Jumperoos and Exersaucers

A couple of months ago I bought a used Exersaucer and we got the boys a new Jumperoo for Christmas. And over the past few weeks they have started to use them more, occasionally staying in them for 15-20 minutes at a time. Yay, right? Well we took boys to see a pediatric development specialist and occupational therapist the other day. We were telling them how they were starting to roll a little more on the floor and how they are starting to use the Jumperoo and Exersaucer more. That's when they said that they don't recommend those things and said that they didn't help with babies' development at all The doctor said that we could put them in them for 5 minutes or so but that we shouldn't leave them in their for 20+ minutes. Something about how when their feet touch the ground their natural reflex is to push off it, and I guess that is not good for them at this age (?).

So my questions are:

1) Have any of your pediatricians or other baby doctors recommended to NOT use jumperoos and exersaucers? Conversely maybe your doctors have specifically recommended them? Maybe different doctors have different opinions...

2) Do you think these things were/are beneficial to your babies? (and not just beneficial to you for having some free time, heh)

I was really surprised that they didn't recommend them. I know doctors don't recommend walkers because they can easily tip over and the baby can hit its head. But I always assumed jumperoos/exersaucers were safe and recommended for babies. I also think they help with their fine motor skills since they have so many little toys for them to play with too. And I really hate that we may have wasted $125!

 

My ped didn't recommend or dismiss them, along with walkers. I believe in the general consensus of "everything in moderation". I wouldn't plop my baby in any confined activity for hours on end, but I don't see the problem with 15-30 mins of play time, or until baby gets tired! It's never adversely affected any of my kids development. Consequently I agree it did seem to help with their upper body strength (much like sitting propped up does) and their hand eye coordination.

I think like everything, you have to take your ped's advice with a grain of salt, unless it comes to something like malnutrition, then I'd follow recommendations to the *T*. Also, as a parent of twins, I know I used activities like the bouncy seats, exersaucers and walkers MUCH more than I did with my singleton, and unless your ped has twins they will never understand that

 

I used both with my first and swear she was an early walker because her legs were "strong"

I've been using an exersauser for the past few weeks, they love being in them...you can see the pride and independence in their little faces...gives me a chance to go pee and wash bottles too.

When I had my 4 month visit, the Pedi comment on how strong thier legs were...and said...are you using an exersauser? I said yes. She said "I can tell" and that was the end of it.

I just pulled out my Jumperoo this a.m as a matter of fact, they seem to love bouncing around in it.

Everything in moderation

 

I have heard that they are not recommended & are not that great for their development. We never had any jumperoos here but we did have an exersaucer which we didn't use all that much. My kids just never really liked being confined in them. I did use it some with my older kids, but I don't think there was any benefit to it other than occupying them for a few minutes & giving me some free time. I never noticed any developmental benefit anyway.

If you are seeing an occupational therapist & a pediatric development specialist, I would assume it's because there is some concern over their development at this point? In that case, I would definitely listen to their recommendations. I wouldn't want to waste my time seeing specialists if I wasn't going to take their advice, you know? ardon:

 

I was not discouraged by my Ped at all about them. All of my kids spent some time in both. None of them had any developmental delays. Leah walked at 10 months, Derek at 12, and Tyler at 13 months. But if your Ped says no, I would be inclined to follow their advice. My kids did about 10 minutes at a time here and there. There is no way they would tolerate 20+ minutes.

 

This appointment was made before they even left the NICU. It is standard procedure for all NICU babies to see a developmental specialist 6 months after they are discharged from our local NICU to make sure they are developing according to their adjusted age. The developmental specialist and OT were very impressed with the boys' weights, and Brandon was right on track developmentally with adjusted age (5.7 months). Colin was a little behind his brother due to low muscle tone. They said they weren't worried about Colin and didn't think we needed to contact Early Intervention but just said he would probably learn to sit, crawl, etc a little later than his brother. Which surprised us because so far he has been the first to do everything (grab toys, roll from tummy to back, and roll from back to tummy). And I do plan to also ask their regular pediatrician about exersaucers and jumperoos at their upcoming 9 month checkup as well. I figure it also doesn't hurt to get another professional opinion either, ya know ardon:

As for the boys usage of the jumperoo and exersaucer, they generally only tolerate about 5-10 minutes in them, and only once or twice were in them for a total of 20 minutes. And I would never plop them in there and just leave them be for hours on end. I was just curious whether others here had pediatricians or specialists to specifically discourage their use. And this specialist didn't say we shouldn't use them at all, she just said we should limit their time in them and just put the babies on the floor more. Which is what we do anyway. Prior to that doctor visit we never put them in exersaucer or jumperoo more than once in a given day and only for a few minutes, and heck there were several days where we didn't place the boys in them at all.

So far my opinion of them is that they are probably fine in moderation, like other PPs said

 

My boys are 28 weekers, so similar to yours--but now almost a year actual. WE have a clinic here at Emory that we took them to when they were about 6 months adjusted. They just evaluate them to see if they are on track. We talked about the jumperoo and exersaucer. They didn't say not to use them, but told us to just be careful. You will notice on the jumperoo they get on their tip-toes. They told me preemies can sometimes get used to doing things on their tip-toes, so have to watch out for that. They let them stand to see what they did. They also told me for preemies they can sometimes be overstimulating. They did a kind of game to see how my boys reacted and one of mine got overly excited which I thought was good, but they explained you sometimes have to tone things down for them b/c they can't control their excitement--or soemthing like that. Again, they didn't say not to use them, but were kind of not thinking they were great for the boys at that age.

I have to say, we kept using them---in definite moderation and now that they are older, we use them more. It's our only way to keep them occupied to get things done and they love the jumperoo!! Sounds like you are fine, but maybe the above helps in terms of why they may think to use it in moderation or wait a bit longer--do think it's more of a preemie thing why they may want to limit it.

 

It definitely never hurts to ask! :good:

 

Thanks atlantagirl! Everything you said makes sense and we will definitely limit their use. I just wasn't sure whether we should totally not use the exersaucer and jumperoo at all and sell them, or just limit their use. The latter sounds more reasonable for sure

 

Our pedi didn't say anything about them. We have a jumperoo and DD likes it pretty well. DS likes it okay. They never tolerated more than about 10 minutes in it. Now they like to play with it from the outside but don't really like being in it. I mostly see it as a place for confinement so I can put the other baby down for a nap. My kids are almost 13 months and still not walking. I think they are okay in moderation.

 

We have one of each. I love them both, and so do he Lo's. Everyone in my family has used one, and I haven't seen any adverse effects from them. Now some people may bash me for this, but I just don't have a whole heck of a lot of faith in doctors anymore. We see a different one everytime we go to the office (some are repeated). They all have different things to say, different opinions. Use this nasal spray, don't spray that up their nose. Don't use vitamins, do use vitamins.They all cite these new studies (some of which I have looked into and found out only contained minimal tests and trials) My nephews are close in age to ours, and their doctors all do things differently too.

IMO we are our childrens best advocates. I take everything with a grain of salt, and go with my own gut. My LO's have spent LOT's of time in the jumpers, and they have been declared healthy,developmentaly on track, and beautiful by every doctor they've seen.

 

DoubleD'sMom, I hear you on the myriad of expert opinions. We went to the pedi office for vaccines the other week and I asked one pedi if we still need to give our boys vitamins w/ iron, or just regular vitamins. He said he didn't think they still needed the iron, but said "Now are you going to see Dr. ____ today? Because she will give you a completely different answer." We've seen both of these pedis in the past. The other pedi also told us previously that the doctors in that practice have varying opinions certain topics and that she disagrees with her colleagues on some things, which I guess is to be expected.

Anyway, I agree with you. Take doctor recommendations with a grain of salt and seek second opinions if possible, as they may have a different opinion of things, then just use your best judgement. Or get a third opinion for a tie breaker

 

I used both with my girls and I have often contributed their early walking to the jumperoo making their legs stronger. Of course, that could be totally just my crazy thinking, but both of my girls were walking good by 11 months and they were born a month early. They loved those things and would bounce like crazy in them. Of course, like pp said, all things in moderation. No contraption is good if you keep them in there for hours. I had a timer and would keep then in for 15 minutes at a time, then take them out for floor exercise so they could stretch out after using them. I could see if a child had leg problems how this might could be advised against, but for a normal developing child with no leg issues, I can't see how they would hurt them.