Popular Baby Bouncers
By Klarna
How To Choose a Baby Bouncer
A baby bouncer is a great addition to your nursery and can be used to help sooth your fussy baby, just remember that they shouldn't nap or sleep in the bouncer. When choosing a bouncer there are a few things to keep in mind as there are many brands as well as big price range, with bouncers ranging for anything between £20 and £200, so here are some things to bear in mind when buying a baby bouncer as well as some popular favourites.
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Functions: Can the baby bouncer be folded up? Can the backrest be angled, and can it be changed between swinging and locked in a fixed position?
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Fabric: Is the material friendly to the child's skin? Is the fabric organic, and can it be washed or otherwise cleaned? Do the aesthetics work for both a baby boy and baby girl (if desired)?
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The bounce: If the bouncing action is soft or jerky, can the child get the baby bouncer to move and keep the bounce going, or do you constantly have to help?
BabyBjörn Balance Soft Mesh
The BabyBjörn's Balance Soft baby bouncer is a popular favourite. A good baby bouncer should be mobile and simple, and BabyBjörn has brilliantly combined those features. It's easy to fold the Balance Soft completely flat to store out of the way or take on trips. Moving it around the home is no problem either, and the size of the baby bouncer is flexible enough to work as a seat on the bathroom floor while you take a shower, even if your bathroom is small. The seat part is designed with a clear hollow for the baby's bottom, which allows the child to sit safely and solidly in the right position.
The baby bouncer can be inclined into three different positions, and it has a resting position that's good enough for the child to sleep comfortably. Attaching the child into the bouncer can be done both easily and silently. When the child is bigger, you can also reverse the fabric and use the Balance Soft as a little armchair. The bounce in BabyBjörn's baby bouncers are phenomenal. With one foot on the frame, you can easily get a good tempo going, and a bigger baby can set it going by themselves.
The BabyBjörn Balance Soft is made from a range of different materials, including a seat cover to keep the child cool in the summer and another in soft, luxuriously soft jersey and a mesh hood canopy. The cover can be completely removed from the frame and washed in the machine, which feels like a must-have given the target group's ability to make a mess. A toy bar can be purchased separately and attached to the baby bouncer's frame. Our test babies much appreciated this accessory, and we definitely recommend it. All of our testers agreed that the BabyBjörn Balance Soft is so good that even in their wildest imaginations they can't think of any room for improvement.
Pros and cons
+ Fantastic bounce
+ Easy to move and straightforward
+ High comfort levels for the child
- Expensive
Stokke Steps Bouncer
The Stokke Steps Bouncer is a premium baby bouncer seat with a higher price tag, but it is worth the money, particularly if you also choose to buy Stokke's Stokke Steps high chair, as you can attach the baby bouncer to it. Then you get a perfect seating solution for your child, from newborn up to school age. As a separate baby bouncer, the Stokke Steps Bouncer isn't quite so impressive. But the quality is uniform and high, and it does tick off all of the things you'd want. The baby bouncer can be moved into four different positions. The most reclined works very well for the newborn child, and the seat is comfortable thanks to the infant insert included with the Stokke Steps Bouncer. The insert efficiently fills up the seat unit, giving the baby support for both body and head. To change between positions, you rotate a catch on the underside of the baby bouncer. The most upright seating position gives great bounce, which means that the slightly larger baby can set it going themselves.
Without the infant insert, there's plenty of room even for slightly larger babies in the Stokke Steps Bouncer, and a toy bar is included for the more alert baby. This can be clicked in on each side of the baby bouncer - or removed if you don't want to use it. You can attach your own toys or other eye-catching objects to the toy bar. If you're going to take the baby bouncer on a trip with you, it's easy to fold it completely flat, in which position it's only about 10 cm deep. It's still quite wide and long, but the format makes it easy to pack. The bouncer gets an extra plus for the small rubber fastener which you can lock it flat with so that you don't accidentally unfold the baby bouncer when you pick it up. We can't mark the Stokke Steps Bouncer down for anything, but for the high price, we'd have liked to have had more. However, if you intend to invest in the whole Stokke Steps package, the baby bouncer is without a doubt worth the money.
Pros and cons
+ Good bounce
+ Perfect comfort levels for the child
- Expensive
Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe
The Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe consists of two large runners and a seat unit with three positions. Specifically, there’s a more upright sitting position, a reclining position and a lying position. The Rocker Napper has edges around it in a lying position and looks like a small cot. And it can absolutely be used for the child to nap in. But the seat unit is made of plastic, and the cushion (which can be removed for washing) is soft but not very thick. So it doesn’t feel like it’d be suitable as a travel cot.
In terms of size, the Rocker Napper is sufficiently convenient to be moved around your home. It isn’t the kind of thing you lift up with the child in – instead you slide it along the floor. It’s small enough to fit on the floor in the average-sized bathroom, for example, while a parent is taking a shower. The Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe comes with a toy attachment that does an excellent job of stimulating the child. The attachment can both play music and vibrate. It comes with toys, but you can also suspend the child’s favourite toys from it. The toy attachment can be folded to one side or removed altogether.
You can set the Rocker Napper so that it’s fixed or rocking. But this isn’t the kind of baby bouncer the child can get going by him or herself. The harness is the type that only fastens over the child’s hips, so in a sitting position, it’s a bit like putting your child in a high chair or a traditional baby bouncer. This also helps contribute to the baby bouncer having a long lifespan/period of use for the child. It suits a newborn in a lying position, while in a sitting position, it’s easy to put a larger child in the seat unit.
The Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe isn’t a classic baby bouncer, but rather something between a baby bouncer and a baby gym. It’s more of a baby bouncer to stimulate the child while the parent needs a little time and two hands to do something else instead of the kind you put your child in when you want them at the dinner table or involved in their larger siblings’ games. As an activity station, the Rocker Napper was very effective. Although it can be perceived as a little plasticky, you’ll ultimately be happy with how much both the baby and the rest of the family benefit from it.
Pros and cons
+ Long period of use
+ Can be used from newborn with lying position
+ Useful for stimulating the child
- Feels a bit plasticky
- Rattles when you change it between sitting and lying position