Is a glider/rocker a requirement? - Page 2

[lalemma]

My mom believes very firmly that parents of a new baby need a glider or a rocker. She went out and bought us a glider and a gliding ottoman thing to go in the living room (baby sleeps in bed with us, no nursery).

I was completely skeptical and tried to talk her out of it.

And it has been one of the best baby things we own! (Yes, I have apologized to my mom for being a doubting Thomas...) Especially when the baby was tiny, it was nice to have a "nursing space" that was comfortable for me to sit and rock for the hours and hours and hours he wanted to nurse, and the arms and relatively straight back made it a good place to nurse without getting crazy neck cramps. Plus, having a "dedicated" space in the living room gave me a place to leave the Boppy when I wasn't using it. Little stuff like that.

Is it an essential? No, probably not. But it really enhanced our breastfeeding relationship. I would do it again.

[ewe+lamb]

We never bought one - i dont know, i just didn't like the look and space that they take, in days gone by the nursing chairs were actually very low to the ground and usually without arms, my mum has two which I swear are the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in, that being said I looked into how the north africans and middle eastern folk do things and mostly it's sitting on the floor to nurse, so we did away with our couches and got lots of cushions and beanbags - it works for us - lol

[dziwozony]

I love rocking chairs & gliders...I always thought a cozy glider (some are definitely cozier than others) would be on my must-have baby stuff list. However, my surprise bundle of joy left me in a situation with neither the space nor the $ for such a luxery! So, it would have been nice, but really we did just fine without them.

[amberdcm]

I definitely don't equate a rocker/glider with breastfeeding.

What I do equate it with is cranky, colicky newborns coupled with an over the top tired mama. My son went through a period where nothing would soothe him. For me, the rocker was the best place to plant it when my feet hurt from walking and my eyes were shutting despite my best attempts to keep them open. The rocker, then, was my life line and life saver.

I wouldn't say they're a necessity, but for a short span of time I was eternally grateful that my mom, who gifted me it, insisted than it was. That very same rocker is making its way back to my very small house today in anticipation of my daughter who is slated to make her appearance within the next 2 weeks. Good luck!

[FloridaBorn]

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm going to see how it goes once our daughter gets here. If I feel like I need a different chair to nurse in, I'll check on Craigslist.

Thanks!!

[deditus]

Originally Posted by 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)!

I am really simplistic about material things and I thought a glider would be a waste of money and I agree that they are all generally ugly. But after nursing dd for 45 months I REALLY wish I would have had one. Either that or a nice comfy rocking armchair. Especially when she was sick and wanted to nurse all night but had to be more upright because of a stuffy nose.

[Quinalla]

A glider/rocker is not a necessity here, but a comfortable place to sit on each floor you will be nursing on definitely is for me! Until a baby masters side-lying nursery, it's nice to have a comfy chair in the bedroom. And yeah, I agree a couch works fine for me anyway for nursing, just have appropriate pillows for you to make sure you have good back/arm support.

[lach]

Originally Posted by amberdcm

I definitely don't equate a rocker/glider with breastfeeding.

What I do equate it with is cranky, colicky newborns coupled with an over the top tired mama. My son went through a period where nothing would soothe him. For me, the rocker was the best place to plant it when my feet hurt from walking and my eyes were shutting despite my best attempts to keep them open. The rocker, then, was my life line and life saver.

I wouldn't say they're a necessity, but for a short span of time I was eternally grateful that my mom, who gifted me it, insisted than it was. That very same rocker is making its way back to my very small house today in anticipation of my daughter who is slated to make her appearance within the next 2 weeks. Good luck!

This was my experience too. The ONLY way I got any sleep with either of my kids the first few weeks they were home was because of my reclining glider! They would only sleep in an upright position on my chest, and so I'd sit in the chair and rock until they fell asleep and I had my legs up and it was actually pretty comfy for me.

We got an armchair so it's not quite as ugly as a glider. It's big and comfortable to curl up and read in and sit in, and I definitely bought it as a piece of permanent furniture for our room instead of just a baby item. It's used as a clean-laundry-holder a bit more than it should be, but I really like having it. This is the one we got (it looks much better in a different color scheme, imo) and it's so comfortable. It is pretty big, though.

[texmati]

it depends on your kiddo. you definitely don't need it to breastfeed-- but for a few month I wouldn't even visit people with DS unless they had a swing or some sort of rocking device in their home.