The Best Baby Bouncers of 2022

BabyBjörn's Balance Soft baby bouncer seat has its roots in an original design from the 1960s, which means it's been around for 50 years. That's impressive! It also means we shouldn't be surprised when we realise that BabyBjörn dominates our test of baby bouncers in terms of both function and quality – practice makes perfect.

A good baby bouncer should be mobile and simple, and BabyBjörn has brilliantly combined those features. It's easy to fold the Balance Soft completely flat to store out of the way or take on trips. Moving it around the home is no problem either, and the size of the baby bouncer is flexible enough to work as a seat on the bathroom floor while you take a shower, even if your bathroom is small. The seat part is designed with a clear hollow for the baby's bottom, which allows the child to sit safely and solidly in the right position.

The baby bouncer can be inclined into three different positions, and it has a resting position that's good enough for the child to sleep comfortably. Attaching the child into the bouncer can be done both easily and silently. When the child is bigger, you can also reverse the fabric and use the Balance Soft as a little armchair.

The bounce in BabyBjörn's baby bouncers are phenomenal. With one foot on the frame, you can easily get a good tempo going, and a bigger baby can set it going by themselves.

The BabyBjörn Balance Soft is made from a range of different materials, including a seat cover to keep the child cool in the summer and another in soft, luxuriously soft jersey and a mesh hood canopy. The cover can be completely removed from the frame and washed in the machine, which feels like a must-have given the target group's ability to make a mess.

A toy bar can be purchased separately and attached to the baby bouncer's frame. Our test babies much appreciated this accessory, and we definitely recommend it. All of our testers agreed that the BabyBjörn Balance Soft is so good that even in their wildest imaginations they can't think of any room for improvement.

The Stokke Steps Bouncer is a premium baby bouncer seat with a higher price tag, but it is worth the money, particularly if you also choose to buy Stokke's Stokke Steps high chair, as you can attach the baby bouncer to it. Then you get a perfect seating solution for your child, from newborn up to school age. As a separate baby bouncer, the Stokke Steps Bouncer isn't quite so impressive. But the quality is uniform and high, and it does tick off all of the things you'd want. The baby bouncer can be moved into four different positions. The most reclined works very well for the newborn child, and the seat is comfortable thanks to the infant insert included with the Stokke Steps Bouncer. The insert efficiently fills up the seat unit, giving the baby support for both body and head. To change between positions, you rotate a catch on the underside of the baby bouncer. The most upright seating position gives great bounce, which means that the slightly larger baby can set it going themselves.

Without the infant insert, there's plenty of room even for slightly larger babies in the Stokke Steps Bouncer, and a toy bar is included for the more alert baby. This can be clicked in on each side of the baby bouncer - or removed if you don't want to use it. You can attach your own toys or other eye-catching objects to the toy bar. If you're going to take the baby bouncer on a trip with you, it's easy to fold it completely flat, in which position it's only about 10 cm deep. It's still quite wide and long, but the format makes it easy to pack. The bouncer gets an extra plus for the small rubber fastener which you can lock it flat with so that you don't accidentally unfold the baby bouncer when you pick it up. We can't mark the Stokke Steps Bouncer down for anything, but for the high price, we'd have liked to have had more. However, if you intend to invest in the whole Stokke Steps package, the baby bouncer is without a doubt worth the money.

Don’t let it worry you that the Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe comes in what feels like 1000 pieces that you have to put together following a long set of instructions. This baby bouncer seat is in fact super easy to assemble.

From baby bouncer to cot

It consists of two large runners and a seat unit with three positions. Specifically, there’s a more upright sitting position, a reclining position and a lying position. The Rocker Napper has edges around it in a lying position and looks like a small cot. And it can absolutely be used for the child to nap in. But the seat unit is made of plastic, and the cushion (which can be removed for washing) is soft but not very thick. So it doesn’t feel like it’d be suitable as a travel cot.

In terms of size, the Rocker Napper is sufficiently convenient to be moved around your home. It isn’t the kind of thing you lift up with the child in – instead you slide it along the floor. It’s small enough to fit on the floor in the average-sized bathroom, for example, while a parent is taking a shower. The Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe comes with a toy attachment that does an excellent job of stimulating the child. The attachment can both play music and vibrate. It comes with toys, but you can also suspend the child’s favourite toys from it. The toy attachment can be folded to one side or removed altogether.

A baby bouncer that stimulates the child

You can set the Rocker Napper so that it’s fixed or rocking. But this isn’t the kind of baby bouncer the child can get going by him or herself. The harness is the type that only fastens over the child’s hips, so in a sitting position, it’s a bit like putting your child in a high chair or a traditional baby bouncer. This also helps contribute to the baby bouncer having a long lifespan/period of use for the child. It suits a newborn in a lying position, while in a sitting position, it’s easy to put a larger child in the seat unit.

The Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper Luxe isn’t a classic baby bouncer, but rather something between a baby bouncer and a baby gym. It’s more of a baby bouncer to stimulate the child while the parent needs a little time and two hands to do something else instead of the kind you put your child in when you want them at the dinner table or involved in their larger siblings’ games. As an activity station, the Rocker Napper was very effective. Although it can be perceived as a little plasticky, you’ll ultimately be happy with how much both the baby and the rest of the family benefit from it.

The Nuna Leaf is a baby rocker with a difference and manages to satisfy the majority of our requirements. The Leaf is a premium product, and although it is not foldable, it offers a lot. This is clear from the price and the design and material choice. The baby bouncer simply feels luxurious, and the ball bearing used is very high quality. Because the Nuna Leaf doesn't bounce up and down as we've grown accustomed to baby bouncers doing. Instead, it swings forwards and backwards horizontally. This means that the child's experience is different, but the soft movement can have a calming and soporific effect. You can set the Nuna Leaf in motion with a light push, and it then bounces actively for so long that you begin to wonder whether there's a hidden motor inside it. The Nuna Leaf can't be adjusted but has one single fixed angle and a hood. The position is well chosen and works very well for most children. But a baby who's a few months older and who wants to see the world around a little better will want to sit more upright.

The Nuna Leaf is not foldable, so it's less suitable for taking with you when you travel. You can remove the foot from the seat with a tool, making the Leaf more compact for long-term storage. But you can't get over the fact that the Nuna Leaf is big. Because it bounces sideways, it takes up quite a lot of space when used. For those with limited living space, it can be challenging to find a good position for the Leaf, and in the smaller bathroom, there may not be space at all. The Nuna Leaf is stable and there's no risk of it tipping over. The cover is made from baby-friendly Oeko-tex approved fabric and can be removed for washing. The bouncer has a separate seat cushion for even easier cleaning. We would have liked the harness that keeps the child in place to have had quieter Velcro so that you don't risk waking the child with it. A toy holder and sunscreen can be purchased separately. If you know that your baby enjoys swinging movements and you have space in your home, the Nuna Leaf is a top-quality and well-built product, although with a rather steep price tag.

The Bumbo Floor Seat is a unique product. In one respect it fulfils roughly the same function as a traditional baby bouncer. But at the same time, the Bumbo's appearance and design are completely different. The Bumbo Floor Seat is intended for use from around three months, and it helps the baby sit upright by supporting the back and holding the legs and bottom in the right position. This type of sitting is usually most appreciated by babies who are starting to get a bit bored with the reclining bounce offered by a standard baby bouncer and want to be a little more upright so they can see around better. This also means that you use the Bumbo differently. A baby bouncer can be a comfortable resting place and is also excellent for a tired child who may even have a nap in it. The Bumbo Floor Seat requires more active effort from the child and is therefore often used for shorter but more intensive sessions.

The total use period is shorter for a Bumbo Floor Seat than for a traditional baby bouncer. The typical period of use lasts from 2-4 months when the child is strong enough to sit with support from the Bumbo, but can't sit independently. As soon as the child can sit on their own, the Bumbo has played its role. Yet, the price is affordable and the Bumbo is easy to keep clean, so you can easily sell it on when your baby is too big for it. We recommend that you buy the tray, which increases the price but makes it easier to keep the baby happy sitting in the Bumbo. Without the tray, any toys that the baby drops end up on the floor, and the height of the Bumbo means that the child can't reach them. For the baby who is curious about growing up and trying out the art of sitting upright, we think that the Bumbo can be very useful. But it can't really compare with the multi-functionality and more extended use period of a baby bouncer.