
The Bumbo baby seat was first introduced as a "snug and cozy environment for your baby." It has recently been all over the news and in the press because of a recent recall for an added safety warning message. The website of the seat claims it is award-winning and is manufactured to the highest safety standards. The new safety recall message that has been added says "never leave your baby unattended. Never use on a raised or uneven surface, as a car seat, in a bath or in other water." Parents were putting their babies in these seats on counter tops and in swimming pools and/or on concrete surfaces and leaving them unattended. Using it as a car seat baffles me but it must have been done, if it was printed. One way they can become injured is that babies can simply arch their backs while sitting in the Bumbo and the whole thing will topple over backwards. I know this because it happened to my baby. Fortunately, he was sitting in it on carpeted floor and I was right there to catch his fall. When this happened, I immediately understood the concern for the recall. I don't know if it was enough but hopefully if parents aren't reading the safety messages they will learn in a more fortunate way as I did.
The seat, in my opinion, is not all the rave it's cracked up to be. We bought one for our baby when he was about 4 months old. We thought it would offer him a place to gain independence and learn to sit up. What I've learned is that babies will learn to sit up with or without a product like the Bumbo. He didn't like to be in it all that much either and still doesn't like to be in it, 4 months later (he's now sitting on his own, too). My son is 8 months old now and we only use it for feeding him when we travel because it's lightweight and portable when compared to his full size highchair. He is soon to outgrow it though. The recommended age is 6 weeks to 14 months. While I guess it can be used that long for some babies, I don't see it being useful for very many. My son is average size and has a hard time fitting in it now.
If I had to do over again, I would not spend my money on a Bumbo baby seat.




