How necessary is the gliding function?

[spannaz]

I'm not a fan of the look of gliders and can't afford to spend $1000 on an upholstered chair with a gliding system. So my question is how important is the gliding function on the glider. I'm sure it feels nice, but is it absolutely necessary?

I found a great inexpensive chair at Ikea and love the look of it, and can see us using it in another room/ leaving it in our child's room as they get older for story-time etc. It's very comfy, has a high back with 'wings' I can lean on for those night feedings, and has great armrests for feeds. I'm a FTM so was just curious if I can get away with just a comfy chair,

Here's a picture of the chair:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1363612762.699671.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WatchingThemGrow]

Pretty important IMO. The movement is what calmed my babies.

[edurnemk]

With DS it was essential, he was a fussy baby the first few months and we spent hours on that glider. It also soothed ME, LOL, BF was hard the first few weeks. We got a not-so-expensive glider at BRU and later sold it on CL.

I wanted to get another, nicer one for DD but DH didn't want to spend 400+ on a piece of furniture with such a short lifespan. He left the decision up to me, but I've been using a regular armchair and it's worked great. BUT DD is an exceptionally laid-back baby who never needed as much soothing as DS.

So what I'm trying to say I guess is that it depends on the baby. I would get a rocker or glider that's not so expensive and sell it when you're done with it. Or buy used.

[zukeypur]

I have three kids and have never had a glider. I'm not saying it wouldn't have been nice, but I never had one. A side-to-side swing, however, is a must.

[sntm]

I've never had one. I do use a rocker with DS2 (gorgeous and relatively comfortable modern one from BluDot). I think I would have liked one but the attractive ones were too $$$

[abh5e8]

my forst 3 dc have LOVED the glider. i have spent many hours in it rocking them. they never cared for the swing or bouncy seat, so for us it was wonderful. i would look second hand or buy a less expensive one, if you think you will want to try rocking your baby at all. if not, for feeding, i'm sure a nice comfy arm chair would work fine.

[123LuckyMom]

I would highly recommend investing your money in a rocking, upholstered chair, preferably with a recliner. I have a rocking upholstered chair that cost $600, I think, from a company called Little Castle, I believe. Through two children, I have spent more time in that chair than any other piece of furniture, including my bed ! If there's any way you can afford it, get a really, really comfortable chair that rocks. You will most likely end up falling asleep in it, so a recliner would be great. I decided not to spend the extra money for the recliner, and I really regret it. Do you NEED this item? No, but you don't need any piece of baby equipment, really. If I had to pick the single most important item to have for a baby, though, I would pick the chair!!! Seriously.

[Mali]

I insisted on getting a glider with recline. The one I found that had a tall enough back for me to be able to sleep in was $1200 new with the ottoman. DH refused to even discuss it at that price so I started looking and was able to find the set used on craigslist for a third of the price.

So far I think we've spent a total of 20 minutes in the chair in her first two months. She HATES the glider, swing, bouncy chair and only likes to be bounced on a yoga ball. Hopefully she'll like it more as she gets older, but for now I'm so glad that we didn't buy it brand new since it's not getting any use.

If you can find one used they can be worth it if your kid likes it, but I wouldn't consider it essential to buy one new (or used) until you know what they like.

[candaceb]

I'm still rocking DS at 2.5. I can't tell you how many hours I have spent in the glider in the last 2.5 years. It all depends on the kid though and no one knows what kind of kid you're going to get...

[wellyes]

Gliding is nice, recline is nice, but neither are necessary. But what I really want to say is that IKEA chairs SUCK, IMO. We have tons of IKEA stuff in our house, I am in general a fan, but every upholstered piece of furniture I've tried to buy there has been a disappointment. Stylish and cheap but not comfortable long term and for a baby chair, that's what matters most.