Hi, all,
I would just like to say thanks for all the great advice I've gotten this week!
I have a not yet six month old who is north of 22 pounds now (hubby is 6'2".) He still loves his swing and bouncy chair, I just bought him a play center, and I might even try to find a used jumperoo, since he loved the store model so much! All of these items and many more have a 25 pound weight limit. I definitely don't want to take a chance with his safety, but can I use common sense as a guide when figuring out when to retire the item? I get the feeling that 25 pounds is kind of arbitrary- they probably just guarantee it to 25 pounds for legal reasons, right? I always supervise him using the products anyway, so if it still seems sturdy and stable when he goes above 25 pounds, can I still continue to use the product? (P.S.- I'm not talking about car seats or anything, just Fisher Price toys.)
Thanks!
Still has time befor e he hits 25 lbs. Weight gain really slows down at this
point so he will probably be crawling before he hits 25 lbs.
Most kiddos don't hit 25 pounds this young! My guess is that you will be fine and that the weight limit also accounts for height and "activity level". Just keep an eye on him and if things look like they could "topple over" or are "bending" in the wrong places, stop using them!
My 30 pound daughter and my 44 pound son always climb into their baby sister's swing or jumparoo and it holds up fine.
Consider, could he get seriously hurt if the item broke or collapsed with him in it? If he is just a bit off the floor he is probably okay. I think up to 5 lbs over is probably reasonable for a lot of things.
My son was big for his age from the start and hit 25 lbs before 1 year. But he loved that jumperoo and bounced it hard with no problems even right at the weight limit. It had a frame though, it didn't hang in a doorway. As others have said they grow fast at first and then level off. I think I heard that babies double their birth weight by 6 months and triple it by 12 months. Once they are crawlng and walking they burn a lot more energy.
I'm always by the book and so wanted to retire those types of things at the weight limit but my husband would always point out that companies always put a huge safety margin when placing those limits. So if the toy is good up to 25 lbs., you're probably actually good up to 10 lbs more before it becomes dangerous or whatever. But just to be safe, I'd retire it after 5 lbs past the mark.
Personally, not at all becuase my 4 year old is only 32lbs!!! ;o)... I'm sure you're right though. Certainly they couldn't make something that at 26 lbs it would dump the baby out!
Most of those items can **usually** hold twice their rating.
learned the hard way with our older son: he had a flotation swim tube with the 25lb limit. He weighed more than 25lbs, but not much. We put him in it, & it immediately flipped upside down & he got a lungful of water.
We could not believe that just 1-2lbs would make that difference! After rescuing him, we decided the parameters should also include height guidelines......he'd gone from a chunky, rolypoly baby one summer to a skinny toddler the next!
EDIT: totally get the 22lb / 6mo.....our son was 21lbs at 6mos & 24lbs by 8 months! BUT, once he started walking, he stayed right around 25lbs until age 2. Your son sounds wonderful....& would fit right in with our family....all big babies!
He may surprise you and totally plateau out-my son did.
Though he has grown taller his weight is holding steady around 23lbs.
I think he was close to 20lbs. at 6mths.. He is now 14mths.
Just food for thought.
Now if we were talking about one of those 'hang on the doorway jumpers' I would follow the weight limits strictly...I wouldn't worry too much about the stationary play centers. :)
L.,
My 3.5 year old jumps in his little brother's jumperoo all the time. He is 37 lbs and he abuses the thing! Its holding up just fine. He also sits in his brother's swing and swings in it hard. It is also holding up fine, but it won't swing by itself with so much weight in it.
I think the weight limit is for their legal security, you will be fine if your baby goes a few pounds over before outgrowing the toy.
Good luck,
R.
Our jumparoo broke while our son was in it. Our son is roughly 27-30 pounds right now and we didn't realize that he was approaching the weight limit for the toy. He was just jumping away one night when the plastic pieces on the frame broke and the whole thing collapsed on him. He hit his knee pretty hard with part of the seat but he is fine now. It was just scary at the time. I wouldn't recommend using it past the weight limit unless it was bought brand new (ours was in great condition, but it was used). Even then, use caution.
