Jolly Jumpers...

We've been given a Jolly Jumper doorway bouncer, in brand new condition. I've had Jake in it a couple of times and he absolutley LOVES it, he just goes crazy bouncing and laughing. The plunket nurse said they are ok after 5 months of age, and to make sure his feet are flat on the floor and his knees bent to prevent "tippy toe" walking and overdeveloped calves later on.
Today, I was at the DRs with Jake, and was talking to my friends husband (a bit of a manual geek, you know, reads all abut it..) and he went savage at me for using it. I kinda thought it was ok, since the plunket nurse said they are fine (only walkers - which I hate- and changetables so far have had the big no no from her). So what do you guys think? I am fairly comfortable letting him spend a little supervised time in it, and haven't read or heard any horror stories (to be fair, I haven't been looking out for them..) so I thought maybe you guys could all wade in with your opinions!

what was his reason for not liking it? Just out of interest. I had them for the boys (Keegan still fits in it lol) and would put them in doorways (they were right angled to each other if that makes sense) and they loved bounching together. The only thing I dont like about them is i have seen parents put their bubs in them and the bubs heads aren't strong enough for them but other than that go for it. i wish they had adult ones i would have a blast!!!

Me too! They look fun. He loves it, he plays with our dog while in it (a Jack russell) and he can see our huge goldfish, which facinate him.
He mentioned something about making them do stuff before they are devleopmentally ready ( I think he was confusing it with a baby walker, which I "politely" mentioned about parents groups and plunkets getting them banned from next year..) I can't see his point? Maybe the "standing" thing? Jake loves "standing" anyway. I dunno? A bit "weird"? I got the impression he didn't really like me when I was talking to his wife...

what's the difference between doing that and standing them up on your knee bouncing - it's not before they are developmentally ready - at this age plunket nurses reccomend you start doing that sorta thing and letting them stand on your knee and weightbare etc.. not heaps but a little - and as long as baby has good head control and feet are flat then it's all good. I really hate when people develop opinions about things before doing their homework! lol

we had one for paris - borrowed from a friend - i was a bit iffy about it at first cos our door frames aren't the tickest - and i was worried there wasn't much for it to balance on, but it was all good. the only reason i had to stop using it was paris loved it so much and went so bonkers that she would bounce so hard the spring doubled back on itself and i was worried it was gonna come undone.

tell him to jump off the nearest cliff - how rude.

We had a jolly jumper for our jake and he liked it, but by the time it arrived he was starting to crawl and didn't like being confined to the jumper so much. He did have an exersaucer which he loved.

incidentally my girlfriend's little boy is 5 days younger than Jake and she used a walker and a jumper with him. We didn't have a walker and as I said, barely used the jumper. both boys crawled and walked at the same time

I bought a good, second-hand jolly jumper for Kiya, that now Josiah is using. They both love/d it! AFAIK, you are not supposed to put them in in until they can hold their own heads up, and are bearing weight on their feet. If your kid is already doing this, then go for it! We put a mirror nearby for Josiah, and he has fun with his "friend"!

Arna "lived" in her Jolly Jumper - not literally but we would put her in there for about 10 - 15 mins (recommended time) and when we took her out she would SCREAM the house down!! She was taking first steps at 9 1/2 months and walking properly at 10 months.

I would put all my kids in Jolly Jumpers (if I have anymore!) as long as you follow the guidelines and see how your baby is "interacting" with it then there is no problems

yeah, that would probably be a good idea Ana, - it's hard sometimes to wait - simply because your child just seems so grown up to you, but sometimes they aren't quite ready for some things, even if they are doing others. - like my buggy - i converted to the two seats instead of the toddler seat and baby hammock - and it wasn't until i was up town with ayja in it the other day that i thought - hey, hang on, it's pretty upright - if she falls asleep her chins gonna be on her chest and she won't breathe properly - and sure enuf - she fell asleep - and ended up all crumpled up... so it was a quick trip off to the car to convert it back to the baby hammock so she could sleep lying down.

when paris was in the jolly jumper we used to put books on the floor in front of her so she could look at them, or we would sit a little way from her and roll a ball to her (it's an oversized one - about half the size of a gym ball).. and she would bounce up against it and kick it back to us.

I loved the exersaucers as well, but they are sooo expensive! Saw one at Kmart for $159 - down from $199. it looked pretty cool, but I'd hate to shell out all that cash to find bubs didn't like it. I'm going to hire and see if B2 likes it first and then maybe get one later....yah trademem!!

Where can you hire them from I would have loved to hire one for Alan (bit late now he is done with being confined now he is crawling anyway be good to know for the next one