Exersaucer/Stationary play gym recommendations?

[mak54321]

Hi - I'm looking for feedback on stationary play gyms from moms who know. I was looking at the Evenflow Exersaucer Ultra, but was worried about overstim issues. If you have one, can you tell me what you like/don't like about it? Any recommendations would be appreciated!

TIA!

[MarisaSF]

I never investigated them fully, but I think the older models are a little less "busy" than the current ones. I rescued one from a landfill (aka I bought it used off craigslist). It is a couple years old, red-blue-yellow. I got a clean hardly-used one that i felt was safe. It is by Evenflo.

What I like about it:
1- it was cheap ($17) and saved from the landfill
2- I hardly ever use it. But when we need a safe place to put DD for a couple minutes, it is wicked handy. It certainly was nice before she could crawl, yet she wanted to be moving.
3- It is big and usually serves as a toy box in the middle of our living room
4- I highly recommend you choose one that has a stabilizing device ("feet"). Now that DD is cruising, it is the perfect height for her to pull herself up on and walk around. (Safer than a coffee table!)
5- super easy to clean/wipe down. i put all the parts in the dishwasherr and laundry before we used it.
6- three height adjustments

What I don't like:
1- can't complain for $20, but...
2- I wish more of the toys "did" something. DD likes the spinner and the mini-bead-maze. The beepers and buzzers are worthless. The steering wheel is boring.
3- It's impossible to hide.

I'm not going to go into warnings about how it is not good to put DC in it for too long, etc, because I'm assuming you already know that. HTH!

[momtogrant]

I took my 5 month old to BRU when he was 3.5 months and tried him in all of them they had. He did not like any of the Evenflo. He seemed to like the Baby Einstein Activity center and the FP Jumparoo. I ended up buying the Jumparoo because it was $10 cheaper. I know the Baby Einstein also gets good reviews. I am happy with the Jumparoo and so is DS!

[mak54321]

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I went to BRU yesterday to check them out. Some of them were less busy and we pressed and pushed all the gadgets. Boy are they expensive!!! And - I don't know which one she'll enjoy the most. I guess I'll wait another month and try her in all of them like you did. As you said, I will look on craigslist and/or ebay to see if I can find one much cheaper. I don't plan on leaving her in it for an extended amount of time as you mentioned. I just get worried that she's bored so I'm looking for other toys to stimulate her (and expend some of that energy!) We found a Graco jumpster (attaches to doorway) in great condition at a garage sale and will try that out when she's another month older I think. I was looking at the jumperoo before I stumbled onto it. Sounds like your son really enjoys it. I'm not sure how the jumpster will work out, so I'm keeping an eye on the jumperoo.

[lvales]

I checked out the reviews on Amazon and ended up getting the Baby Einstein one. There were some reviews about kids getting fingers pinched in the Exersaucers and on another model (could have been the exersaucers for this too) there were people complaining about the dye from the soft toys bleeding when it got wet (ie. when the child sucked on it) Ick!

At any rate, my dd loves her Baby Einstein exerciser, and we've had several other babies at the house that have tried it and love it too.

Linda

[MarisaSF]

FYI -- i saw the jumperoo for the first time yesterday. I'm pretty sure it takes up more floor space than the exersaucer (I could be wrong, but it looked wider). Also, I don't think it can be used for cruising (ie, when baby can stand up and walk around it, I don't think it would remain stationary.) Again, could be wrong. :)

Great find at the garage sale! Don't you love when that happens!?

[mak54321]

Yippee - I scored 2 exersaucers in perfect condition at this weekend's garage sales for $5 each!!! One was a Graco Entertainer and the other was the Evenflo exersaucer. I figure that one can go to grandma's house. However, I am SOOO bummed, I turned left instead of right and by the time I got around the block I had missed a jumperoo in perfect condition by 5 minutes. I guess that's the breaks though...

I looked on BRU and I think the jumperoo folds up so that it doesn't take up too much space. I'm still on the hunt!