The Infant To Toddler Rocker Withstands Big Brother's Affection

When my just-turned 4 year old son was a baby he hated his bouncy chair (a Fold up Grow with Me Gentle Vibration Bouncer from Safety 1st). He absolutely abhorred it and refused to spend any time at all in it. So we packed the seat away and hoped that baby #2 would get some use out of it someday. Now I have a new baby boy, and he loved the bouncy chair that his big brother had hated! He practically lived in it until one fateful day when big brother, who was sitting by him on the floor, leaned on the seat/footrest to talk to baby and snapped the supports for it right in two. Luckily for us we always buckled baby into the chair, so even though the part of the chair that you actually sit upon was broken baby didn't fall (however he was none too pleased to have all of his weight held up by the crotch strap). Since baby loved his bouncy seat so much we knew that we needed to replace it, however I didn't want to get another seat just like the old one because chances were good that big brother would just break it again (big brother loves his little brother and likes to sit and play with him, and we certainly don't want to discourage his interaction with the baby). When I saw Fisher Price's Infant to Toddler Rocker with its whopping 40 pound weight limit, I knew we had a winner!

Product Description:

Fisher Price's Infant to Toddler Rocker is a seat that accommodates children from newborn all the way through toddlerhood. I suppose you can't call it a "bouncy" seat, because the seat is too sturdy to bounce with baby's motions, although it vibrates, has a 3-point restraint, and has a toy-bar like most bouncy seats do. What you give up in bouncy-ness you gain back with the rocker, which is nice when baby wants a little motion (and can even be used to rock baby to sleep). A built-in "kickstand" prevents the chair from rocking and keeps it extra-reclined (good for the newest of newborns), and is easily flipped out-of-the-way when you want the chair to rock. "Rocker guards" located at the front and back of each rocking leg prevent the chair from rocking too far in either direction and flipping over (for when you have an excited toddler doing the rocking). Best of all, the chair can be used for toddlers weighing up to 40 pounds (a weight my older child hit sometime after turning 3).

The backrest on the seat has 2 recline positions. I'll call them "very reclined" for newborns and "moderately reclined" for older babies and toddlers. It doesn't really have a "full upright" position. The recline feature is easy to operate for adults (just push in the two large red buttons on either side of the chair), but the buttons are far enough apart that little ones couldn't accidentally trigger them.

The 3-point restraint system can be tucked neatly out of the way and the vibrate mechanism can be removed completely when you're ready for the chair to be a toddler-rocker. In fact, I've been tempted to take the vibrate mechanism and put it in my son's crib at bedtime to see if that helps him drift off to sleep. I like the clasps on the 3-point restraint too, which have cloth backing to keep baby's clothes from getting caught.

The cloth seat is bright and colorful (and much easier to remove for laundering than our old seat). The chair is mostly dark blue with colorful farm animal accents. At the top of the seat-back is a bright red barn with a black, white, and light blue cow peaking out. The legs, kickstand, and braces are also blue and red and match the cloth cover perfectly, making for a very cute little chair! The cow-patterned toy bar is removable, as are the 3 included toys (which attach via velcro strips). The toy bar is angled to hang over baby when the seat is in the most reclined position (using the kickstand), so when baby is sitting more upright the toybar looks a bit awkward (on our old bouncy seat you could position the toybar a few different ways to accommodate how far back baby was reclined). Fisher price solved this problem a different way - by including little velcro strips at different places on the chair for attaching toys without using the toybar (the strips are located on each side of the chair near baby's hands and one on the 3-point restraint system).

The 3 toys attach via velcro strips to either the toybar or the strips on the seat itself. They are:
~~ A black, white, and light blue cow that matches the picture on the back of the seat. The cow is made of cloth (surface washable only) and has fun patterns (stripes in one ear, dots in the other). An orange teether hangs down from the cow's head that, when pulled, plays a tinny little rendition of "Ole MacDonald"
~~ A hard plastic sheep holds a red and white ball. You can spin the ball, which contains a bead for making a rattle sound
~~ A hard plastic pig holds a cute ball-shaped ear of corn. You can spin the corn, which contains a bead for making a rattle sound

There is assembly required, but I don't recall my husband using too many swear words as he put the chair together, so I don't think it was very difficult.

If you want the chair to vibrate, it requires 1 "D" battery (not included).

Our Thoughts and Experiences:

This chair has been a great addition to my new son's baby equipment inventory. He loves sitting in it to watch his brother play, and we've used it both in our house and on our back deck. I've also taken it when we visit relatives, and have used it to rock baby to sleep with my foot as I ate dinner with the rest of the family. My baby LOVES the chair cover's colorful pattern with the black & white cow coming out of the red barn. He is downright infatuated with it and will happily sit and stare at the colorful pattern (or will do his darndest to get up and walk over to investigate it). My older son likes sitting in the chair too - mostly because he knows it is baby brother's chair and he likes it when Mommy or Daddy ask him to move so we can put baby in. That being said, when my older son actually wants to sit down for a while he prefers some of his own chairs with back supports that allow him to sit up straighter. I wish the Infant to Toddler Rocker had one more position that allowed the back to come up a little higher. As it is now bigger little guy looks all slouchy as he sits in the seat. Still, I'm very grateful for the chair as it is because it is sturdy enough that big brother can put some of his weight on it as he talks to and plays with baby.

I must admit I wasn't a big fan of the toybar for numerous reasons. While the toys are very cute and colorful, I hated that the toybar was really only meant to be used when baby was in the most reclined position. You can still attach it with baby most upright, but it extends out at an odd angle and frustrates baby more than anything else. My son loved sitting upright so he could watch brother's antics, but the toybar got in the way of seeing what was going on around him, and was too far out at that odd angle for him to reach out and bat at any of the toys. Baby's favorite toy was the cow, but for some weird reason the velcro strap on the toybar only allowed the cow to hang facing AWAY from baby, which seemed silly to my husband and I. Since the pig and sheep are identical on either side, the front/back issue didn't matter with them. Baby was never a big fan of the little velcro toy strips attached to the chair either, preferring to just hold the toys without them being attached to anything. By themselves the toys included with this chair aren't that great either -- the sheep and pig are cute to look at but are basically identical as to the "type" of toy they are (hard plastic spinning rattle). None of our other infant toys use "velcro strip" technology (most use colorful links for interchangeability), so the toys that came with this chair couldn't be used with anything else.

These days we're starting to use the seat less and less - baby can sit up on his own unsupported so we typically just plop him down on a blanket on the floor rather than strapping him into the chair, and big brother already has other chairs that he prefers over this one. It will be nice when baby is up and walking and can start using the chair once more as a rocker, and nice that he does have a toddler chair that he will be able to claim as his own (rather than a hand-me-down from big brother).

Quickie Summary:
Pros:
+) 40 pound weight limit
+) Fold-out kickstand for feeding or sleeping
+) vibrates
+) 3-point restraint
+) Comes with 3 toys that can attach at multiple locations on the chair
+) Machine washable cover
+) 2 recline positions
+) "Rocker guards" prevent little ones from rocking too far forward or backward
+) 3-point restraint and vibrate mechanism can be removed when baby becomes a toddler
Cons:
-) Back doesn't really go upright enough to be a good toddler seat
-) Doesn't fold down for storage or travel
-) The cow hangs backward from the toy arch, facing away from baby rather than toward the seat
-) Toys aren't interchangeable with our other infant toys that use links rather than velcro strips

Final Thoughts:

My issues with the toys/toybar are minor compared to the peace-of-mind I get knowing my baby is sitting in a sturdy seat. I am glad that we were able to find a seat for my son that could withstand all of the "attention" he gets from big brother (who is very careful with the baby, just not so careful with whatever baby happens to be sitting on/in). Now we don't have to be concerned when my 4 year old leans on the chair as he talks to his baby brother.