Back, And Rocking It
February 25, 2014 // Posted in: Bedrooms // By: Emily // 17 responsesI’m already regretful for posting less since the baby has been born; I have almost no record of what we’ve been doing. I got into the rhythm of blogging as a way of journaling our home activities in both DIY and lifestyle categories, and I know I’m going to notice the gaps when I look back in the future. Time to (try to) change that.
We’re 15 weeks strong on our mission to take a weekly photo with this new girl. I’ve been taking concerted efforts to choose a spot that helps to represent what area of the house we’ve been improving. Saturday’s photo definitely required a fireplace shot (I also took a photo in this same position a few weeks ago so we could compare the dramatic B&A when we look back through these family photos someday):
Earlier this month, we transitioned Hattie from the cradle beside our bed to her own crib. It’s a transition that I expected to be painful, not because I felt an overwhelming emotional need to have her sleeping directly beside me, but because she isn’t sleeping straight through the night at only 3-months old. It was in anticipation of these long nights that I expected that I would need a chair of some kind, some place to make myself comfortable at 3am. I surveyed friends prior to Hattie’s arrival about what items you really need when a baby is born (most of those magazine lists are pure marketing ploys, btw), and one of the biggest purchases that everyone recommended was something I heavily contested: Buying a glider.
I tested all kinds of gliders, and it’s true, they are an amazingly comfortable seating solution, especially the ones that slide and swivel and come with the footrests that slide too, but the thing is, I don’t really get gliders. The more attractive of the gliders are ridiculously expensive, our parents and grandparents didn’t need to rely on them for getting us to sleep, I find them a little hard to get in and out of when you’re holding a sleeping sack of potatoes, and lastly, I couldn’t really envision keeping an expensive glider post-infant stage and be able to transition it into the living room someday because, well, in my mind, gliders are seats for rocking babies, not for watching TV. Furthermore, some mamas suggested that it wasn’t as comfortable to breastfeed when you’re gliding all over the place, that a static or more controllable station was a better fit for them – and this, I can officially agree with.
After a lot of thought and a bit of polling, we decided to buy the Nursery Works Sleepytime Rocker. It has ash rocking legs–beautiful, practical, and most importantly, not a glider–so even when we’re done with it in the nursery in a few years, the mission will be to find a way to incorporate it into our actual home.
I bought it from mystrollers.com after shopping all around the internets, using a discount coupon code and a free shipping promo to max out my savings. I also picked up the matching footrest which also has beautiful wooden legs and no inclination to glide around underfoot, though it does slide on the hardwoods only reminding us daily that we really need to agree upon an area rug for Hattie’s room.
I’m only introducing you to the product now that I’ve had a chance to be using it a little more – still not a lot, all in all only for about 10 minutes each night, and not at all during the day. For those looking for a review of the product, I’ll be real about a few things:
- Maybe you’re thinking: Emily, you’re stupid for getting a white rocker. I think when we begin to use it more, or have a baby that is clamoring all over it, I’ll cover the base seat with a darker or patterned sheet a la the white couch baby proofing in the living room of Oh Joy!.
- Yeah, it’s comfortable. I wondered if it would bother me that the backrest wasn’t high enough to rest your head back upon, but it doesn’t. The seat and arms are firm yet soft, and the microfiber covering is nice (no radical butt imprints when you slide on and off).
- I didn’t look into what “ecru” meant, and was surprised that the fabric was off-white-yellow-gray instead of creamy white, like the photos depict. Still, I like it, but I’m letting you know.
- The ash detailing is beautiful. The legs on both the chair and the footrest are nicely finished, the rocking rails are easy to rock on.
- You don’t see the top of the seat in any of the product photos I’ve come across, so when it arrived I was a little surprised – the cushion has seams, and I suspect this might be news to you too. I’m not sure why the design wouldn’t feature a single piece of fabric covering the seat, and I think it takes away from the overall intended clean-lined look.
- The chair did come with a coordinating ecru back support pillow, but I swapped mine with a colorful 12″ x 24″ GULÖRT pillow from IKEA.
We still have a lot to do in order to get her bedroom “finished” but I’m slowly chipping away at it by finding places for exceptionally cute dinosaur decor, and slowly assembling that gallery frame wall that you saw in the above photos (I get to about 2/week, no more, no less).
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Christina
3 years ago -Long time reader, first time commenter. :) Love this post! As a first time mom to a now 1 year old (how’d that happen?!) you nailed it with this post. It’s as though you were writing from my thoughts. We did buy a glider and at first I thought it was a mistake but as she’s gotten bigger it’s actually my chair of preference for nursing now. Gorgeous rocker!
Emily
3 years ago -Hello Christina, long time reader! Nice to meet you! You made my day with this comment, it feels really nice to know that you enjoyed the post. Great to know that the preferences change as the baby ages – I definitely see a difference in how relaxed I am and how it all feels when comparing Week 1 vs. Week 15. I do wonder if I’ll find myself using it more and more than I do now!
Kirsti
3 years ago -We got the same chair, but with the dark legs. We’ve had it for a few months and still love it!
Emily
3 years ago -Whoop! Good buy. Do you find yourself using it a lot with your sweet #mygirlnola, or not as much as you expected? I still really don’t know if I would advise anyone against buying a rocker/glider at all if they were on the fence… it’s possible that I would have been equally as comfy in one of my dining room chairs, just because I don’t feel that I “need” the movement factor.
Kirsti
3 years ago -She loves to be rocked, so yes I use it all the time. It’s my favorite spot to nurse too so I find myself gravitating toward it. I’ve fallen asleep in it a few times even. While I know some people can do without the rocker I’m so glad I decided to give it a try. I’m converted. Never want to go without it again!
Emily
3 years ago -And it’ll be beautiful in your home forever!
laura wilson
3 years ago -this is such funny timing- i was JUST researching rockers yesterday, and had this specific one on my radar- but after reading a number of bad reviews, decided to nix it. People said that it didn’t rock smoothly, and that the lack of head support was bothersome. it sounds like you aren’t experiencing any of these issues?
I decided to look into finding an old armchair to get reupholstered and attach a swivel/rocker base to it, but i know that this will still be costly.
this one item has been the most difficult to figure out for the future nursery!
Emily
3 years ago -I was worried about some of the reviews I saw too! I think buying a chair – any chair – is a huge, personal decision, but sometimes consumer reviews tend to hone in on one negative detail and it kind of spoils all of the positive aspects of a product (I could read amazon.com reviews for a product all day long, and be end up confused about how good of a product it really is since it gets a bunch of 5 star ratings for ease of assembly, and a bunch of 1 star ratings because someone is annoyed that it didn’t come preassembled and their kid was sick and they didn’t have time to mess with instructions and they sent it back and are majorly disappointed).
That said, assembly was easy, but it did ship to me with the legs and instructions tucked into the velcro-ed underside of the ottoman and seat and I definitely couldn’t find them for, oh, 2 hours. User error, no complaints about the company ;)
The headrest, I was worried about. But I don’t find myself napping in it while holding the baby, which is maybe what a lot of parents find themselves doing. I’m sitting upright feeding, or reading a book, or checking Instagram (sue me) etc. If the baby were to need more movement to relax, I walk around, even if it is 3am. I can rest my head on the back of the chair while I’m sitting upright, but it is slightly more comfortable with a pillow tucked behind my head. Also, I should have mentioned in the post, I really like how deep the seat is. I can lounge with my feet up on the ottoman comfortably, and when I do that my head lays against the backrest.
No issues whatsoever in the smoothness of rocking category!
Glad my review was well-timed. I love the idea of reupholstering and customizing an existing chair though, I hadn’t looked into that myself!
Laura Wilson
3 years ago -after your positive review, I may have to rethink my plan! the reupholstered route would probably be as much as the Sleeptime Rocker!
thanks again for the timley post :)
Erin
3 years ago -SHE IS SO STINKIN’ CUTE. And love that rocker. It’s something that can easily be incorporated into your home once it’s no longer needed in the nursery.
Emily
3 years ago -Thanks Erin :) I can’t believe how big she got… I don’t look back at those weekly photos very much but the 3 to 15 week difference is insane.
Susan
3 years ago -Love the rocker and footrest, looks great in the room. The Ikea pillow is perfect, all the colors and shapes. Hattie’s room is going to be such a colorful fun place.
Emily
3 years ago -Thanks Susan! I love that IKEA pillow too (when I found it, I knew I’d be hard pressed to make a similar pillow for the same $5 price tag). With white walls, color in all different places is important to me; it’s going to be a pretty little room when I’m done.
Lourdes
3 years ago -Thank you for the post. We are thinking of purchasing this rocker too! We also love your wood floors! Who makes them?
Thanks
Lourdes
Emily
3 years ago -It’s by Nursery Works – the Sleepytime Rocker. Good luck!
Valentina
2 years ago -Thank you for your informative post! Just ordered the rocker in the same color :)
Quick question. Do you think a 12×26″ pillow will still fit? I wanted to replace the pillow that it comes with with something interesting but can’t find anything I like that’s 24″ long.
Thank you!
Emily
2 years ago -It might be a little squished but it should be OK :)