Is a glider/rocker a requirement?

[FloridaBorn]

Noob mom question alert!

I'm 36 weeks, of course nesting like crazy. I don't have nursery furniture (because I don't have a nursery! we've already side-cared a crib), but my folks are insistent I have a rocking chair.

Do I really need one? I think all the typical gliders are positively UGLY. I don't have a recliner or anything like that either, though. When my best friend was nursing her daughter, she said my couch was perfect for breastfeeding, so maybe I'll be ok there, too? I hate to go out and buy new furniture if I don't really need it (especially when I have no place to put it)!

[Spiralshell]

I got a glider and gliding ottoman, and honestly it just wasn't very comfortable. It currently is holding a basket of laundry!
My mom has some hip and back issues, and since she's watching my son while I work, she insisted that we get a la-z-boy rocker for our house. I have to say I hate the look of recliners, and I really didn't want to get one.
However...
it's now my favorite place to sit. I have spent many a late night here rocking and nursing the babe. And if I get very drowsy and just don't want to get up and risk waking him, I put up the footrest and we sleep right here. This happens a lot less now that he's 7 months old and a better sleeper, but a few months ago this happened a lot! (We still enjoy the occasional nap here too)
So no, not a necessity, but it may be very nice to have. I've gotten a lot of backaches as a new mom and sitting in this chair really does seem better for my back than sitting on the couch.

[Artichokie]

the only requirements for breastfeeding are your breasts and a baby.

We do not have a rocker/glider/recliner and I really haven't missed it. I've tried the ones at babies r us and they do nothing for me. I'm happy to sit on the couch.

[mamakaikai]

I was gifted a glidder for my first born. I think they are really ugly too. But we found one that was acceptable. Thing is, I found it really uncomfortable and much much much prefer the couch. So the glidder has barely been used, but now my mom thinks it's a keepsake because it was her major gift to us for having a baby and it's where we supposedly rock the baby to sleep. But we cosleep and hardly every used the glidder...ever...

So short answer: NO!!!!!!!

[rhiOrion]

I have a baby that NEEDS movement. Even the glider isn't enough sometimes. But sometimes it is. I spend a lot of time in my glider. So for me, personally... yes.

You can get them that look more like recliners, too.

[rightkindofme]

I didn't feel like one was essential at all for my first baby. The couch worked great. Now that I'm pregnant with #2 I feel like I do *need* one. Our couch is kind of hard to get up and down from and it was killing me to have to get up and down all day taking care of our toddler. I think I will feel even worse when I am doing it with a newborn. So I feel like I needed a comfortable chair that is easy to get up from, which doesn't really mean it has to be a rocker/glider but that's what we found.

So uhm, no?

[JennTheMomma]

No. I find them uncomfortable and I can't BF in a rocker.

[Baby_Cakes]

I didn't get one and didn't miss having one until DD was a little older, like 6-7 mo or so, and needed to be rocked to sleep more often. I had to stand and rock her. I wished then I'd had a rocker or a glider!!

I say see how it goes. I nursed more often than not just sitting on the couch.

[Summersquash]

Definitely not! We had no room in our condo when we first had DD and so we didn't get one, and honestly never missed it.

I personally preferred to nurse with my feet up when DD was a newborn and so I either use the couch with my feet on the coffee table, or we have a chair and ottoman that worked well for me. It's kind of trial and error for how you and baby are most comfortable.

I should also mention that my goofball DD did not ever really enjoy being rocked to sleep. She never enjoyed back and forth swinging and rocking, and the motion that helped her fall asleep was bouncing rather than rocking. (She still doesn't like that motion...swinging at the playground or anything.) So if I had a baby where I needed to rock her to sleep I might have felt a lot differently.

[seim.ge]

I use an exercise ball for rocking purposes. It's great b/c it doubles as...an exercise ball.

[smusiak]

i had a lazyboy for my two kids that nurse
i love it becuse i could fall a sleep in it
and still feel rested
never had crib in the room
cosleep
so it was living room

[MeepyCat]

I love my glider, and I'm glad we have it, but I could survive without it if I had to. It's not an absolute necessity, just really nice to have.

[lolar2]

Not a requirement of course, but DS's daycare had them and they were very comfortable.

[LadyCatherine185]

For us, YES. I don't know what I would've done the first.. 9 months or so without it. DS had horrible silent reflux, and would scream and cry at the breast while nursing the first few months. I would try to feed him on the couch, he'd get so worked up and I would be sitting there holding him rocking him back and forth on the couch.. finally DH suggested we bring the rocker/glider (which was very comfy by the way) into the living room. It was a life-saver. He had to be rocked a LOT those first 9 months or so.. he needed the motion. And he was HEAVY boy (21 lbs by 6 months, 24 lbs by 9 months..) so walking him around or bouncing on an excersize ball would've killed me. We stopped using it for awhile (once the reflux was treated/settled and he would nurse calmly in bed and go to sleep that way) but we've been using it again recently. My milk has dried up and DS has needed to be rocked to sleep now that I can't nurse him for longer than say 30 seconds without pain and feeling like I want to rip my hair out.

It's like any other baby item-- you don't NEED it, you can find ways around it if your babe needs motion, but if you have one of those babies it can make your life easier.. just like for some people a swing, bouncy chair, or pacifier were lifesavers. My advice-- wait until baby gets here and see if you need it.

[treeoflife3]

My baby never let me rock her. Only now at 15 months is she willing.. and only sometimes.

More importantly, just make sure that you have a comfortable place to sit wherever you are going to spend lots of time nursing. My daughter was born in a state outside of where we lived so I couldn't get big furniture until I moved back home but when I did move back, we just never got around to getting anything better than a dining room chair for her room (we don't cosleep) It WORKS... but I tell you what, when she wants to nurse for a long time, my back lets me know just how long its been!

[Mama Khi]

I got a glider when DD was born and found that it wasn't really very comfy for nursing especially when she was first born. I much preferred sitting on the couch, sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on a stool, or propped up on the head of the bed. And once I learned how to nurse lying down that became a favorite, too.

[lizziebits]

I had a rocking chair with my first, which is still in his room. With my second, with got a glider off freecycle. I've used both extensively, but I think the glider is super comfortable. Not a necessity, but very nice to have.

[Peony]

I usually suggest starting off bfing on a couch. A glider is limited space wise, you can use as many pillows as needed with a couch! Personally, I actually created latch on issues for myself and my DD1 by using a glider (cause of course you have o have one for a baby, or so I thought) because the glider arms caused me to hunch over, her to fall down on the nipple, etc... They can be useful for older babies, not brand new newborns. I have always loved my couch, 3 nurslings later, and I have a huge butt indent where I've sat all these years and nursed. After #1, I swore I was getting one of those huge, awful recliners, never did but I bet it would of been comfy!

[mojobin]

I have a rocking chair and never use it. We nurse on the couch or in bed it is plenty comfortable and I can rock and bounce my dd fine. That said...I agree with the post about it being hard to get up off the couch...if my babe is asleep it feels like I'm preggo and I bet it looks like it too you know the whole hoisting myself up and sometimes my husband will help me with the hoist...lol. I know I'm a dork...but I really want a recliner...oh the naps we could take!

[ElliesMomma]

hard to nurse in a glider. or a recliner. easier to be sitting upright. best for me is a couch or chair with "arms" and a regular pillow.