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A Must-Have Sanity Saver

The Baby Swing Step-By-Step:

• What To Look For In A Baby Swing.
• Popular Baby Brands.

Great Baby Sitters

An infant swing is a must-have for soothing fussy babies. They just love the to and fro rocking motion. It keeps them quiet, and if you're lucky even rocks them off to sleep.

Infant swings also make great baby sitters. Put baby in the swing by the bathroom door while you indulge in the rare luxury of a shower that lasts longer than ninety seconds. Or enjoy the occasional meal without a baby on your hip.

One of the big advantages of the baby swing is that it is portable. I set mine up in the kitchen while I'm cooking in the evenings. It goes next to the dining room table while the family enjoys the evening meal and takes pride of place in the lounge during movie-time.

Baby swings are an absolutely indispensable sanity-saver. Babies love them - so will you.

What To Look For In A Baby Swing

Your little one will spend lots of fun hours in the baby swing. Your first priority is to make sure that it's safe.

• Make sure the swing you choose has a wide base and a low center of gravity. This will prevent tipping no matter how vigorously your baby wiggles.
• The swing must have seat straps - a five point harness is safest.
• Don't suspend your own toys above the swing. This presents a strangulation hazard. Rather look for a swing with a built in mobile or toy bar.
• Make sure your baby is always in view. Babies have wiggled out of their straps in the past resulting in entanglement. This poses a strangulation risk.

There are two basic types of baby swing. Battery powered or wind-up.

The wind-up swing has the advantage of not costing you anything in batteries, however in my experience, the disadvantages out way this small cost.

Wind-up swings work for a limited time before needing to be rewound and usually have fairly noisy winding mechanisms.

I use my battery powered infant swing all the time and have only replaced the batteries once for each baby. They last a surprisingly long time. Some swings even have an A/C option.

Wind-up swings also tend to have fewer functions than battery powered ones, speaking of which...



The basic functions on a baby swing involve speed and sound. Some also have a timer so that you can set the amount of time that you want the swing to rock for. I never ever used my timer. I just switched the swing off after my babies had fallen asleep.

Speed:
Look for an infant swing with a wide range of rocking speeds - six is best. Some babies like to be rocked more gently than others. You will probably also find that your baby will prefer a faster speed as she gets older and life becomes a little more exciting.

Sound:
The sound function should provide a variety of music with various volume options. Baby probably won't mind if it's loud, but mom may prefer the quieter setting! Some swings also have preprogrammed nature sounds. These work wonders for soothing a cranky infant.


Other Funky Functions:
Most infant swings rock with a to and fro back and forth motion. Some swings, however, offer a second side-to-side movement, which has been shown to be particularly effective for calming fussy little ones.

Certain swings are now available with a vibration function that can be used whether the swing is rocking or not. Somewhat like putting a wide awake baby in a car and coming home with a slumbering bundle, this function soon has baby sound asleep.



The main feature to look out for regarding comfort in a baby swing is a reclining backrest. Look for a swing with variable positions. You will need at least a fully reclining position and an upright position. Preferably find a swing with a position between these two.

The fully reclined position should be used for small babies. They cannot hold their heads up and so will flop forward if in an upright position. You can also use this position for older sleeping babies.

Older babies will enjoy sitting in the swing and watching what's going on around them. Some babies enjoy sitting upright, while others seem most uncomfortable in this position and prefer to lean back a bit while still being upright enough to see around them. I used the intermediate position on my swing more than either the upright or fully reclined position.

Also look for a swing with a nice soft seat cover - babies have very sensitive skin - and a removable infant head support to cradle your newborn until she is stronger.



There are five features to look out for here:

• An open top (no upper bar)
  It is much easier to lift baby in and out of an open top baby swing and you don't have the risk of bumping his head.


• A Flip Open Tray
  This is essential for lifting a sleeping baby out of the swing without waking her and for preventing scraped knees and legs, especially as baby gets older. In addition lifting an older baby out of a swing with an immovable tray puts a great deal of strain on your back because of the angle, which is continually changing. After all, this is a swing - it moves!


• A Removable Washable Seat Cover
  Chances are your bundle of mischief will be eating some sort of snack in the swing at some point. And you know babies make a mess, right? It won't take long for that seat cover to get grubby.


• Portable
  Most baby swings are portable to some degree or another, if you don't mind a bit of awkward lifting. But some are specifically designed to be moved around a lot. If you plan to move your swing from room to room like I do, a portable swing may be a worthwhile consideration. Some even fold up for travel!


• Foldable For Storage
  The baby swing is not a particularly space-efficient contraption. If you don't have a large nursery room, you may not want it set up all the time. I use mine so much that I couldn't store it even if I wanted to, but if space is at a premium, consider this a must-have feature.

Young babies seem to be quite fascinated by their own fingers and toes, and will quite happily lie in the baby swing playing with them.

Older babies are another story - they like to be entertained. Toys and lights are a bonus feature not to be ignored.

The toys on my infant swing definitely provide me with a few extra minutes of peace here and there.

Popular Baby Swing Brands

Baby swings are available in many brand names. I have a Graco - I've used it for eight years on and off and it's still good as new.

Graco Special Feature: The vibration option available on some models.

Fisher Price is another popular brand in baby swings. They have a fairly large range.

Fisher Price Special Feature: The side-to-side motion option available on some models.

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To make sure that the infant swing you choose is safe see our baby swing recall report.












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