Finding the best Exersaucer for your Child

Not to be confused with a ship that takes you to space, the exersaucer is a stationary exercise unit where your little one is able to stand whilst being able to stimulate themselves with surroundings toys.

Exersaucer’s are a great alternative to walkers as your child is fixed in the one place and can’t roll around like they can with a walker. 

Before we look at some of the best exersaucer’s on the market, we walk through what to look for when buying an exersaucer, things to consider from a safety perspective and why exersaucer’s are important for your child’s development.

In case you don’t have time to read, we recommend the Fisher-Price 2-in-1 Sit-to-Stand Activity Centre which is available at Amazon for $91.01.

What’s the Difference Between a Baby Walker and a Baby Activity Centre? 

You’re probably thinking, hang on, how is an exersaucer different to a walker which we used to use as kids ourselves? Good question. 

As the name suggests, walkers are designed to help your child learn to walk thanks to wheels on the bottom of the unit allowing your child to roll around a room. Walkers are great as your child is surrounded by stimulating toys while being able to freely move around the room and slowly build up muscles so they can freely walk on their own. But... there’s one problem with walkers. They require a lot of supervision to avoid accidentally walking into objects that may then fall on them, falling over or even worse, walking down stairs and injuring themselves.  

Exersaucer’s differ to walkers where your child is kept in a stationary position and they’re not able to freely move around. This is great as it means your baby is safe from harming themselves and also means you can do other things while your child is strapped in.

It’s recommended for your child to use a play mat up until 6 months and then begin transitioning to an exersaucer. By spending time on their stomach or back, this helps your baby develop muscles especially around the neck which comes in handy when they transition to beginning to use an exersaucer.

What’s the Height and Weight Limit for an Exersaucer?

As exersaucer’s vary in size between manufacturers, there’s no set height and weight limit for every exersaucer and this will ultimately vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 

We generally recommend exersaucer’s as suitable for children up to 32 inches and 25 lbs (11 kg). Be sure to double check the fine print for the exersaucer you end up buying.

Why are Exersaucer’s Important for your Child’s Development?

There’s quite a few reasons that exersaucer’s are great for your child’s development which include:

• Familiarise standing in an upright position - After spending the first 6 months of their lives on their back, it can take some time to familiarise to being in a position other than on the back. Exersaucer’s a great way to help your little one getting used to standing and begin to build leg muscles that will help them with crawling and eventually walking. 
• Exposure to different textures and shapes - Exersaucer’s come with a variety of toys attached that look to exposure your child to different shapes and textures. By having a variety of shapes and textures these also work great for keeping your child busy with their short attention span.
• Practice hand eye coordination - For some children, an exersaucer will be the first time they begin trying to grab and pull objects. Exersaucer’s are a great way for your child to practice their hand eye coordination by grabbing and pulling objects. 
• Safe environment - With your child securely strapped in a stationary position, your child can safely play in the exersaucer without fear of hurting themselves like they may have previously with a walker where children were known to accidentally walk down stairs or into objects. Another bonus is that you can also go about other jobs like house work in the same room while watching your child.

5 Things to Look for When Buying an Exersaucer

With plenty of exersaucer or baby activity centres on the market, it can be a bit confusing to what makes one good vs others. Here’s some tips for things we’d recommend looking out for:

1. Easy to Clean

Let’s be honest - children aren’t the most tidy lot so it always pays to look for units which are easy to keep clean. We generally recommend looking for a unit that looks like it will be able to withstand a fair bit of disinfectant being sprayed on it without deteriorating.  

For this reason look for exersaucer’s with lots of plastic surfaces and don’t rely too heavily on materials like felt as these may fray over time.

2. Toys

Exersaucer’s come with toys either attached or hanging from the unit. Generally, we recommend looking for units that offer a range of different toys to properly stimulate your child. Some things to look out for:

• Toys that require your child to practice their hand eye coordination skills
• Different textures and colours
• Toys that rattle when shook
• Different shapes and colours to visually stimulate

3. Safety

With all the different toys available on child exersaucer’s also comes safety concerns you need to consider when purchasing. From our experience, avoid units where there are small parts which easily disconnect from the unit and could end up in your child’s mouth and become a choking hazard.

4. Adjustability

An important part of a baby activity centre is the ability to adjust the height over time as your baby grows. This is important for two reasons:

1. Being able to adjust the height means you will be able to get longer use out of it as opposed to one which is in a fixed position and the height cannot be adjusted. 
2. Your child’s feet should barely be touching the ground. This is to avoid your child putting excess pressure on their joints and muscles which are still very much growing!

5. Portability

If you’re like us and travel from time to time, having equipment that simply folds down when not in use without needing to be dissembled is a huge plus. Because exersaucer’s come with toys attached to the unit, we recommend checking whether these can be detached off the unit and stored separately as we found this makes travelling with the unit easier as it removes a lot of the awkward bulk.

What’s the Difference between an Exersaucer and a Bouncer?

Not a great deal... With an exersaucer and bouncer your child can spin around 360 degrees but the main difference between an exersaucer and a jumperoo (otherwise known as a bouncer) is the ability to jump around.

As the name suggests, bouncers use a safety harness system that straps your child into the unit so they can freely bounce around. Exersaucer’s work a bit differently and don’t have a bouncing mechanism so your child is essentially fixed in the same standing position.