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Rockabye, Baby

By Amalah

Amy,

I’m expecting my first child at the end of March and am simply losing my mind trying to get organized.

I think we’ve found a crib, I’m not even going to discuss car seats yet because they give me a headache but the latest crisis is finding a rocker or a gilder for the nursery.

I want something that looks like a rocking chair and that isn’t covered in white, tan or blue fabric. Is that so much to ask?

I am having no luck at all. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Jennifer

Finding the Right Rocking Chair for Your Nursery

Well, seeing as my rocking chair is 1) an antique, handed down in my family, 2) covered in off-white fabric, and 3) squeaky and creaky as All Hell, it’s fair to say that I probably am not going to be much help for you.

I spent enough time in baby furniture stores to agree with you, however. I don’t remember ever seeing a rocker that I really loved, and sweet baby Moses, what’s with all the overstuffed upholstered denim and such?

If you want something that “looks like a rocking chair,” then I suppose you’ve probably already ruled out the armchair-like gliders at Pottery Barn Kids (which I actually quite like, especially after seeing them in real live functioning nurseries). (Although I really can’t see spending over a thousand damn dollars on a chair, but then again I got mine for freeeeeee, so I should just shut my lucky yap.) My friend sent me a link to one at Room & Board, which is a similar to the PBK ones but several hundred dollars cheaper.

rocker.jpg If money isn’t a concern, there are some very cool, unusual chairs at the upscale, modern-type furniture sites, like Duc Duc and ModernNursery.

But no, none of these look like old school rocking chairs. You could always just buy a rocking chair instead of a glider. (Mine is some kind of weird hybrid — the base of a glider, the movement of a rocker. It’s the mutant chair!) But you probably shouldn’t. Rockers may appeal to your decorating taste, but not to your spinal column. Or your baseboards, since they “drift” as you rock and you end up hitting the wall after a few minutes.

You want something you can spend a LOT of time in comfortably — whether you’re going to be fumbling through nursing sessions surrounded by pillows or rocking a feverish toddler for hours on end, this is probably one of the times to pick function over form.

Although perhaps one of our intrepid commenters knows where Jennifer can find a rocker that embodies BOTH? Hmm?

*punts!*

Visit Amalah’s Weekly Pregnancy Calendar.

About the Author

Amy Corbett Storch

Amalah

Amalah is a pseudonym of Amy Corbett Storch. She is the author of the Advice Smackdown and Bounce Back. You can follow Amy’s daily mothering adventures at Ama...

Amalah is a pseudonym of Amy Corbett Storch. She is the author of the Advice Smackdown and Bounce Back. You can follow Amy’s daily mothering adventures at Amalah. Also, it’s pronounced AIM-ah-lah.

If there is a question you would like answered on the Advice Smackdown, please submit it to [email protected].

Amy also documented her second pregnancy (with Ezra) in our wildly popular Weekly Pregnancy Calendar, Zero to Forty.

Amy is mother to rising first-grader Noah, preschooler Ezra, and toddler Ike.

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