I received the Graco doorway bouncer from my cousin whose baby is about 5 months older than mine. She told me it was a lifesaver for her, and felt I needed one too. At the time, my son was about 3 months old, and it says it's for 6 months and up... but I was impatient. I took it out and set it up immediately.
The setup was pretty easy, and required no tools. The only thing that actually had to be attached was the fabric seat to the plastic bumper rim... the spring and the "hook" that attached it to the doorframe required no work on my part.
Another thing I liked was the fact that since the "hook" that attaches to the doorframe is so long, I can actually put it on myself without having to stand on a chair... which is nice because I'm only 5'4".
So anyway, I set my 3 month old son in it, and held his head carefully... and he had absolutely no clue what it was I was trying to get him to do. He looked at me helplessly and cried. Needless to say, I took it down and put it in the closet.
Two months later, his head and body control was getting much better, so I brought it back out, even though he was still under its recommended age. I set him in it and watched... and he seemed curious! He wasn't used to something that moved like that, but I think he really enjoyed being able to move on his own (he wasn't sitting up yet or crawling on his own). I let him continue to use it, and he seemed to like it more and more each time. By the time he was 5.5 months, he was ecstatic in it, jumping up and down wildly and banging his little arms on the bumper, laughing like a banshee. It just cracks me up to no end when he gets going in that thing... we love it!
He just turned 6 months old yesterday, so I can't say anything about its longevity or durability, but it does seem fine so far, and he's used it daily for about a month.
It has plastic rings that attach to the straps that are just about grabbing height for baby's hands as he jumps (although our son never really seems interested in holding onto them). We use them to attach toys to, and that just adds to his delight. We have a plastic butterfly teether with lots of rings and a velcro strap, and it jingles merrily as Daniel jumps up and down.
I had thought that, since the bouncer has a bumper, it would be suitable for any doorway, and the baby couldn't hit his head or anything as he jumps, but I became nervous when I watched how Daniel would hold the bumper, putting his little fingers in a perfect place to be jammed if he got too close to a doorframe. Luckily for us, we have a double door in our house, so the bouncer resides in the middle there, nowhere near either side of the doorframe. I honestly don't know if this would be a big problem or not for someone who only had normal sized doorways, since we never let him jump in it in a normal doorway.
I guess, if I had to come up with any more nitpicky details about it... I'd have to say that the fabric design is very loud and a bit tacky in my taste, but I've long since gotten used to it. Heck, considering how much he loves it, I'd still leave it up even if it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. :)
Overall, I have to say this was one of the best gifts we received for our son. It's right up there with the stroller and my nursing pillow as things I absolutely couldn't live without. When we take him to the grandparents, we bring: baby, diaper bag, car seat, playpen, and doorway bouncer!
We are currently out of stock in this item, please check back for availability.Product Features: • "Bumpers" help protect wooden door frames from mar...More at Albee Baby
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