bouncer seats vs, fisher price chair for infants and toddlers

[maria]

unfortunately i recently bought a new bouncy seat, b/c the one i had from my first daughter 2 yrs ago seemed obsolete compared to the newer versions. the problem is that they are only good for about 6 months- which is how old my baby is now. She doesn't like to lie back, so she hates to be in the bouncy seat.
some people have recommended the Fisher Price chair, which can be converted from a rocker to a regular seat and is good until about age 4!!
it sounds good, but can anyone tell me if the baby will be practically upright in it or if they are still in the reclined position, and has anyone used it for their toddlers and how do you like it?
thanks!

[sarsah]

I have the Fisher Price rocking chair you are talking about and like it. My son is 4 months old and has used the seat since he was born. He likes to sit up and look around (and watch us while we're doing things) so this seat is great. We did not get a bouncer seat, since I thought it would be a waste of money since it wouldn't be used very much. This seat can be used for several years as a rocking chair as the child grows. The baby is in a slightly reclined position, but it is much more upright than a bouncer seat. It does have a 'vibration' thing which can be switched on and off, but it doesn't produce much vibration and we don't really use it.

Sarah

[twinmom]

We bought a bouncy seat and a Fisher-Price soothing rocker for our twins, then had to go out and buy a second bouncy seat because they were preemies and couldn't sit upright. Now that our twins are 7 months old, though, we're going to have to buy another soothing rocker (the chair you described). They don't vibrate as well as the bouncy seats, but they're really great for letting the babies sit up and look around. Our bigger baby, Tim, really loves this seat.

The seat reclines a little if you use it with the "kickstand." (I don't know what that's called, but it's a sort of stand that you put out to keep the chair from rocking.) If you have the kickstand retracted, the chair rocks and is more upright. With the stand out, Tim often sleeps in his chair, so it's reclined enough for us. :)

[AugBaby]

We got the FP sound and lights bouncer and LOVED it. If there was only one product I could recommend, it would be that bouncer. We just took my daughter out of it a week ago at 7 months.

We were also given the FP infant to toddler rocker and really dislike it. The toy bar is so poorly designed. It's a flexible arc with pillow toys. The arc is too flexible to keep the toys positioned so that a baby can play with them. The seat is HARD. It's a board, no cushioning. As the others have said, the vibrating function really doesn't work well on the rocker - great on the bouncer. The angle of the rocker is such that the baby is tilted back somewhat. That may be okay for a really young infant (but that seat is so hard :-( ), but once they are big enough to start sitting up, they find it frustrating.

Our daughter leans forward and the whole seat tilts forward so that her feet would touch if they reached the floor. It looks very precarious. I called FP to inquire if we should be using the stabilizing bar to prevent it. Their advice was to put the chair away until she can climb in and out of it. "The restraints aren't meant to really restrain the baby." Hmmmmm. Theoretically, the chair is for a young infant and then a toddler - not infant TO toddler.

We definitely don't recommend it.

[egoldber]

We have the FP rocker and adore it. When baby was smaller, she napped in it. Now at 6 1/2 months, she sits in it to watch Baby Mozart, etc. when I'm in the shower. She also sits in it to watch me dry my hair. :-) The toy bar didn't do much for her until she was about 3 months and then she adored it. Last month, she started leaning forward in the chair to mouth the toy bar, so I took it away.

She does lean forward in the seat now, so I can't use it as a "rocker". But with the kickstand out, it is very stable and she leans forward all the time with no problems.

I really like it and would definitely buy it again over a bouncer that can only be used for a couple months. Everyone has different preferences. I find it to be a great thing.

HTH,