what happened to the good ole bouncers?

My very first bouncer in the 1990s was the best I owned. Fisher Price decided to fix what wasn't broke and have been "improving" ever since. All I want in a bouncer is a bouncing frame that still supports 15 lbs, a contoured seat that isn't too deep it folds them in half, and vibration is a bonus. The old seat had that and I have been trying ever since to find that. If you can find an old Fisher Price Soothing Vibrations seat they are awesome. If not Fisher Price made some other good seats after that; including the Fisher Price Soothing Massage and later the Fisher Price Play and Cover as recently as 2006. After that though they instead concentrated on toys. The problem I have with that s that babies need tummy and floor time to give them the chance to build up their muscles and practice rolling. Not to mention they get to stretch out and prevention of Plagiocephaly. So to play, the floor is best. I want a bouncer to let them relax, watch what I am doing, and kick to bounce it not, really to play. I also want a bouncer for tiny babies before they are really able to play much as once they are able to play they soon are Exersaucer age.

So why did I buy this bouncer if it meets none of my requirements? Well it doesn't "not" meet them it just only partially meets them. I previously bought a seat that had a contoured seat thinking it would offer the best support. That was when I learned that so many bouncers these days have seats that are too deep, folding baby inward with a chin to chest position that can jeopardize their airway thus, even if they are healthy, full term and look fine. This can silently lower their oxygen saturations. So off we went to find something else. As much as I didnt like the idea I let my daughter try them in the store. The Fisher Price seats were all flat backed BUT they were the only ones without that deep seat. Instead they have a traditional bouncy seat style seat. I tried them last because of the flat back, it didn't look like it would offer much support. But it actually was fine, with a little bit of weight (my daughter is only 2 wks so I would say under 10 lbs) the seat reclined back a bit and the fabric sank a bit for some support. No, it wasn't the nice support the old contoured back Fisher Price ones had but it was something. My daughter did fine though she has some head control (she is my latest when it comes to head control so she doesnt have a lot).

So we bought the Rainforest Bouncer since my older kids thought it was the neatest of the Fisher Price bouncers. The seat I just described has a hefty 25 lb weight limit, this is important if you end up with a big baby, my son was 24 lbs at 6 months old. It also features a padded, adjustable 3 point buckle. The seat has a single vibration setting. It has a removable toy bar. Looking at the toy bar it looks like it is way too low and close to babies face. But once you put baby in you realise it is the perfect height for baby to look at the electronic portion. The electronic portion features a lit, animated waterfall as well as a monkey and frog that peekaboo. On top is a springy toucan while on the bottom there is a swinging parrot and monkey. It has several setting options. First you chose parent or child activated. In parent activated the sound (if on), peekaboo and waterfall play for 10 minutes. In child activated it plays a short burst of these only to be reactivated by the child swinging one of the lower toys. Next you chose rainforest or music sound, the rainforest is just that, the music is music box style music mixed with rainforest sounds. Last you chose sound volume: low, high or off. The music is not obnoxiously loud though with new batteries I would not have it on high for a baby. I really like that the music is mixed with the rainforest sounds. I also like that I can have it on so it doesn't stop. She is too young to activate it herself in child activated but her siblings like to interact with her by doing that. I find the hanging toys must be meant to be kicked or hit with their legs or knees ??? otherwise they hang too low. My daughter barely clears them at her tiny size. But maybe the seat gets deeper with more weight as in the picture they seem higher with the bigger child. Either that or they will end up sitting on her lap when she is bigger. It is nice though that a small baby can watch the show and later a bigger baby can interactively play. Though I still think watching the world around them and people is better.

The frame is a nice old fashioned bouncer style frame so it has some bounce when baby kicks and moves. Yet it is sturdy enough that when my 28 lb 3 yr old sat in it she didn't recline too horribly much. We found that issue with the old Fisher Price cover and play bouncer, when my son was past 15 lbs (by 2 mo old) it reclined way too much so as he got bigger and wanted to sit up more he actually reclined more. It appears that we won't have that issue with this bouncer.

The electronic portions take 4 "D" batteries. This seems like a lot but it is for the entire seat, both vibration and the toys/show. This was a bit confusing to me at first since it is not covered in the manual but maybe it was just the new mommy fog I was in. The batteries go in the bottom of the vibration unit which is attached to the front of the seat. You need a phillips screwdriver to take off the battery compartment door. Though it instructs you to put the batteries in before assembly I did not, I put them in last so the same way I would if changing them. It was fairly easy, you either turn the seat over or tip it back then slip the front of the fabric off or out of the way. The part that confused me was that the toy bar is also powered by these batteries. I instead went looking for a place in the bar to put more batteries. But on the ends of the toy bar and inside the part you connect it to are electronic connections to allow the toy to be powered by the same batteries. So the toy bar will not work if not attached (or if not attached properly) to the seat. It is easy to remember which way to properly attach it though as one side has a round hole and the other side square while one side of the bar has a round peg, the other square. Since you can't put a square peg in a round hole there is only one way to attach it, you then just have to make sure it snaps into place.

All in all I would prefer a bit more contour and less toys at a cheaper price but my daughter actually likes this bouncer so I give it at least 1½ thumbs up.