swings

Swings take up a lot of space, and whether that space sacrifice is worth it depends on your baby. For some babies swings are magical for soothing and napping, for others they are just meh. Our neighbors let us borrow their Mamaroo, which is like the Cadillac of baby swings and has different modes to mimic car rides, tree swings, etc. It was snazzy, but it never did much for us. We also have a Graco Swing, which is gigantic, and again, didn't do much for us, but that's because our baby wasn't into swings. Another very popular swing among my mom crew is the Fisher-Price Cradle & Swing. A low-tech and cheaper idea to consider is a basic rocking seat, like this one from Fisher-Price. All of that said, if I had it to do over again, I'd probably get a Rock n Play, which is like a "swing lite" that can also double as a bassinet, and it folds up into a compact little unit so it doesn't take up your entire home.