At 9½ months, Aaron has outgrown his carrier, bouncy chair, swing, and is close to outgrowing his playpen. (The little squirt weighs 24-25 lbs bone-dry and is about 2½-3 feet long. If I’m exaggerating, it’s not by much. He is fairly big for his age.)
And therein lies the issue at hand. Is there any seating out there that is suitable for a baby who can sit up, but not much more than that? Being on the floor would be good, but it’s not always an option, especially when I can’t supervise him as closely as I’d like; when I’m in the kitchen, for example.
And if no such animal exists, why not?!
Robin, who is happy her son is doing so well, but chagrined at the apparent lack of stuff for big-for-their-age kids
I hate to suggest this, but what about his high chair? I hate to see kids stuck in them for a long time, but if keeping him in one place for a few minutes is the issue, it might work. I got some cool toys that stick to the tray with suction cups.
I also used those things that they sit in and play with- I call them ladybugs because mine was, well, a ladybug. They also come as cars, etc. The kid sits int he center and is surrounded by toys, trays, etc. If his legs are too long, he might not fit, though.
AJ is 14 months now, and he may not be long but he’s certainly not underfed! I wish I had a picture. He sits on the floor now because he’s not big enough for a chair yet.
How about a rocking chair with a seat belt? My mom has one that is “convertible”, so that as they grow you can reconfigure it a little bit to make it work for a bigger kid. I don’t know the brand, but it has a wood and fabric sling-type seat, rockers, and a kick-stand-thingy if you don’t want it to rock. It also has a toy bar.
The problem with the highchair is that he associates it with food. If he’s in it (and I’ve done that once or twice), he expects to be fed and will yell until he gets something. I don’t want Aaron to associate downtime with eating.
I will look into the rocking chair thing, though. We do have a pretty good baby store near where I work, and I will bring Aaron one weekend and have a look.
The ladybug thing EJ mentions is called an “exersaucer”. They’re kind of a glorified walker, without the movement. I never had one for my lil’bit, but his daycare had a slew of them and they seemed to keep the little ones pretty content. So I’ll second that recommendation, although they can be pricey and at his age he’ll probably outgrow it once he starts walking (won’t be long now!). So maybe check at secondhand or consignment shops if you’re interested in saving a few bucks on one.
Another option is “fencing”. I did use this once Phil outgrew his playpen and it worked just fine. It’s like a superlong segmented babygate that you can fold into a closed off square (or octagon or triangle, etc.) and then baby can play on the floor without you having to worry that he’s going to crawl or roll out of his designated playspace.
Fencing is a goodidea, better than mine actually!. I think Little Tykes makes fencing that has lots of activities on each panel, so the kids can play without feeling “corraled.” It worked wonders for my friend’s twins.
As far as the highchair goes, my friend’s uncle was babysitting and needed a diversion for a few minutes, so he covered the highchair tray with paper and it became a drawing table. But Aaron may be too conditioned for that!
Hey, what’s it like to have a child who eats in the high chair? My oldest hated it, never used it and grazed from a very young age. My youngest already wants out. I like it…
We had one of the fence dealies also. It was especially nice outside - I could put down a blanket and let the kid frolic in containment. Alas, I have no other suggestions. When Sarah was that little, we lived aboard a boat and no matter where she was, she was in view. Once we moved to dry land, she was mobile, and it was no longer an issue.
Let me suggest a doorway jumper. You need a doorway with a molding in order to use it. I couldn’t use it in my kitchen for that reason, but I still loved it in other parts of the house. It’s a flexible seat that hangs from the doorway. It has a spring, so when baby pushes with feet on floor he bounces. My two little guys were crazy about it.
I would like to third the exersaucer. Older son only used it for four months, but it was still worth every penny ($70 new) for the peace I got for those four months.
I have to “fourth” the exersaucer/car bouncer thingy.
I had one for my son that had a tray for eating (small snacks, or his sippy cup) on one side, but also suction cups with toys and such on the other and around the sides. He loved it. Bonus is, since it’s NOT a walker, they aren’t going to leave the immediate area, and can’t really hurt themselves in it.
Don’t discount the playpen, even if he is tall, if you load it with fun toys (that cannot be used as leverage to escape, the weasels) you can extend the life of this wonderful containment device for months!
Do you have a room to sacrifice as a playroom that you could contain him in? Our living room - after baby proofing - which there wasn’t much to do - was cordoned off at the exit points and became the play pen for our kids and the dog. The dog has never forgiven us, either.
Another truly joyful thing is one of those - what we called - Jumping Springer - the thingies that attach under a doorframe and they are essentially jumping with the springie thing attached to a cloth diaper thing that makes them bounce like kangarooes on meth. God, that was hysterical entertainment. What in the hell are those things called anyways?
Fencer checking in…We love ours. It goes all around one end of our living room and is open to the couch. If we shut the bedroom doors Kidcat is fine for a few minutes alone.
Also, we use a traditional African scarf to carry her around in, even indoors. Strap her in and we can do all sorts of things, even type on a computer. She naps, chills, plays with small toys, etc. You can tie it many different ways to accomodate the babies as they grow, and they are fairly comfortable.
-Tcat
PS, I bet you could also rig a small kid chair with some flat-rope and a buckle used on a backpack to strap them into the chair for a few.
Aaron’s size and shape don’t lend themselves to a carrier. On top of that, I’ve got some nerve problems that are exacerbated by carrying him.
I’ll look into the fence thing. What we keep running into is the problem of size vs. developmental stage. If it’s appropriate for his age, it’s too darn small for him, and if it fits his size, it’s probably inappropriate for his age.
I’ll add my two cents, the exersaucers are great, we have two (one for Grandpa and Grandmas). You can buy different toys to snap on. One caveat though, once they are getting close to walking, the exersaucer isn’t really appropriate any more, my nephew used to jump his across the floo.
BTW, MissRobyn, I sympathize, Darby is 4 months old and is near 20 LBS and aready over 2 feet long.
SIGH, I keep telling her she can stay a little baby, that mommy doesn’t mind but she isn’t listening.
