from. For DD1 we had the Think Pink one from BabiesRus which was jolly pretty but the reclining feature required a PhD in CDT to use, and the velcro that the toys were attached on with was useless, and overall never used to entertain her for more than 5 minutes. Do you / did you have one you can recommend as brilliant? xx FFM

DD had a basic Mothercare one when she was tiny but once she grew out of that we got her the BabyBjorn 123 Bouncer. Quite expensive initially but she was still using it at gone 2.5 (when it becomes a toddler chair). We'd have bought it sooner had we known! I sold it on Ebay for almost as much as I'd originally paid for it.

I recommend a bouncy chair with a vibrator and good toy bar. Ours was the fisher price jungle one. Vibrator, toy bar and neither created enough combinations for a good variety to keep him occupied. If you can't go for that, I'd say any bouncy chair that your child can sit in and watch you eat will give you peaceful meals (most of the time). That may not be the be all and end all, but it certainly helps!! But - only lasts until about 9 months, then we got the blow up doughnut.

We have a Fisher Price Link-a-Doos rocking seat which is very good. It has a vibration function and my son loves being rocked in it and often goes off to sleep (great for me to get housework and stuff done). It also has a fold out bar to stop it rocking if required (to keep it still for feeding, etc when they get a bit older) and can be used up to toddler age. It has a toy bar with removable toys that my son is just starting to be interested in though they dont keep him occupied for very long at the mo! Also although they are a bit expensive (£40 - £45) they have a good resale value on ebay if in good condition.

Only downside we have found is that there is no head support for very small babies. We have had to pad it out with a blanket to stop my son slumping over while he is in it and at 16 weeks he is only just beginning to support himself to not need the extra padding.

yes- the fisher price linkadoos is great!

We had the Fisher Price Kick and play bouncer - it has a kick pad which makes the bar above light up and play music. Also has a vibration function, but is quite upright so DS couldn't get cosy in it for naps after 6 months. He now has a fisher price newborn to toddler rocker - it reclines and is great for naps - TBH, I wish I'd gone with that from the start, so my vote goes for the rocker.