Boon Flair Pedestal Highchair

Yes, the Boon Flair highchair looks like it's straight out of The Jetsons. Yes, the only colors it comes in are kind of obnoxious. And yes, at $200, it is expensive. But there was not going to be any other highchair for Baba G—I loved this thing the second I laid eyes on it, despite the fact that it doesn't go with our condo's decor AT ALL (though it would fit perfectly in my dream condo... which only exists in my head).

But come on, you have to admit it is cool:

The orange button at the base adjusts the height, and there's a pedal in the back that works as a brake if you have to wheel it around. Otherwise it glides effortlessly with a gentle push, yet still manages to hold tight in one spot on our wood floor at all other times. I haven't used the orange button since we first set the height we wanted, and I've never needed to use the brake.

Chop, chop! Where's my grub?

What drew me to this chair, besides its overall look, is that I didn't want a highchair like they have in restaurants. Why? Because I didn't want to have to wipe down all of those posts, that's why! Yes, laziness and a hatred of cleaning drives many of my decisions.

I also didn't want anything to be able to fall out of the sides of the highchair. With the Boon Flair, whatever BG doesn't throw onto the floor is going to be captured in the seat or on the tray.

There's an orange pad on the seat that can be removed for extra room, and the tray comes with two transparent tray covers that easily snap on and off. When one's in the wash (yes, they're dishwasher safe but also take about 1 second to wipe down) you can use the other. I think I've only had to wipe down the actual try like 2 times in 4 months. Things are getting a bit messier now, however, since BG is trying more finger foods.

On top of wanting an easy-to-clean highchair, I also wanted one that had over-the shoulder harnesses. I knew the reality would be that I'd often have to walk back and forth from the sink or not be right there sitting across from BG every second he was in the chair, and I didn't think a lap belt would be enough. The shoulder harness does the trick -- he has never gotten out of it and it doesn't seem to bother him, either. You can put also enough slack in it so your kid can bend forward a bit to pick up stuff from the tray.

 Speaking of the tray, my only complaints would be that to take off the tray you have to move a lever underneath to the left and then pull it forward to release the tray. This was tricky at first when my wrist issues were worse. But now I don't even think about it.

About 5 1/2 months old and patiently waiting...

Also, the tray is too small for our Skip*Hop plate set. But at this point BG isn't actually using the plate part of that set, so it's OK. I'm actually not sure if ANY try for any highchair would be big enough for that plate.

Nine months old and still pretty patient.

The bottom line: I love the Boon Flair Pedestal highchair (with pneumatic lift). It moves easily on the wood floor when I need it to, stays put when I need it to, is very easy to clean, seems comfortable for Baba G, and looks cool. So if you're willing to splurge ($200), I say go for it!

Fisher-Price Cradle 'N Swing, My Little Snugabunny

High-tech swings (the Fisher-Price Snugabunny is but one of gazillions) fall squarely in the "nice to have" department. They're not essential by any means, but chances are that if you are lucky enough to have one, you're going to put it to work during your baby's first few months.

The "My Little Snugabunny" version is named as such because your kid will get cozy in a padded area that looks like a bunny:

There are restraints, of course, because this thing MOVES. When it's on the highest speeds, it's no joke.

It can go both side-to-side (right picture, below) and back and forth (left picture, below), and there's a twirly mobile that makes chirping sounds (and can be turned off, if you want), as well as several other sound/song options.

Baba G LOVED his swing in the sense that he would immediately chill out once he was in it. As you can see from the videos below, we had it stationed in my husband's music room/office. The oh-so-appropriate poster of Eddie Van Halen with a cigarette hanging off of his guitar is the dead giveaway. (No, the rest of our condo isn't similarly decorated.)

Here's Baba G seeming fairly calm but totally alert. This video was taken when he was about four months old and my husband was traveling for a few nights. I had an awful time trying to get BG down for a nap. He'd been crying for at least a half-hour straight... and then I remembered we had the swing. (It was an "out of sight, out of mind" situation.) Warning: if you're like me you're going to get dizzy watching these clips!

Within five minutes he was sound asleep:

I'm pretty sure they say you're not supposed to put your kid in the swing for a nap. Just like they say you shouldn't put your kid in anything but his crib for a nap. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and the swing was a surefire way to get him to doze off if he was tired but fighting it. We were always in the room with him and he was always strapped in, so in my book I don't see the difference between him being awake or asleep in it, as far as safety is concerned.

The bottom line: The Fisher-Price swings take up a lot of room, there's no denying that. So they might not be practical for those who don't have much living space... or for those who don't have a ton of storage space.

What's more, you will have to bid the swing adieu after your baby hits 25 pounds or starts wanting to sit up on his own and resists being in a reclined position (the latter happened first for us), so chances are this is a "five months or less" type of product. Having said all of that, I'm glad we had one because we made nightly use out of it and sometimes Baba G would just chill in it for quite a while and my husband would play acoustic guitar and sing to him.

It costs around $127 on Amazon.

The mamaRoo

True story: when I was a kid, I used to claim to be from the planet "Egg-a-tron." I can only assume my imagination had been inspired by one of my favorite shows at the time, Mork & Mindy, in which Robin Williams played an alien who came to Earth in an egg-like spacecraft. Yeah, I was weird. Still am.

ANYWAY, at my baby shower I overheard a few friends talking about this "futuristic egg-looking seat" that was new on the scene, and so of course my curiosity was piqued. But then I forgot about it...

...Until that very same egg-like contraption was gifted to us by a generous couple whose kids couldn't get enough of it when they were babies. And that's when I found out that this thing is called a mamaRoo. (And seriously, what IS IT with all the weird capitalization and spelling of baby products? It's driving me insane.)

Its point is to simulate the motions YOU make when you carry your kid... or that a car ride would make, and so on. I forgot which setting I had it on in the video below (there are 5 settings: car ride, tree swing, ocean wave, rock a bye and kangaroo), but you'll get the point—and quite frankly, I never really thought Baba preferred one setting to another, anyway.

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.

Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer

What better product to give First Review status to than the gizmo that inspired this site? That would be the Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer. I had sent my parents and in-laws (who bought the bouncer for BG) some pictures of BG having a ball in it, and my parents emailed me back with a picture of my brother's old-school "bouncer" from the late '70s. As you can see, I provided all of his entertainment—no flashing lights or moving parts in those days!

No frills

Compare my brother's seat to BG's over-the-top gizmo:

Side view: Hello Mr. Toad!

Still loving it after 3 months

His view: Talk about your sensory overload...

So what does this bouncer DO, you ask? I think the real question is: What doesn't it do?

It vibrates, plays rainforest sounds OR little musical ditties (that I don't find annoying, believe it or not), has a glowing waterfall that appears to be flowing, features two little critters—a toad and a monkey—that pop up and down (BG REALLY likes the toad), a blue bird that bobs back and forth on top if you pull back its spring, and a toucan and monkey hanging down that your little one can grab onto.

BG has actually fallen asleep with one hand gripped on each animal, like a steering wheel or something.

Here's a short video of him enjoying the bouncer's tunes:







Some of my friends' kids love bouncy seats like this one, whereas others seem partial to swings. We have both (I'll review the swing some day soon) and I think BG likes them both (but for different reasons). However, he's in the bouncy seat more. And before anyone hollers at me, by "more" I only mean for short spans of time—not hours and hours, and never unattended. Though on that note I should mention that there's a little belt that straps babies in and keep them from sliding down too much.

There's no way to know if your baby will like a bouncy seat until you try one out. And there are tons of different themes and designs, but I do know that this one we have is especially loved and highly rated by the likes of Baby Bargains.

It retails for around $60, but on Amazon right now it's going for $35.50.

The bottom line: BABA G highly recommends!