The best baby bouncer should be a safe, secure and cosy place for your infant to relax and play. Some baby bouncers are lightweight and portable so you can keep your baby close by at all times. Others are entertainment centres with music, lights and vibration settings, providing stimulation and fun well into your child’s toddler years. Many options also include a bar overhead with fun baby toys attached, dangling and ready for your child to reach for to practice their motor skills and hit those all-important baby milestones.

Baby swings have a long history as a beloved product for soothing fussy infants—some of us may even remember the hand-cranked baby swings of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Baby swings have come a long way, with many models offering modern features like white noise and soothing music, timers, Bluetooth connectivity, and even the ability to automatically detect a baby’s crying. With all the choices available, it can be hard to choose the right baby swing for your baby, so we put 18 different baby swings through rigorous testing to find the best options for your family.No. The newborn insert is not required for use; however, you may choose to use it because it does provide extra support for the baby. The seat, although not reclinable, is lightly padded and covered in a comfortable linen fabric, and has a built-in padded insert that offers comfort and support for younger babies. However, we would have liked for the insert to be adjustable to better accommodate growing babies. Luci says, “The support cushion was located too high up the seat once my daughter was two months old (approximately 10lb). As a result, she looked slumped in the seat.” In terms of portability, we could easily move this swing from room to room since it has a small footprint and weighs only 10 pounds. However, it doesn’t fold, so it requires some space commitment (albeit temporary). Despite this, we like that the seat rotates 360 degrees and thought it was really easy to change the incline, even though it requires two hands to do so. It’s tempting, especially when you have a nap-resistant baby, to let your child sleep in a swing, but experts like Cody advise against it, instead urging parents to transfer the baby from the swing to their crib for safer sleep.

It can be used as a bouncer up to 9kg, which is somewhere between eight and 10 months of age, after which it converts to a toddler chair to be used until your child is around two years old. She also points out that baby swings aren’t just for soothing—they can help parents get to other necessary tasks, like prepping a meal, while their baby is safely entertained. “In a nutshell, when you're dealing with a restless baby and a mountain of tasks, a baby swing can be a game-changer,” she adds. Some swings may be advertised as compact or travel-friendly, but it’s also worth considering how the swing actually breaks down for travel and what accessories, like batteries, are needed if you do transport it. The 2-in-1 Chicco Hoopla converts seamlessly from a baby bouncer once your child reaches 9kg to a toddler chair that will last until around three years of age. Fink DJ. What is a safe noise level for the public? Am J Public Health. 2017;107(1):44-45. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303527

Pharmacy product

Our newborn son loves this! It has been a lifesaver for us. He loves all the different motions. Really cool features as well. It's a little pricey, but it's nice."

But swinging your baby in your arms for hours upon hours sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? That’s where mechanical swings come in. You can set your baby down, safely secure them into place, and let the swing do the heavy lifting.Nuna Leaf Grow Baby Swing: It’s a cool idea, but the Nuna Leaf is powered by parent motion only—there’s no electricity. So, unless you want to do the work yourself, it’s really not helpful as a baby swing. It might sound surprising, but Dr. Murray advises parents to choose baby swings with minimal and smooth motion. “The more we stimulate our babies, the more stimulation they will expect,” she explains.