So what's so bad about bumbo seats?

[shoedweller]

A colleague of my husband made a remark that we shouldn't be using one and that I should know better because I'm a doctor. DH never dug deeper to find out what the problem is. I use when baby needs a burp and I need my hands free briefly to deal with older two.

how long would you recommend as a short period, MsHighwater? no more than 30 mins?
I can see the value of them while feeding the baby but using them for longer periods concerns me.

I live in the states & the reason they recalled them here was because of stupid people putting their kids up on the work top or on a table in the Bumbo & then leaving them there & a few kids who were strong enough to move the bumbo by straightening their legs & pushing fell off the high surface. In my opinion it should be the parenbts that are recalled not the product, LOL. They recalled them as they didnt have a warning label on them to say not to put them in a high counter so they gave people the option to put a sticker on saying " Do not use on high surfaces" . My younger 2 used teh Bumbo for short periods of time & LOVE it. It was a real help to my younger son who wore a helmet for Plagiocephaly, the place he went to to get the helmet actually recomend them. They are fine for short periods of time like everything.

they aren't very good for spinal development.

Thanks for the detailed explanation thumbwitch. That makes sense to me.
I will continue to use it as before - only for max 10 mins at a time.

The bad thing for me was the cost then the dawning realisation that my 4.5 month old's thighs were too big to go in it. He's now 7 months old and has sat in it 3 or 4 times because his thighs really were too big to go in it.
I think mine will be on Ebay soon

Haylstones- How annoying. I have a friend who used a wine box to help her child sit. When she was almost sitting but toppling it was just enough support. You just cut down one of the narrow sides for them to look out of. When people ask what on earth he's doing in a wine box you can say "he's maturing."

Lol.
He actually started sitting up unaided at 5 months so I didn't really need it anyway!

Well, mine was an complete waste of money because by the time DD could sit up in it, she could flip herself out of it - she didn't want to sit still. If you are buying one, get it second hand - it's the type of product that is just as good on it's 2nd or 3rd owner. I personally didn't get on with it at all (the bastard thing).

thumbwitch, I don't know how long my dd actually tolerated it for but I do know that, if she had had enough, she used to let me know. I doubt it was ever longer than 10 or 15 minutes.

bought one for ds2 - and sold it again very quickly as at 4 months (their suggested minumum age) he could flip himself out of it backwards. But then it did coincide with him learning to crawl (@ 18 weeks) and I don't think being made to stay still, even if it was sitting up, appealed to him much.