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Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Rocker: Grows with your Child
Date of Review: Aug 19, 2008
The Bottom Line: Fisher Price expected too much out of this chair. Doesn't really grow with child.
I received the Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Rocker as a surprise gift from my husband's friend. I already had two vibrating/bouncers - so this was not even a need or want. But hey, it was a gift and it was new so I unpacked it an assembled it.
Assembly
Assembly wasn't so bad. It does have a lot of parts to put together, so you need to set aside some distraction-free time to do it. It comes with 19 parts:
1. Seat Pad
2. Seat Back Tubing
3. Three toys - a pig holding a rolly ball, a cow that plays music when the toy is pulled and a sheep holding another rolly ball.
4. 2 Side Rails
5. Four retainers with Lock Nut
6. Cross Brace
7. Toy Bar
8. Kickstand
9. Front tube with Vibrating unit.
10. 4 screws
It did take some time and yanking to get the plastic bags off the side rails. So scissors are very helpful. The seat comes with detailed instructions. Pushing the seat back tube into the side railings took some manipulation. Getting the holes to align so I could insert screws took some time too. This is not a 15 minute assembly project.
Once the frame is together, you will think this is not looking very comfortable. But you slide the seat pad over the seat back tube, and slide this little cardboard pad slot under the seat and it becomes a pretty sturdy chair. There are buckles under the seat pad to keep everything in place. And it is comfortable, because my toddler loves to kick back and relax in it with his milk.
Vibrate, Rock & Recline
You have plenty of options with this chair. Your toddler and baby can:
1. Vibrate and recline
2. Vibrate and rock
3. Rock only
4. Incline only
I usually have the kickstand "off" so that the chair will rock. And then I used the vibration option when my baby was around 0 - 3 months. But now I don't think about turning it on. My baby is 8 months old and mobile. To have the chair vibate you need to insert a D battery. Your vibrating options are only off and on. My toddler seems to enjoy the rocking option.
And it has a nice recline. You push these giant red buttons on either side to either lift the back or recline it. I keep it up, but since it is a rocking chair when my toddler sits it leans back a little. It is so comfy he falls asleep on the chair quite often.
The kickstand is located under the seat. Like I said, I don't usually use mine. But to keep the chair stable simple rotate it down and out. Then push down on the seat base to make sure the kickstand is sturdy.
Safety
My toddler sits in the chair and climbs out by himself. But that wouldn't be too safe for a baby or infant. There is a lap restraint belt. The middle seat pad is 10 inches. At the loosest setting the side belts are 4 inches. It sounds like a lot of room, but I swear it seems tight when I try to use it on my 23 pound 8 month old.
Appearance & toys
The seat is mostly blue with outline designs of sheep, pigs and cows on it. The head of the seat pad has a cow in barn with flowers and bushes on either side. This design is full color. The toy bar is a cow pattern and has three toys that can hang from it with Velcro. The animals easily come off with a pull from a baby. I dont know it that is good or not. I lean towards the "not". The cow is plush and has a toy hanging from it. When you pull the toy, the cow should play music - but usually the cow just comes off. The sheep and pig are hard, solid plastic holding little balls that roll in their hands. Once again, when batted the balls should roll. But usually these guys are yanked off.
The side rails are red and the kick stand is blue. The colors lean towards a boy more, but I think the aim was to make it gender neutral.
When your child outgrows the toy bar, you can still strap the toys to Velcro on any of the straps on the pad. But I have put those toys away for now.
Use
This seat is meant to grow with your child, from infant to toddler. But even though I used it as a place to hold my baby for 3 months or so - he really never liked it. The vibrations did nothing for him. And at 8 months he is so mobile it would be unsafe to put him in it, straps or no straps. My toddler uses the chair more. He spills stuff on the pad quite often, but I just throw it in the washing machine to clean it and then back on the chair.
Overall
It's a comfy chair, but I don't think much of it. It doesn't get a lot of use from my baby. And my toddler already has a huge, plush rocking chair, so he didn't need this one. So, my opinion is that it might be good for a toddler and just skip it for babies.
