Alternatives to Exersaucer?

[heatherlynn]

Well, DS is finally outgrowing the bouncy seat, which has been wonderful for us! I'm looking for something to put him in while I shower, go to the bathroom, put laundry away, etc when I'm upstairs. I think the exersaucer is too expensive for the short time we'd be using it. I was thinking of maybe one of those enclosure type gate things that have activities for them to play w/. It seems as if those would fold up fairly easily/small/flat. I'd rather not use the crib and, while we have a Bumbo, I wouldn't want to put him in that unattended. Our PNP is on the middle floor so I don't want to buy another one of those. The great thing about the bouncy seat was that DD could feed him in the morning if he got hungry while I was in the shower.

Anyone have any ideas?

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04

[brittone2]

When DS outgrew his bouncey seat, I started putting him the PNP while I showered. An enclosure gate type thing (I think you mean something like the Superyard?) would work great I imagine. Shortly after I switched to having him in the PNP while I showered, he decided it was finally fun to sit in the shower while I was in there. So now that's what we do for the most part.

HTH. I'm not a fan of saucers so we avoided one too. I've heard that superyards can often be found 2nd hand.

Good luck!

[MarisaSF]

Okay... not really an alternative, but have you looked into getting an exersaucer used?

I swore I'd never get one of these overstimulation monstrosities myself, but at 4 months DD wanted to stand ALL the time! I agree that 50-60-70 bucks is way too much for a hunk of plastic, so I got one for $15/20 (can't remember) from craigslist. The other upside to an older/used one is that they aren't as crazy busy as the new ones that make music, light up, etc. I use it during showers.

They last forever, so save one from a landfill! :)

[DebbieJ]

I just saw some on clearance at WalMart for $30 a couple of weeks ago.

~ deb
DS 12/03

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[MarisaSF]

I just realized that your son is my DD's (8/5/04) age! She'll hardly sit in her bouncy anymore either.

Okay, one *real* alternative:

Friends of ours really liked their "johnny-jump-up" -- not sure where you get them. But I'm sure someone on the boards knows! Could you attach that in your bathroom? Ahh google and ye shall find (check cyberbaby for my warning against babyage though):
http://www.babyage.com/SearchResults.aspx?searchstring=jumper&searchtype=Keyword&categoryid=&redirected=1&searchfor=jumper&brandsearch=n&cp=gogl8998


Things I wouldn't rec:

We got this as a gift: http://www.onestepahead.com/product/27186/278756/117.html -- DD loves it while I'm watching her. However, I don't think I'd rec it for the shower, since babe could slip out (3-point harness)

A couple more things I saw (they're kind of the same idea as the bumbo, you wouldn't want to leave DS unattended probably):
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/27191/877/117.html
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/27191/150789/117.html

All in all, I think the exersaucer and pack-n-play are the tried and true shower methods. J-jump-up might work too!

[mama2galpals]

A friend of mine had a good idea. she used a gate in one corner of her living room that she leaves up. inside she put down one of those rubber tile "floors" like the ones with the alphabet and then put all the toys in there. that seems to work great for her.

i have to say the exersaucer was a lifesaver for me tho! :)






rita
mommy to
olivia 2/7/97
stella 9/24/00
emma 1/23/03

There is no remedy for love but to love more.
--Henry David Thoreau

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