Johnny Jumpers
Good, Bad?

cultivated from community
for MotherSpirit

My son is just like his Daddy...the boy NEVER stops moving! He rubs his feet together, pushes himself into a standing position on my lap, waves his arms around, bobs up and down...you name it. Sometimes it's really hard for me to have him in the sling because he is going nuts! LOL

I don't mind holding him up so he can stand a lot, but it seems like a lot of pressure on his body....especially when he bobs up and down. DH brought up that he would rockin' in a jonny-jump-up thingy. Honestly I never though about that before. I really enjoy not having ANY "baby gadgets" in the house, and I'm not sure how I feel about those things. On one hand, I think he would probably get a big kick out of it. He laughs his little ass off when his sister jumps around for him...he would love  if he could do it with her. OTOH, I am sort of uncomfortable with "putting him in something". I cringe when I see my neighbor lug her excersaucer outside so she can work in her garden for hours while her 6 months old is confined in that thing. Obviously I wouldn't put him in it and proceed to clean my entire house, but I still feel weird about it.

I dunno..I am confusing myself more. What do you guys think?

THE RESPONSES:

• I think some things have a place.  We had one of those johnny jumper thingies and our son loved it. We would sit in front of him and jump up and down and he would follow us. He is and has always been a very physical baby. I think as long as you aren't leaving him in there all alone for a half hour... it's a fun thing that let's active babies explore their sea legs. The first time we tried it, though, our son wasn't ready for it and we put it away for a month then tried it again
• I know my Chiropractor is dead against them.  He says it "trains the wrong muscles in the wrong way". Which is why kids who are in them a lot often walk on their toes and have an exaggerated lordosis (the curve in your lumbar spine). He believes it starts them of with back problems which can never be a good thing.  Of course I know you would never put him in it for a long period of time, but if you want to know what *I* would do....I wouldn't use one. Our child was the same way, WOULD NOT keep still and rarely cooperated in the sling. I didn't know how on earth I was going to sate her desire to always be DOING something, but she took care of that when she started walking at barely 8 months!
  • They do develop the wrong muscles same as using a walker or excersaucer.
• Oh Gosh where to begin! .I hear you on baby products, or more to the point a house free of them.  I have never owned exersaucers,swings,etc.  My babies "entertainment" has come from me, my arms, my hands, my boobs, my hair, my fingers, my time & from me!.   Of course we have toys & such, but my point is, as I saw what you were saying too, is that little children, under one year especially, need most of their stimulation & contact parentally provided & not product substituted (as our society so sadly tends to).  However (& no doubt you knew this was coming!!*L*), I was blessed with a VERY high-needs & active 2nd child & as he grew so did his need for free expression & independence.  His spirited & bright intelligent nature required this & after awhile I realized that I had to create a happy medium in which he could exercise his need for independent involvement & still have all his needs met by me & family too.  Maybe this sounds simple, but at the time it was very challenging for me.  To have a young child who for his own best interests required me to give him some free time & yet still remain a very high contact, AP mother.  Our children sound alike.  So to the "Jolly jumper".  Oh, this was the perfect solution & our child LOVED it!. I used it very discriminatingly & it worked really well. I was able to put it in the doorway between our kitchen & living room & our son was involved in all that was going on. I could always see him & we never left him in it for long. He just loved it!. As you said when your daughter bounces 'round your son loves it, our son was the same with our older child & providing the JJ was a wonderful thing to watch. He'd bounce himself with such joy & giggle, it was truly priceless & I'll have very fond memories of it!!.  Hope this helps.