Mafe Maria: Personal stories by autism parent mentor, Maria Stultz

Born Free

Right between getting a breast ultrasound (no worries, it was just a cyst) and falling prey to a terrible cold with a fever of 102°F, I went to the baby store to shop for some toys for little Joaco. Wasn’t planning on buying anything big, when suddenly this awesome product crossed my path… The Bumbo seat displayed 16 award logos on its box; it looked simply great!… I thought it would be perfect for Joaquin as he’s started to show signs of wanting to sit upright but he hasn’t mastered the skill yet.

Got home and put the bollo on the seat. We all thought he approved. No no… Bolliti quickly started struggling to set himself free, and in a few minutes the impossible happened: He lifted himself high enough that his trunk tumbled backwards threatening to flip bollo and seat. I had to grab him by his bib to stop the fall. Needless to say, I must return Bumbo to the store since my baby is a wild soul no highly–acclaimed baby product can restrain.

This video didn’t capture the moment I just described (unfortunately). However, you can see him wrestling with the seat here and managing to get some leverage with his feet. Maybe I should keep the seat?… Clearly, it provides a good challenge to tune up Bolliti’s problem solving skills.

Joaquin’s age: 3 months

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8 comments:

  1. On , KSR wrote:

    looks like he’s getting a nice workout……and he doesn’t look unhappy….maybe the seat isn’t too bad (the concept looks great!) and once he’s used to it…even if he eventually learns how to get out of it….he’ll like it. With some attraction in front (i.e. one of those baby jungle gym things with the things hanging…that usually babies play with when laying on their back) maybe he might like it????

  2. On , Maria wrote:

    Hmm… I haven’t returned the seat yet. May be worth a while to try it once more with the toys and gym as you suggested. If nothing else, at least this time I’ll be ready with my camera to capture him getting out of the seat again. I’ll make sure to put some pillows to catch the camera when I have to suddenly drop it to rescue the falling (yet, proudly free) bollo.

  3. On , Jennifer wrote:

    Seriously? It looks a bit like a torture device – trapping young souls between its snug prongs. Don’t kids generally get themselves to sitting position around 5 or 6 months? What’s the rush? Somehow, we all managed to sit upright without gadgets, right? :)

  4. On , Maria wrote:

    Of course!… The awesomeness of the product is not that it teaches your kid how to sit (it doesn’t, and in fact I questioned if it would interfere with his efforts). It’s the help it provides so mommies can multitask a bit rather than constantly hold the child. My child for instance, refuses to lay down unless he’s already asleep. I normally put him on a semi-reclining position to read and play, but Bolliti now wants to stand most of the time. Since crawling is a longer wait, sitting without human intervention would be a nice break (for me).

  5. On , Petie wrote:

    In my experience, the bumbo is overpriced and pretty worthless. However, those bouncy chairs were priceless for both Elise and Joelle.

  6. On , Maria wrote:

    The one advantage I saw about the bumbo seat is that unlike the bouncy chair, swing, and bed, this one shouldn’t flatten baby’s head. Alas, it’s not a safe place to keep my bolliti.

  7. On , jennifer wrote:

    Ahhh…. good point!

    I’ve witnessed the bouncy things work wonders for moms as well as give the baby entertainment while building leg muscle… How do they flatten the head? The one I remember, you hang in a doorway, on the jam. So they sit upright and just bounce their feet off the ground. Hmm, maybe for a slightly older baby?

  8. On , Maria wrote:

    Yep. What you’re talking about is called something else (dunno what — yet). It is for older babies.

    The bouncy seat is a reclined seat with straps that bounces and may include toys and vibration. Like this. Because baby’s head rests on the seat, it puts pressure and flattens the little head.