Baby Bumbo Seat, Play Tray & Cover REVIEW

AD – Baby Bumbo Seat gifted for review

My daughter is becoming stronger every single day. In recent weeks she has started to hold her head up and when laid down on her tummy will arch her back to try and see my face. I was keen to try and assist getting her into a seated position, so that I could interact with her and play at floor level. I was given the opportunity to trial a Baby Bumbo seat and cover, and I jumped at the chance.

About the Product

The Baby Bumbo Seat is a floor based seat made from soft lightweight low density foam and has a wide flat base. It features a high backed support to aid the babies posture, and a low dipped base to support their bottom, as well as two large dipped holes for their legs to poke through.

When to use a Bumbo Baby Seat

The Bumbo chair was designed to seat young babies who can’t sit up by themselves yet. As soon as your baby can support their own head they can be seated in the Bumbo Floor Seat. As a rough guide, this will be from around 3 months of age – but this will vary from child to child.

What age is the Baby Bumbo seat suitable for?

Every child is different, so there isn’t an exact Bumbo age limit however the general Bumbo chair age ranges from 3 months (or when they can hold up their own head) to around 12 months of age. Any older than that and you may find that your baby’s legs are too chunky for the holes in the Bumbo baby seat. The weight limit is 22 pounds and I would therefore say the Bumbo age limit is between 12-15 months (my daughter was petite and stayed in it longer than 1 year of age).

How does the Bumbo Baby Seat work?

The Bumbo chair works by stabilising the child into a slight hip flexion, meaning that their bum is positioned slightly lower than their legs, tilting their pelvis and causing them to extend their back. This combined with the curved back of the seat, helps provide support around their trunk and provides them with the strength to sit upright. The Bumbo allows babies to have their hands free to play and can be a useful aid for babies who have reflux or colic, as it assists keeping them in an upright position after feeding.

What is the Bumbo Tray?

The product can be purchased on its own or with the Bumbo Play Tray accessory. This white plastic tray clips easily onto the base of the Bumbo seat and provides a convenient surface for your babies toys or snacks. Using the tray can help stimulate babies senses and allow them to fine tune those motor skills by picking up items placed in front of them. It is made of a safe shatter resistant food quality plastic to ensure it is completely hygienic and can be easily wiped down with anti bacterial wipes.

The Bumbo can be used with babies up to a weight of 22 pounds, and costs around £42 with the package including the play tray. There are various colours available including aqua, lime, pink and blue as well as removable covers. The removable covers are available in a range of designs, and are a great way of refreshing the look and feel of the Bumbo and adding a bit of extra flair. Made from machine washable fabric, the cover can be easily removed and washed to remove stains or mess.

Our Experience

We tested the Bumbo Seat with my daughter who is just over 3 months old, but strong and can confidently hold her head up. She fitted easily into the Bumbo and although a little confused at first, (hence the slightly bewildered face!) she soon seemed quite pleased with herself and sat in a relatively straight backed, upright stance. The Bumbo comes with straps securely attached under the base of the seat, that can be tightened in a similar way to car seat straps. I found it was easy to fasten and adjust to ensure that Izzy was secure – this would become particularly important once your child was more capable of wriggling within the seat!

Once Izzy was positioned in the Bumbo, I was able to lie on the floor and get down at her level and give her full view of my face, and she really enjoyed smiling back and making oohs and ahhs in response to my facial expressions!

The play tray was a great addition. The tray comes disassembled in two pieces that easily click together, and the play tray then clips on between the leg holes and slots underneath the base of the Bumbo seat. The tray provides a large surface for small toys, and we read a book together using the tray as a support. This allowed her to get a great view as I turned the pages. As she gets older, the play tray could be used for small rattles or musical instruments, as well as snacks and drinks once she has started weaning. A wipe down surface, the tray is easy to clean if it gets covered in milk or other general baby mess! (no more detail needed here!)

Before having the Bumbo, I would often leave Izzy sat in her car seat when visiting friends as I knew it was a safe environment for her, although this was far from ideal. I now take the Bumbo with me, as it is light and portable enough to pop in to the car, and allows her to sit with us, in a more social environment!

The Bumbo is suitable for weights of up to 22 pounds, and my friend is still using the Bumbo with her 10 month old, who will eat finger food snacks whilst seated in the seat. Now that her daughter is mobile however, she does need to be more cautious to ensure her daughter does not rock the seat – hence why the product should only ever be used on the floor.

Are Bumbo Seats safe?

There was a Bumbo seat recall many years ago, however this was before the Bumbo came with straps. All Bumbo chairs now come with integrated straps. If used correctly. Baby Bumbo Seats are safe, however it is crucial that they are not used at height and used as a floor chair only. If used on a table or work surface, they come with the risk of your baby toppling the seat or falling from height, the consequences of which could be disasterous! Read the instructions and make sure you learn how to fasten and secure your Bumbo. As with any baby product, adult supervision is required at all times.

Where can I buy the Baby Bumbo Seat?

The Bumbo seat is sold at a variety of retailers including Mamas and Papas, Amazon and Scandiborn – you can shop the best deals below.

Pros

• Enables child to sit unaided when in that in between stage where they are frustrated lying down, but not yet strong enough to sit alone.
• The play tray is great for popping on toys on to have at easy reach.
• Wipe down surfaces makes it easy to clean if child possets milk
• Bright attractive colours suitable for boys, girls and unisex designs.
• Can use the removable covers (available separately) to reuse the gender specific coloured bumbos for a second child!
• Babies look VERY cute sat in it!!
• Lightweight foam style material, making it easy to move around, or pop in your car when visiting friends.
• When used with my friends older daughter, she was able to sit and eat her lunch from the play tray.
• The Bumbo cover was a great way of making the Bumbo look a little bit different, and Izzy appeared to love the bright colours of the design.
• The cover also prevented Izzy’s legs from becoming a little sticky within the Bumbo seat, as they did occasionally when she got warm.

Cons

• The Bumbo seat should not be used at height (despite the temptation to use as a high chair alternative!). As with any children’s product, it is a case of reading the safety instructions thoroughly before use and using with caution as the Bumbo is not a toy!
• The play tray can be a little tricky to get on to the seat, as you need to raise the bottom of the bumbo slightly to clip it into place. However, once fitted it is secure and sturdy and Izzy would struggle to remove it herself. We did find it hard to dismantle the two parts of the tray again for flat storage, so ended up keeping the tray built and ready for its next use.
• At the age Izzy is now, she couldn’t stay in the Bumbo for too long, but I imagine this will increase as she gets bigger and stronger.
• Depending on the size of your baby, the leg holes aren’t particularly generous in size, and I can imagine chubbier babies could quite quickly become rather a snug fit!
• The covers look great, but in our opinion aren’t as easy to clean as being able to simply wipe down like you can with the Bumbo on its own. That said, they are fully machine washable, but just might need a fairly regular wash!

Overall, we are really pleased with our Bumbo experience so far, and I am looking forward to Izzy becoming stronger and growing more and more confident sitting within the seat.

You can learn more about the Bumbo and their range of products on the Tomy website here – http://www.tomy.co.uk/ENG/PRODUCTLIST/BUMBO

Thanks to  RMR Network Blogger Helen and her beautiful daughter Izzy for this review! x