I don't remember the ages when we used these, but after the Rock & Play stage, our containment devices included a bouncy chair, an exersaucer, pack & play, and eventually a baby jail play yard with foam tiles. We had twins, so while we did give them floor/blanket time, we also needed to have places to put babies where we could find them later.

We bought a playnest for our little guy and he loved it. He used it for months after he started sitting up.

https://www.amazon.com/Galt-Toys-Playnest-Activity-Center/dp/B00AN1KU1K?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once mine aged out of the Rock and Play I moved to a play yard with a soft surface (foam squares) downstairs and a pack and play upstairs. I could leave them there and walk away for a moment and not worry. I recognize the need to use "baby containers" but they can hinder development (google "container baby syndrome"). According to my infant PT friend, devices like the Sit-Me-Up chair and Bumbo are not good for spine and hip development unless the child is sitting independently.

I agree. I had a similar setup. Baby hung out in the pack in play while I was cooking/loading laundry, ect. Safe place for them and they were near me. They could roll some and move around safely and not impact their spine or hips or whatever.

Agree 100%.

Anonymous wrote:Once mine aged out of the Rock and Play I moved to a play yard with a soft surface (foam squares) downstairs and a pack and play upstairs. I could leave them there and walk away for a moment and not worry. I recognize the need to use "baby containers" but they can hinder development (google "container baby syndrome"). According to my infant PT friend, devices like the Sit-Me-Up chair and Bumbo are not good for spine and hip development unless the child is sitting independently.

I agree. I had a similar setup. Baby hung out in the pack in play while I was cooking/loading laundry, ect. Safe place for them and they were near me. They could roll some and move around safely and not impact their spine or hips or whatever.

Tummy time on the floor or pack and play when you need to leave the room or something quickly. Once she can hold her head up, mine loved being in an activity center when I had to do something like cook dinner. Just aim to have her “loose” (on the floor, being held, etc) majority of the day and use devices like swings, car seats, jumper-roo sparingly.

Bumbos are absolutely terrible for baby development! Don't get one. Besides, it's just another thing thing your kid is going to outgrow quickly.

Thanks for replies everyone. An activity set or the bjorn are the two items I was thinking. I kind of thought it was overkill to have one of those and a Mamaroo so maybe the fisher price seat or bumbo, a friend mentioned she had one so we can test it out.

It seems despite efforts to the contrary we have ended up with so many infant gear items and while we use them I hate how finite they are. We have a halo and a crib but also got a dockatot when I was SO exhausted from up and down multiple feedings per night. We have stroller but then also bought the bassinet insert week 2 so she could nap in it.

Thank you for the information about "container" babies. I found it informative. I am glad that its already habit to have her hang out/play on her tummy time mat in addition to focused tummy time.

Once mine aged out of the Rock and Play I moved to a play yard with a soft surface (foam squares) downstairs and a pack and play upstairs. I could leave them there and walk away for a moment and not worry. I recognize the need to use "baby containers" but they can hinder development (google "container baby syndrome"). According to my infant PT friend, devices like the Sit-Me-Up chair and Bumbo are not good for spine and hip development unless the child is sitting independently.

I asked a similar question for my four month old a few months ago, and got much more supportive answers, sorry everyone’s jumping on you, OP. The recommendation that I got, and loved, was the Fisher Price Sit-Me-Up Chair. Much better for them then the Bumbo, it actually helps them practice balancing in a sitting position.

https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-GGD48-Sit-Me-Up-Floor-Seat/dp/B071ZBB11K?th=1

Obviously, not something you want them in for hours a day or anything, but great when you need 10 mins to unload the dishwasher. We used it for 5-15 mins probably 2-3 times a day until our little guy could sit independently. Very helpful!

Then once he was good but not perfect at sitting, we just put the boppy around him to break his occasional falls. But that sit-me up chair was great to bridge the gap. Especially because as he was getting close to sitting he wanted to sit up ALL THE TIME and we just couldn’t help him endlessly.

These people are crazy. My kids had PLENTY of floor time but I’m not sticking a baby on a tile kitchen floor—even with a blanket—every time I need to get stuff done. And it generally takes me more than 10 minutes to cook/eat/clean or wash/dry/fold laundry etc. If your house is set up so you can do all these things while baby lays safely unrestrained on the floor in your sight that’s great but we’ve never lived in a place set up like that—and that plan stops working as soon as baby starts moving anyway.

Honestly, I kept both kids in the Mamaroo/RocknPlay (for older one) way longer than recommended on the box since they were being used under supervision. I basically let the kids tell me it was time to move on when they started to try to climb out around 6-7 months. Then we moved to a high chair as the preferred “stay out of trouble where I can see you” device.