Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Busy Baby Booster

I'm back from my Girls' Weekend in New York, and somehow everyone at home survived without me—imagine that. Thankfully my husband and I were able to set up a video chat each morning after Baba G had his first meal of the day, and it was clear that BG could actually see me. I would make funny noises and faces and he would laugh and laugh, so it helped convince me that he wasn't going to forget who I was. Ah, the miracle of technology!

Today I decided to write about the Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Busy Baby booster seat we received as a gift. The friends who got it for us loved theirs so much that they wanted us to have one, too. After the recent Bumbo seat recall, I thought it would be especially timely to talk about this product since people might be on the hunt for alternatives. Though, having said that, I know a ton of parents who love love love the Bumbo seat and are annoyed that the recall only happened because idiotic peeps left their kids unattended in the seat... on top of tables and stuff like that, which was always clearly against the "intended use" instructions. On the flip side, my physical therapist is not a fan of Bumbo seats in general, saying that kids don't need them to learn how to sit up on their own. Which is true.

The Fisher-Price seat I'm talking about in this post isn't meant to be a sitting aid or anything like that, it's supposed to be a booster seat that you can attach to a chair either in your home or out at a restaurant. (See to the left how it folds up to carry along? Not exactly the smallest thing to haul with you, but still.)

We have yet to use it for that purpose, however. After Baba G was sitting up on his own, I would put him in the seat for short periods of time when I needed to Swiffer the floor or clean off his play-tile area or was otherwise unable to hold him or be right down on the floor with him.

And guess what? He loves it. In addition to being a booster chair, it's a mini "activity seat" that has a little arch of spinny toys you can snap on to its tray. Baba G LOVES spinny toys, especially ones that have tiny colorful balls in them like the alligator in the center below. (I threw a few more toys on the tray, too.)

You spin me right round.

Whatchu lookin' at?

You can't see it in these pictures, but unlike the Bumbo seat, the Luv U Zoo booster DOES have a restraining belt to fasten around your kid's middle. The other straps you can partially see in the pictures above are what you're supposed to hook around a chair.

So we did exactly what you're not supposed to do in that we put the seat on our low coffee table in order to feed Baba G his very first meal—we didn't have an actual high chair at the time, and the only place we could really sit across from him in a semi-comfortable fashion was on our couch (with him facing us on the coffee table about six inches away).

Bring on the grub!

Gimme that... rice cereal? I was hoping for ice cream.

We only used this set-up for about three days and then our high chair arrived. But it worked well and we obviously never left him alone in the seat at all.

Now the seat is actually taking up residence on the play mat, and it remains a great option to put him in for a short break. Since BG is crawling all over the place now AND pulling himself up to stand on things, this chair—with its belt-restraint and tray toys and perfect size—is a godsend.

The bottom line: I highly recommend this booster seat and am so glad our friends got it for us. It seems like a lot of other people are big fans, too, judging from the reviews on Amazon. On top of providing a safe, secure place to put your already-able-to-sit-up-on-his-own infant when you can't be holding him or on the floor with him, it's really easy to wipe down. It was also given the thumbs-up from Desmond's physical therapist (more on that some other day!). And while we haven't taken this seat to a restaurant yet, our friends set theirs up for their son while out to brunch with us, and it worked like a charm. They're around $45 on Amazon.