The 5 Best Nursery Glider Recliners, Tested by Parents
Whether you've got a baby or a big kid
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Getting your baby’s nursery in order is one of the best ways to take care of those nesting urges. It can also be a stressor. When I was prepping for my first baby, I was hit with a major bout of decision fatigue. Along with waves of endless nausea and sciatica, trying to figure out whether trendy boucle or sturdy performance material and 300-degree swivel function or lumbar support were more essential felt like scaling Everest: impossible. Now, on my second kid, and second nursery glider, to boot, I'm here to help hand-pick a glider for you—decision-fatigue be damned!
The selection of nursery gliders below have all been tested by myself and my colleagues. Is price point most important? My colleague loves her $400 Delta Children babyGap Cloud Recliner with LiveSmart Evolve Fabric. Got a small space? Consider the Monte Design Grano Glider Recliner’s 28-inch width. Whatever it is you're looking for, put your feet up and relax, you got this.
How We Tested the Best Nursery Gliders
I compiled this list based on the accounts of eight babies, 16 parents and over ten years of gliding our kids to sleep. Gliders can be expensive, so I wanted to include pieces that could fit in a home longer than one phase of a child's life. The picks in this list include a selection from parents who have used the chairs long-term, through pregnancy, infancy and on as well as for multiple functions—like how i sneak into my son's room sometimes to just recline in all that zero-gravity glory. Of course, I took into account each glider's comfort, function (swivel, glide, recline, support), noting each chair's material, construction, assembly and any extra features that add to its comfortability (like, for example, a power lumbar support or USB charging ports). In order to meet the needs of every budget, we also picked pieces at a range of price points. Baby product expert, Rebekah Kimminau, informed of me of the important of certain safety and environmental certifications to consider as well.
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Meet The Expert
Rebekah Kimminau has been a baby product expert for more than 10 years. She is an international board certified lactation consultant, a CPST (car seat expert), postpartum doula and newborn care specialist. After helping parents in-person working at two different baby products stores, Kimminau launched her own online consulting business, The Baby Gear Consultant, working with clients worldwide.
What to Consider When Buying a Nursery Glider Recliner
While comfort, aesthetics and price are obvious considerations, our parents cited a few other things they wish they thought of when they were shopping for nursery chairs, which we used in our research:
- Size — Double-check the dimensions for the chair itself, when seated upright and when it's fully reclined, so you have a sense of how much space it will take up in the room
- Performance fabric options — Seek out easy-to-clean options, such as polyester or a performance-washed canvas or boucle, so you can wipe them down without issue, should spit-up occur (and it will)
- Ease of recline — Bonus points if there's an electronic recline, but overall, we searched for reviews that mentioned how easy it was to lean back and relax, without fighting the chair to change positions
- Overall squeakiness and noise levels — We vetted reviews to see whether people complained about how noisy the chair was, because nothing's worse than finally getting your baby to sleep, then moving an inch and...waaaaaah!
Dara Katz
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