Average Price: $28-38
Availability: Widely available online and off
Rating:
Product Link: Infant to Toddler Rocker

My first encounter with this rocker was when I saw my son, the very same son that is impossible to put down for a nap, fast asleep at daycare on the very first day that he spent with them. I asked a few prying questions and ascertained that he fussed for about 10 minutes and passed out in the Fisherprice rocker. This is the child that I have literally spent hours with, trying desperately to convince him that sleep is a GOOD thing.

I was sold. My son would fall asleep in it, everything else it could possibly have to offer was just a plus. And it has quite a few nice things to offer.

FEATURES

The rocker has a two-position recline operated by big red buttons at the joint of the seat. Full recline is a deep enough for an infant with only moderate head control (probably not a good idea for newborn), and the upright position is good for feeding, or for a mobile toddler who is using this as a rocking chair instead of as a bouncy seat. The recline buttons are somewhat difficult to manipulate- I always end up pressing one first (using both hands), and then working the other one free, so don’t expect your toddler to be able to manipulate them himself.

In addition to “recline and rock”, this rocker chair has a vibrating unit that takes D batteries. (And by “takes” I mean “eats them like candy”- I quickly gave up replacing them even though my son was very soothed by the vibrations.) I imagine that with a younger baby the vibrations would be very appealing in those early and often sleepless nights.

There is a toy arch with three toys- one that plays music, and two with rotating brightly colored plastic balls for a young child to bat at. As the child gets older you’ll want to remove the toys because they quickly get removed from the arch and are frequently tossed across the room. In some older versions of this unit the cow was facing the wrong way. Fisherprice seems to have since redesigned the velcro strips so that the cow can face either way. One other thing to note is that the velcro doesn’t hold very well and my son would frequently pull the music making toy off when he was trying to pull the handle to get it to play its tune. This would frustrate him because he couldn’t hold the toy and pull the handle.

QUALITY

One of the nice things about seeing a product in use at a daycare is that you know that it stands up to constant use and abuse. The only part of the rocker that seemed to be falling apart was the vibration unit. Frequent use by heavier children softens the hard seat pad and taxes the vibrating unit until it breaks. The rest of the seat is very sturdily made, can easily be washed, and is very durable. The director of the daycare that my son goes to recommended this rocker over any of the other models that they use, as it held up much better with the constant use.

ASSEMBLY

Everything is very easy to assemble except for the kickstand and cross-piece. It takes quite a bit of wiggling and re-attempts to get the screws to screw properly. The manual offers the helpful hint of making sure to push the lock nut further into the retainer as it tends to loosen and sometimes even fall out during shipping. This only partially solved the problem, and half the time as soon as I thought the screw was in, and let go- the whole shebang would pop loose again. I eventually got the screws to hold firmly in place, but it took quite a bit of trying. You can definitely use another set of hands to push the parts together while you screw everything in place. That said, it only took about 10-15 minutes to assemble.

The fabric reeks of a chemical and plastic smell, so you’ll probably want to plan on letting it air out before use, or possibly even pre-wash it. I found that after 48 hours of airing out, it didn’t smell like chemicals anymore.

SAFETY

The waist strap was loose on my 8 month old son even when adjusted to its smallest position, this will make it quite loose on an infant. I had some worries about my son kicking his way out the back of the seat somehow, but never had that happen. When you put your baby into the seat for the first time, try pulling them out the top of the harness. If they slide out easily you might want to put a blanket into the harness first to make it a bit harder for the baby to accidentally escape. As with any seat, do not leave your child unattended!

One nice safety feature of this seat is the recessed buckles, they are inset into a fabric pocket which handily prevents the pinching of fingers or tender baby belly flub while strapping the baby in.

Another nice safety feature is the kickstand which allows you to prop the rocker into a stable reclining position once your baby is asleep. This minimizes the risk of sudden tip-overs. My 20lb son would pull his body all the way up and lean forward to pick up a toy off of the floor and it would not tip over. Other reviewers have complained that the rocker tipped over- I believe Fisherprice has since redesigned the rockers, adding plastic pieces to each end that make it very hard to tip over.

EASE OF USE

The rockers is mostly easy to use, with my only complaint being that you can’t leave the toy arch on while you slide your baby in. The arch must come off in order to place your baby in the rocker.

COMFORT

The seat is very hard because of the rigid board that is attached to the vibrating unit. This doesn’t seem to be an issue for most of the babies that I’ve seen using the seat, but you might find that your baby prefers a softer surface.

The rockers are capped with hard plastic pieces on either end- obviously a safety feature to minimize the risk of tipping. However, this makes it difficult to rock without jarring the baby as each end hits the floor. It would have been nice if Fisherprice had found a less obtrusive way to ensure that the rocker wouldn’t tip. Better safe than sorry, however.
COLOR SCHEME

As my husband lamented: “could they possibly have made it any more ugly?” While the colors may be wonderful for stimulating the senses (a little too much), they are guaranteed to clash with anything and everything, including itself. Other rockers and bouncy seats have a much more pleasant color scheme- unfortunately I can’t seem to find any that match or exceed the 40lb weight limit of the Fisherprice Infant to Toddler rocker.

VERSATILITY

The infant to toddler rocker is much more versatile than most of the bouncy/rocking seats out there, as it doesn’t end up in the give-away pile as soon as your baby exits infanthood. However, do expect to have to store the seat for quite a few months while your child transitions from infant to squirmy pre-toddler, to a toddler with enough coordination to climb in and out of this chair safely. After a certain point a strong child can easily tip the chair over and it becomes unsafe to belt them in. But if they can’t get into and out of the chair safely, it’s unsafe to let them play with it.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The ugly colors, long period of time where the seat will be useless, and quickly outgrown toy bar add up to quite a few strikes against this rocker. If I had known a bit more about the downsides of this rocker before buying it, I probably would have opted to go with a more attractive infant rocker, and then a more attractive and traditional wooden toddler rocker. If you’re on a budget and just want to buy one thing that will last for quite a while, however, the Fisherprice Infant to Toddler rocker is quite a good deal.