When to Start with a Swing

I put my daughter in a swing from the day we brought her home from the hospital. She enjoyed it when she was very young but now she is 9 months old and hasn't used it in months.

Hi J. (great name btw :-)
You can totally put the baby in a swing, may kids were both in the swing by about 2-3 weeks--granted both of my kids were born big (8.9, and 9.6) But you should be fine! My only suggestion would be, don't get him used to sleeping in it, I did with my daughter and she ended up sleeping in it at night for about 6 weeks--i just broke her of it! Good luck!!!!
J.

Argh- so many husbands have such weird ideas! My friend's hubby won't let her feed their 10 month old any dairy products. Why? Because he heard babies couldn't have milk (rather than breastmilk or formula), so he thinks that means ANY milk! :)

Swings are fine from the get-go. If your baby likes it, put him in there now!

I agree with Denise - your baby is ready for the swing. I hope he likes it - swings are lifesavers.

J.,
I'm sure you've got this from a lot of other people:

You can start with a swing the day you come home. If you are concerned about cost, you might find one on craig's list or freecycle, but the motor in these things is what goes first, so be very careful about what you buy. I would buy new, bc your baby is so young.

No, they don't get addicted to it. My baby wanted the swing for months on end, people told me no, it's a bad habit, don't do it, I kept the peace, I'm glad I did. As far as the swing, one day he just decided he would rather sleep flat on his back.

It did turn out he has reflux issues, and (long story aside involving ped'n) the swing was a self-medicating item.

Good luck, let me know how things turn out! :)
M.

An infant swing? They are safe from birth. He's not too young. He'll probably like it....they have toys to look at that hang above them and babies like the motion of them...just put it on a low setting, so it swings him slowly.

Infant swing you can use from the beginning. I just used one over the weekend at work, one of my preemies would not sleep unless he was in the swing! My children personally did not care for the swing :( Both children used it just a few times...He should still be getting like 18hrs of sleep -- all babies are different though, He should still be sleeping most of the time, as he gets closer to 3 mos then there will be more like *nap times*. Now it is still change feed sleep, repeat.

It's totally fine to use the swing now. We did, and even though it wasn't a lifesaver, it was great to have our 2nd baby in the kitchen with everyone during meals and clean up, whether she was awake or asleep. Both my kids were still sleeping 18-20 hours a day at this point and life was completely without routine or schedule. 3 months is the time that they start to stay awake longer, and 4-5 months is when regular naps start to emerge. Look for a swing on craigslist - for expensive baby gear that doesn't get much use (or maybe your baby will hate it - my first did), craigslist is a total money-saver.

J., I think that my son was in a swing probably a week or so after he was born, and now they make the swings so babies can go in them. I briefly just looked at the Babies R Us website and I typed in swings and there were all kinds. And depends on how big your baby is or how big your baby will get, they do not stay in swings very long. Hope this helps.

Hi J.,

Congratulations on your new baby. I remember when my first was born 9 years ago...I had a swing and put him in it right away and he hated it. I couldn't figure it out. Then I decided to read the instructions...who reads instructions for a swing? and lo and behold it says to wait until they are at least 6 weeks or even 8 weeks to use the swing. Now I read the instructions for everything! So, I'd say your babe is probably ready for the swing, but if he doesn't like it, I'd wait a little longer.

D.
35 year old mother of 5 with one more on the way

Hey there!

In my case, my daughter really never took to the swing, she enjoyed one of the vibrating bouncers instead and she fit much better into it when she as young as your little boy.

She would nap in it during the day and sleep in her crib at night. They also have some with activity bars that light up and play music, etc. I was suprised at how young she was when she started figuring out how to play with it and so it would keep her occupied during some of her waking hours, too.

I just let her sleep and eat as needed until about 3 or 4 mos when I started gearing her up for daycare.

Enjoy this special time :)

The advice we got was that you should follow your baby's clues and let him tell you when he needs to rest. Don't try to set a schedule yet. You schedule should be what your baby needs. We did that with our now 3 1/2 month old and she started sleeping through the night just before 3 months. We bought the Boppy swing due to lack of space, but love it anyway. We highly recommend it! Just go to the store and check the age ranges on the boxes. I think they vary. Hope this helps! Good luck!

my little one is 8 weeks and hes been in his swing for about 3 weeks i take a blanket and lay it over him and bundle some on each side of his head so it keeps his head stable-he loves it this way.ur swing should have a adjustment on the seat part for this age it needs to be reclined back.I also have a 7 year old and i put her in the swing around 4 weeks just support there heads.Good luck

My son is nine weeks old and he loves his fisher price my little lamb cradle n swing. He doesn't go to sleep in it, but he really enjoys the music, mobile, and mirrored ball. He was four days old the first time we put him in. At that point, he just enjoyed the rocking motion. You can adjust the swing to rock more or less depending on what baby wants. My husband was paranoid about the swing rocking too much when my son was little, but now we put it all the way to the max. FYI-My son was nine pounds at birth and could support his head from day one. Good luck!

hi J.,
congrats on your new baby. i wanted to say i started both of my girls with a swing from the day they were born, so i guess its never too early. it kept them quite and happy so i don't think its ever too early. you should be able to start using one without any problems. good luck. T.

Hi, I had an evenflow swing that had an adjustment so it would swing side to side as well as front to back. Something to do with the back/forth motion isn't good for newborns because of their necks. If I were you and worried I would either get one that swings both ways(HA!) or maybe just put your baby in the swing and not turn it on at first. Good luck and congrats...!!!

Hi J.
when my daughter was about 6 weeks old, she slept pretty much all day and night, but for the crying and feeding times every couple of hours. I would say she was awake in total for maybe 5 hours a day, 4 1/2 of which were spent crying and eating.
Congratulations on your new arrival - I LOVE tiny babies - I always tell people after my daughter started sitting up it was all downhill hahahaa
Enjoy!

our kids were in a swing the day they came home from the hospital...as long as the baby is strapped in properly, with the infant pillow that (most) swings provide...go for it...they can be a mom's best friend.

J.