What products are best? What would you recommend?

My girls are getting to be more and more active and they will be 5 months on the 19th. I want to research bouncers, walkers, Activity centers anything that I think will help them get stronger and they will learn something at the same time all in having fun. In your opinion if money was not an option what items would you purchase? I want to get one of each thing and then they can share between them but with so many to choose from I was hoping to get the expert moms and dads opinion that have actually used the products.
Thanks,

 

Our top 4 things in that category (in no particular order):

a play cube / activity center: They are often marked as "12+ months," but my DDs liked it most from about 6-12 months. They not only played with it, they pulled up on it to practice standing.

exersaucer: Doesn't have to be super-fancy -- we bought ours for $5 at a yard sale and it was pretty bare-bones, but as long as it has a few things that make noise and a few things they can fiddle with, they're happy

doorway jumper: We had it in the doorway between our dining room and kitchen (we just pulled it out of the way when not in use) and one of my DDs in particular totally LOVED it. We used it from about 5-9 months.

Any kind of mirror that you can attach to a wall at their eye level.

Some people say "Babies don't need any of those things, just put them on the floor with some toys and let them explore." That may be true, but it was our experience that if we put them on the floor, they cried. If we put them in something that let them sit up, they were much happier. And they learned to sit/crawl/walk right on schedule, so I don't think it did them any harm. (That said, they did spend time on the floor at daycare, where there was more to look at -- maybe they just thought the floor at home was too boring.)

 

Ditto exersaucer, although i went with 2, I had one from my older kids and I bought a second one used, so much cheaper and it worked just as good.

Mine didn't like the jumperoo's as much but most kids do enjoy them.

Loved the activity cube. Also an activity table, ours had removeable legs on it so it could lay on the floor with them while they were younger, but then you could put the legs on it and they could stand up at it. I had to wedge it in a corner against the couch so it wouldn't slide on our hardwood floors.

A walk behind toy. Like this one for girls. Oh my gosh I wish this had been available when my kids were little . That's adorable.

Any kind of walker. Once they outgrow the exersaucer I used the walkers all the time. We have an open floor plan house so they could really zoom all over the place

 

my boys love, I mean LOVED their jumper. They would bounce in it all day if you'd let him. The one that really enjoyed it has really strong legs now. We got the fisher price one. But than again all babies are different. Some babies do not want to be confined. My other boy just swayed in it, He didn't really want to be confined in anything, he wanted to move about. They also liked the toys and you can push and walk.

 

Our kids LOVED the jumperoo. They loved it so much we had to get two of them. I got them both second hand off Kijiji (craigs list) and ended up selling them for as much as we paid for them in the first place.. so it was basically free!

 

I love the exersaucer. I made do with one but probably could have used two. I am not one for restricted my kids from crawling around the floor with toys but the exersaucer is handy for when they start crying and don't want to be on the floor anymore. I have mine in my kitchen so they can be entertained while we make food, eat ourselves, etc.

We also have the Fisher-Price Go Baby Go Crawl and Cruise Musical Jungle from when I had my DS #1 which the twins like. Now that they are standing they like to play on the Leap Frog Learn and Groove Music Table we got them at Christmas.

 

We had 1 exercauser (I agree it doesn't need to be fancy) and one jumperoo. Mine didn't like the Johnny jump up (hangs in the doorway) but loved a toy that they could stand and play with. Also a walk behind toy. I highly recommend buying used either through Craigslist or scouring Goodwill. It does not need to be new and saves a ton of money.

 

We had a lot of stuff for our twins, because they got bored easy and the days are long . If I have to pick just one thing, I would pick the Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo, it was the best thing we got for our kids during that time, the seat is narrow, they can't dangle in it and they can also rest their heads on the pillow if they get tired. We started to put them in when they were 2-3 months old, but we started with 5 minutes here and there. They loved it so much, we decided to get another one. We got the Baby Einstein one and we brought it back after 5 days, because they just didn't like it, the springs were different and it wasn't as easy to jump in it. After that, we bought the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Jumperoo which has the same kind of springs like the first jumperoo but different toys and music and they liked this one also, but if I have to choose one I would choose the Rainforest one, it's THE BEST. They laugh out loud in it and if you get two, they kind of challenge each other to jump more and laugh at each other.

We also had an activity center - there are a many you can choose from, we had the Evenflo one, and we also had the Bright Starts Around We Go Activity Station and when they were bored with the jumperoos we put them in those together. Later on we got 2 hanging jumpers also and they were challenging each other with those also. We bought few different ones, but the best one was the Graco one, we ended up returning the other brand and we got a second Graco one also. There's no need to get the one with the musical mat under, they didn't care for it and it costs extra. We put these on an archway we have and we put 2 ottomans from Ikea under them, they LOVED jumping on them and they were also swinging in them if we took the ottomans out. Of course, you can switch them in between all these, but if money is no issue and you have the space, I recommend you to get 2 of each, ours were very entertained to see each other while they were jumping on the floor jumperoos or on the hanging jumpers or in the activity centers, they were challenging each other.

If you have to choose only one thing, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart - get the Rainforest Jumperoo - your girls will love it, and you will love seeing them in it, it's very entertaining to see them in it.

Also, another thing that I recommend you to get is the Laugh & Learn™ Learning Home™ my kids loved it since they were 3 months old and they still play with it, it's one of the best toys they have. When they were about 4-7 months old, we used to put them in their bumbo seats near the house and they were pushing buttons, they opened and closed the door and the window and they had a blast. Needless to say - we know the songs by heart .

Enjoy your babies, they are starting to get more and more fun!!!