Comments on: Are mobiles necessary?

By: john

john — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:30:56 +0000

I hate mobilesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

By: Ms. Superiority

Ms. Superiority — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:07:00 +0000

http://superiorhabitat.wordpress.com/

All parents of children must read this article on de-stressing from iVillage. Horrifying!

By: Mon

Mon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:39:14 +0000

My daughter loved her mobile, but only for about 6 weeks. Yet, it was worth it as she took so much enjoyment from it when she was too young for much else.

In unclutter mindset, I try to upcycle toys and baby equipment as often as it comes available.

If at all possible it’s worth trying things out before making a purchase, as well as being aware of your child’s potentials. For example, dangling something above the baby’s head to see if s/he is excited by that. I noticed my daughter was very visual, so knew a mobile would work.

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:03:28 +0000

It’s so funny how everyone has different experiences. Don’t you wish those babies would all get on the same page!

Baby swing was a lifesaver! She slept in it for the first 4 months. Screamed when we tried to lie her down on her back. Turns out it was reflux which she outgrew.

The bouncy chair– not so much.

Loved the boppy. Only way I could nurse without killing my back. Then we would sit her up in it when she was learning to sit up.

Baby mits– she would chew on them to soothe herself to sleep.

Definitely borrow stuff, take hand-me-downs or buy it cheap until you know what works for your baby. Most of this stuff lasts forever. Our highchair has made the rounds in our family and is currently with its 4th child. Check out Freecycle. Great place to pass along your stuff or ask for stuff you want.

By: Tasla

Tasla — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:14:35 +0000

My son had a battery operated mobile that would spin for 15 min, while playing Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven on a loop. He would lie on his back fascinated, listen to the (non-annoying) music and watch the mobile. This was enough time for me to shower or make a phone call, etc, while not having to listen to him scream bloody murder because I wasn’t in the room.
Later I could detatch the mobile itself from the music box and he had that in his bed for 3 or 4 years, always fell asleep listening to the “classics” and since it was button operated and not wind-up, he could turn it back on if he wanted.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:17:07 +0000

Two things that haven’t been posted that helped us decide which things to purchase and purchase cheaply are
” Baby Bargains” by Denise Fields. Goes through EVERYTHING and describes brands, quality, price, etc. It may talk about more things than you need, but in our experience, many of the recommendations were quite useful. Also Craigslist can be a nice way to purchase things cheaply and unload your outgrown things, if there is no toy library in your community. And for the mobile, by the time my son was interested, he could reach it and pull it down into the crib, so we packed it away.=)

By: beth nc

beth nc — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:29 +0000

My husband and I recently adopted our baby. As adoptive parents, we did not know when the baby would come, whether it would be a boy or girl, or even the age! We only had a few days notice when he was born.

So, only then did we buy anything baby stuff. In one afternoon, we bought a car seat, a pack and play with bassinet feature (plus a couple of sheets), a few outfits, diapers (cloth and disposable) and wipes, a diaper pail, a few bibs, bottles.
You don’t need much to get ready for a baby.

Since my son’s arrival 3 months ago, we’ve acquired lots of stuff, mostly gifts and hand-me-downs. He likes the boppy pillow and the bjorn carrier. But he also likes spending time in our yard and being read to.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:47:17 +0000

My son is 6 months old and not a fan of the mobile, I think it actually scared him. He does enjoy the rainforest aquarium that plays soft nature sounds and has a dim blue light. I’ll still try the mobile with my next baby. There are some “classics” that work for some so they are worth trying. I’m keeping everything from this baby (everything is neutral) so I will not need to go out and purchase new items for my next baby.

Other items I personally found useless were the swing and the boppy pillow. My son hated the swing and the boppy pillow made nursing difficult.

The best purchases I made were the baby carrier, the jumper, swaddle me blankets, and the bouncy seat. We also bought an exersaucer but not until I borrowed a friends to make sure it worked. However, the most popular toy in my house right now with our son is the TV remote control! He is fascinated by it and giggles as if it is the funniest thing ever.

There are many toys and products for babies that work great for one baby and not so much for another. It’s tough to tell. From my own personal experience it is best to borrow or try out a product first before buying it.

By: sarah

sarah — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:17:04 +0000

We’ve been gifted with 4 mobiles altogether, 2 of which are on the cot now. Child 1 had no interest, and child 2 is still co-sleeping at 7 months and never goes in the cot. The cats like them a lot though!

Bouncy chair – hated by no. 1, loved by no. 2. Same with the Bumbo. Lucky we kept them.

By: jon

jon — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:43:39 +0000

Everyone is thinking that mobiles are for babies. Okay, you are referring to crib mobiles. But please consider a mobile as a gift for anybody.

As a boy I had a wonderful silver painted mobile of biplanes. Each one hung on its own slender arm, counter-balanced by a weight on a tiny arm opposite. They hung one every few centimetres on a long thread, so as they turned, they dipped up and down in the air. It was like watching a slow dogfight or aerial display. It was fascinating to watch and I regret not having it today. I might say it encouraged me to think in 4 dimensions, (height, width, depth and time). Or it was just fascinating.

Mobiles may be your child’s first introduction to sculpture, to art in more than just a plain. And it might help you think more about your wasted ceiling space.

By: cdelphine

cdelphine — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:37:38 +0000

and if you’re crafty it would be really easy to make your own with cardboard shapes in high contrast colors

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:47 +0000

I agree that each baby has their own preferences and would highly recommend trying items out before acquiring them, but based on our baby’s reaction I would seriously question the need for: a wipe warmer, a baby walker, the boopy pillow, and anything that can only be used up to 15-20 lbs as our baby outgrew her newborn clothes, her Baby Bjourn, and bouncy seat very, very quickly (I would make an exception for the car seat though). I should probably note that we did not buy any of these “musts” they were all gifts. What we did like: the car seat which was also used as a rocker, and the “ulitmate swaddle” which is a large flannel sheet that is now used as a blanket. And one tip, we regret buying a stroller that was marketed as going from newborn to toddler as it is now too bulky and wish instead we had bought the snap on wheels that hook onto a car seat when she was a newborn and then bought a nice umbrella stroller when she was older.

By: Ribs

Ribs — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:59:20 +0000

Being a Brit, I read “mobile” in the headline and saw the picture of a baby’s mobile and thought, “Obviously babies do not need mobile phones!”. Heh. That’s what comes of getting up early with my baby I suppose…

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:39:14 +0000

I was very skeptical about most baby gear and didn’t buy a lot of it… no changing table, etc. A lot of what we did have were gifts or hand-me-downs. But my daughter LOVED her mobile (a gift) and it bought me so much time in the morning that I could make coffee, unload the dishwasher, and do a couple other quick chores while she looked at it and I could watch her through the bedroom door (we have a tiny apartment). I probably wouldn’t have bought one, but I was glad we had it. She would get so excited and kick and squeal. She also loved her baby swing, and that was crucial for a while, actually.

By: Holly Tried It

Holly Tried It — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:07:43 +0000

My daughter could have easily gone without a baby swing. She grew so fast anyway, that she was grabbing the swing legs when we had her in it. She liked it, but she didn’t love it.

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:47:48 +0000

We’re foster parents so we’ve always kept a mobile on hand. Sometimes we use it, but usually don’t.

The thing that ALWAYS gets used is the bouncy seat. Couldn’t get by without one now. It’s a lifedsaver.

As far as totally waste-of-time items, I have two: the diaper genie and a wipe warmer. Seriously, if a baby can’t stand a cool wipe now, he/she is going to grow up to be a wimp.

Blessings–
Dana

By: Tim Visher

Tim Visher — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:37:42 +0000

My wife and I are expecting our first in about a month and we decided that we’re going to co-sleep…

With that being said I’m *definitely buying a mobile… I’ve wanted one for the longest time and always felt awkward sleeping in a crib.

By: Michael@ Awareness * Connection

Michael@ Awareness * Connection — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:52:58 +0000

Having training in psychology I think mobiles rate pretty well as far as toys go for sensory stimulation; but like any toy, they certainly aren’t necessary for healthy development. Kids will watch shadow from the trees and the curtains on the wall. Unless they are in a sensory deprived environment kids will develop fine provided the have a “good enough” attachment relationship with their caregivers.

In our society we absolutely err WAY to far toward thinking we need mountains of equipment and toys to adequately care for a baby, which is absolutely not the case.

By: Angie Roberts

Angie Roberts — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:12:44 +0000

The number one thing we should not have purchased for our first baby was a Diaper Genie! I’m surprised I didn’t see it any of the currents comments. It smelled awful and the strongest disinfectant couldn’t kill the smell. Plus, as the diaper size increased the Diaper Genie capacity decreased. Big waste of money, but you live and learn. If I could do it again, we would have used cloth diapers.

By: Shana

Shana — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:15:28 +0000

We were visiting friends with a 7-month old a couple weeks ago. We were outside, and the baby was having a blast. All the smiles and giggles were over:

*”chasing” my husband’s foot and trying to eat his big toe
*trying to drink (or lap up) water from an adult-sized cup
*pulling up grass
*chasing and gumming on one of the retractable tapemeasures found in sewing kits

He had a great time and it was all stuff we had with us anyway.