The 4 Best Baby Bouncers

Overall Best Baby Bouncer

BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft

$210 at Amazon

88

OVERALL
SCORE

• Quality & Comfort 8.7
• Ease of Cleaning 8.2
• Foldability 10.0
• Assembly 9.0

Power: Manual | Collapsible: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

High-quality

No assembly required

Easy to clean

Excellent bounce

REASONS TO AVOID

Expensive

No interactive element

With unsurpassed quality and attention to detail, the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft offers a high-quality bouncer with a simple design and eye-pleasing style. This bouncer responds to the baby's movement for a womb-like action most infants find soothing. It has a simple design with no flash or stimulation beyond bouncing, and it folds flat for easy storing or to pack it along for trips. The BabyBjorn is lightweight, has three recline positions, a high-quality harness, and requires no assembly.

You get what you pay for in this category, and a premium baby bouncer will cost you. The BabyBjorn is one of the most expensive contenders in our lineup, and those looking to save money may pass on this product. It's also not the best choice if you want bells and whistles or an interactive toy bar. This bouncer is for natural soothing and the world as mental stimulation. We love this straightforward bouncer; during testing, it was clear that babies love it too. The high-quality design matches the price and means you'll likely have it for the next child or as a hand-me-down for other friends and families.

Read more: BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft review

Budget-Friendly Bouncer

Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe

$79 at Amazon

64

OVERALL
SCORE

• Quality & Comfort 5.4
• Ease of Cleaning 6.2
• Foldability 10.0
• Assembly 4.0

Power: Manual | Collapsible: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

Interactive toys

Folds flat/carry bag

Lightweight

REASONS TO AVOID

Loose harness

Multi-step assembly

The Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe is a unique mesh-covered bouncer with impressive airflow compared to the competition. This airflow could make it a good choice for those who live in hot or humid conditions. We like that this option has three recline positions and includes interactive toys. It also folds flat and includes a carry bag for easy on-the-go portability. The entire cover can be removed for machine washing, which is much appreciated when your little one spits up, vomits, or experiences a blowout.

This bouncer has a complicated assembly process compared to other contenders. However, it isn't the worst in the group. The harness also doesn't get as tight as we'd like, especially for tiny infants. Also, the toy bar is a reach for younger or smaller babies. Overall, we appreciate that this product is on par with the straightforward competition but has a little interactive play with a reachable toy bar.

Read more: Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe review

Best Premium Option

Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer

$199 at Amazon

86

OVERALL
SCORE

• Quality & Comfort 9.9
• Ease of Cleaning 5.8
• Foldability 10.0
• Assembly 9.0

Power: Manual | Collapsible: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

Top-quality

Baby-driven movement

No assembly required

Easy to adjust

REASONS TO AVOID

Bulkier base

Cover attachment

Expensive

A quick look at the competition, the Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer attracts your attention, especially for top-quality. It's a premium option with outstanding attention to detail. We appreciate the child seat quality, and it's evident that immense thought went into its design. This bouncer can grow with your baby, working from infant to toddler. It bounces easily, making it sensitive to the baby's movements and fancy footwork to create motion. This bouncer is perfect for anyone looking for a straightforward, low-technology choice and values its longevity.

Extra sturdiness comes with a bit of bulk in the base. While we don't view this as a deal-breaker, it is something to consider if you're tight on space. Also, we are not fans of how the cover's elastic loops connect to the base. The accessibility of this component is poor, and we worry that parents will not secure the cover properly because the task is challenging. Otherwise, the cover is easy to slip on and off. If you can overlook this seat's shortcomings, we highly recommend it. While it's costly, it's tough to beat the quality and innovation of the Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer.

Read more: Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer review

Best Overall Rocker

Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker

Check price at Amazon

79

OVERALL
SCORE

• Quality & Comfort 7.1
• Ease of Cleaning 7.2
• Foldability 10.0
• Assembly 9.0

Power: Manual | Collapsible: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

Baby-driven movement

Travel-friendly

REASONS TO AVOID

Less interactive

More involved cover

The Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker is a straightforward rocker big on style and quality. This rocker has more stylish wood-like accents and higher-quality materials than much of the competition, and we love how it looks. It folds flat for travel or storage and comes preassembled and ready for use. The frame fabric is removable and can be washed in the machine giving it a leg up on the competition for cleanup. We like the cozy seat, and it has a kickstand to keep it stationary if you want to feed your little one or they don't like the motion.

This straightforward baby rocker might not be stimulating enough for gregarious babies who need more to settle. It also doesn't have any electric power, so it depends on a parent or the baby to make it move, which could be rough if you're trying to multitask. Compared to others, removing and replacing the Maxi-Cosi cover requires multiple steps, requiring you to zip, button, and Velcro. While the task is straightforward, it takes more time and effort. Overall, we love what the Maxi-Cosi offers and what it doesn't, making it an excellent choice for younger babies and those who prefer a less-is-more approach to parenting.

Read more: Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker review

Not Recommended: Potential Concerns

Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels

$38 at Amazon

The Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels is a colorful bouncer featuring an interactive toy bar with spinning toys and vibration potential. Its removable and machine-washable cover makes cleaning easy when a baby dishes out something messy. But the positives end there.

This contender's performance is poor and extremely low quality, offering the bare minimum. The toy bar easily pops off, and with hard-plastic toys, we believe there's potential for the not-so-soft toy bar to land on the baby underneath. The Bright Start's seat lacks padding, especially in the foot area. Motion is the name of the game with bouncers, and we worry about the baby's sensitive feet and skin repetitiously hitting the hard metal frame under the thin cover. We also noticed that our Bright Starts bouncer was somewhat wobbly when manually bouncing it, providing a less stable feel than what higher-ranking contenders offer. Nevertheless, you may be attracted to this product's price tag, especially if you're on a strict budget, but we don't recommend it. If you can't afford a higher-ranking bouncer, you may be better off passing on this product and selecting a different baby item that meets your needs.

Compare Products

Compare select up to 5 products to compare

	Score	Product	Price
	88	BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft	$210
	86	Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer	$200
	79	Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker	$140
	64	Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe	$94
	49	Ingenuity SmartBounce Automatic Bouncer	$85
	48	Summer 2-in-1 Bouncer & Rocker Duo	$65
	47	Ingenuity InLighten Bouncer	$80
	41	Baby Trend EZ Bouncer	$55
	37	Evolur Koko Bouncer	$85
	35	Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels	$40

Why You Should Trust Us

Our hands-on testing protocol for baby bouncers is highly detailed. We've conducted more than 20 individual tests to evaluate the competition of more than 18 baby bouncers since we began reviewing this baby gear category years ago.

We start our process by researching possible contenders before determining our final selections based on online reviews, popularity, or unique products we feel deserve possible recognition. We considered more than 25 options for this review before selecting the competitors. We purchase each product ourselves, accepting no freebies from manufacturers to ensure complete independence. Each contender's overall score and rank will depend on how it performs in our rating metrics.

A set of 5 test metrics create our testing process, all with varying weight distributions:

• Quality & Comfort (40% of overall score weighting)
• Ease of Cleaning (30% weighting)
• Foldability (20% weighting)
• Assembly (10% weighting)
• Features (0% of weighting)

Our BabyGearLab Review Team determines the weighting for each rating metric by considering its importance for most people. We believe Quality & Comfort significantly influences the overall score, followed by Ease of Cleaning. These factors greatly impact user satisfaction and functionality. Since most baby bouncers are an investment, you will want a quality product that can handle regular use and possible messes from everyday life with your newborn. Having no impact on the overall score is the rating metric, Features. Bouncers vary in interactive elements; some are simpler, while others are like attending a show on Broadway with all the bells and whistles. Plus, each baby is unique and will differ in entertainment needs. Therefore, we didn't score this metric but instead provided comments.

BabyGearLab has been testing baby gear since 2013. It's safe to say we've seen everything and have tested an expansive range of products, from the best strollers and top-ranked car seats to our favorite diaper gear, nursing gear, and more.

Overseeing our baby bouncer review is BabyGearLab founder Dr. Juliet Spurrier. Juliet is a board-certified pediatrician, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and a mother of 2. The BabyGearLab Review Team includes Senior Review Editor, Molly Bradac. Molly holds over 15 years of experience as a Nanny and Newborn Care Specialist, bringing expertise and knowledge of child development. Molly participated in creating the testing process and analysis of results. Senior Review Analyst, Bob Wofford, father of 7, assembled and evaluated the functionality of several products. Senior Review Editor, Wendy Schmitz, mother of 2, contributed to the analysis of test results and picking of award winners. Other contributors to our testing include real babies and parents that provide feedback.

Analysis and Test Results

We selected each product after extensive market research. Testing of the baby bouncer competition involves hands-on testing and side-by-side comparisons. We evaluated several key factors, such as quality & comfort, ease of cleaning, foldability, assembly, features, and more. We aim to provide a detailed review to help parents make an educated purchasing decision.

Value

We noticed a correlation between cost and quality among the bouncers. Essentially, you get what you pay for. The top-quality options are expensive, but the lower-priced items don't perform well. Considering this gear's shorter lifespan and our discoveries from hands-on testing, you might be wondering which seat offers good value. The Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe strikes a nice balance between performance and price compared to the competition, same with the Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori, a cozy, versatile seat with rocking and stationary modes. Both seats delivered above-average performances, and while they don't match the top-ranking options for quality, they are much better than most contenders and have more reasonable prices than the highest-scoring selections.

Quality & Comfort

A bouncer's material quality, padding, whether or not it offers recline sitting positions, and bounce quality influence scoring in this metric. We considered these factors, and more, while evaluating each product and completed side-by-side comparisons. Several baby bouncers struggled in this metric, resulting in a noticeable division between those of lower quality from the top-quality options.

If quality is your top priority, don't consider anything other than the top-ranked options, such as the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft and Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer. Both are expensive but superior to the others and offer outstanding quality and functionality. They will likely last through all your babies and still be in good enough quality to sell if you're interested in recouping some of your money.

The Ergobaby Evolve was our favorite contender in this metric. It has a well-designed child seat and harness that's above and beyond the others, incorporating top quality in every possible way. We appreciate the accessible and easy-to-adjust harness with durable plastic buckles. It's also well-padded and feels secure. According to the manufacturer, the newborn insert is ergonomically designed and supportive from head to hips. Once your baby outgrows it, it's removable. The Ergobaby bounces effortlessly and has three different heights so that you can select the best recline position most suitable for your baby's age and needs. Truly, this seat checks all the boxes for quality and comfort.

The Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels is the lowest-scoring contender in the competition. There's a reason why it's the cheapest, offering the absolute bare minimum for quality and comfort. Our little tester did not seem comfortable in this seat. Also, the toy bar easily comes off, and with hard plastic toys, we worry about it landing on the baby. When comparing this seat to the top-ranking options, the differences are significant, and that's an understatement.

A place where we certainly want to see padding or forgiving sling-like material in the foot area, such as what's seen on the Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer and BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft. Babies enjoy kicking, and their movements can help create motion. Therefore, a soft landing zone is essential to keep little feet comfortable. Some contenders have minimal padding over the hard frame, while others only have a thin seat cover, such as the Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels.

The Summer 2-in-1 Bouncer & Rocker has low-grade materials, the harness is difficult to tighten for smaller babies, and there's minimal padding in the baby's kick zone. It also has a short, somewhat choppy bounce and rocking motion that may not work for all babies. These factors didn't help this seat score higher.

The Baby Trend EZ Bouncer we purchased and tested came with a crooked frame, and it didn't sit flat when the seat was empty. The floppy pillow didn't stay in place, and the plastic buckles are really stiff, which suggests cheaper components. While everything is "good enough" and looks fine, it struggles to keep up in a side-by-side comparison to the competition.

Ease of Cleaning

Babies sometimes spit up and experience diaper blowouts; there's no way to avoid it. To make matters worse, if a product's cover is a pain to remove and clean to get the baby bouncer back in play, you'll dread the process. Therefore, we evaluated the competition from the perspective of cleaning. Bouncers that score well in this metric have easy covers that are machine washable and can tumble dry on low heat.

The Ingenuity InLighten Bouncer, Ingenuity SmartBounce Automatic Bouncer, and Bright Starts Playful Pinwheels have machine-washable covers that tumble dry on low, making them a breeze to clean. They will also quickly return to bouncing duty. While removing the seat cover is straightforward, thanks to plastic buckles under the seat, getting the cover back on can feel like a tight fit.

The BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft has a machine-washable cover that requires air drying; however, we greatly admired how easy the cover is to remove and replace. Undo the elastic loops from the hooks at the base, and the entire cover slides off. Plus, the hooks are exposed, making accessibility easy and the process uncomplicated.

Unfortunately, a few products struggled in this metric for different reasons. The Summer 2-in-1 Bouncer & Rocker Duo only has a removable insert that is machine washable but requires air drying. While this is better than nothing, if mess escapes to the non-removable cover, you must handwash it. The Evolur Koko Bouncer has laundering instructions that say it's handwash and air dry only. We consider these actions time-consuming and will likely impact how often you clean the seat cover. The Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker has a dryer-friendly machine washable cover, which is favorable. However, the task isn't as straightforward as other contenders and involves several steps with zippers, snaps, and Velcro. Lastly, the Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer was docked points in this metric with elastic loops that are a struggle to secure due to low visibility and accessibility to the hooks.

Foldability

Foldability is pretty straightforward; a product either has a compact fold or doesn't. Plain and simple, and this is how we scored them. A bouncer's ability to fold flat is a game-changer. You can easily stash it and reclaim some space in your home or take it on travel. Non-folding options will become a constant fixture in your space and take up much more storage space.

The folding competitors offer a relatively similar compact fold. We noticed that the Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker is shorter in length than the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft and Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer. If space is at a premium, you may appreciate the dimensions of the Maxi-Cosi. Nevertheless, the ability to fold makes a big difference when it comes to storage or transport.

Folding a seat typically requires two hands, and none of the competition was difficult to operate. Among the competition, we appreciate the step pedal adjustment and security lock on the Ergobaby, which are nice touches that increase usability. The pedal is accessible, and the green/red indicator on the security lock is visible.

Assembly

While you typically only need to assemble these products once, how challenging the process is could be a deciding factor for some parents who loathe setup. Some contenders require no assembly and are ready to go after unboxing. A few require additional steps beyond a few parts to snap together. You might consider this metric if you generally find product assembly a chore.

Those that don't require assembly include the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft, Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer, and Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker. Simply unbox and open the product to the sitting position.

We encountered the most difficulty assembling the Ingenuity InLighten Bouncer. We followed the instructions and experienced no problems until one of the semicircle poles (part of the base) wouldn't fit inside the connection part. The semicircle pole has silver push tabs that click inside other elements. To troubleshoot the problem, we dismantled the components to start over. Unfortunately, one of the silver push tabs was pushed inside the semicircle pole, with no way to retrieve it. While our second attempt succeeded, it's not reassuring to know that one of the semicircle poles isn't correctly clicked. While this might not be a problem for all bouncers of this type, it did happen to us and indicates a potential quality control issue. We just don't think assembly should be this frustrating.

Other issues surfaced too. We purchased the Ingenuity SmartBounce Automatic Bouncer twice, and both times we experienced problems with the toy bar. It doesn't audibly "click" into place, and it effortlessly falls off. More often than not, it was easier for us not to use it than to deal with its instability. When we unboxed the Evolur Koko Bouncer, we noticed that some pre-installed screws needed to be tightened, and one even fell out during shipping, causing us to search the box for it. These issues made us more appreciative of the products that require no assembly.

Features

What kind of features you choose or think you need is based on a few things, such as the real-world application of this product, your goals for your bouncer, and your baby's personality. Some babies like stimulating environments, while others prefer to avoid over-stimulation and respond better to simplicity. While we did not score the competition for features, we will comment on some options.

Some of the products in this group are relatively basic, offering no bells and whistles. The BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft is an excellent example of a straightforward bouncer that bounces and provides baby-directed subtle bouncing movement similar to womb movement but doesn't offer additional stimuli or interactive features. A toy bar is available for added purchase if you want extra entertainment. This design is ideal for those who want a simple, soother, or relaxed observation of the world. If your goals align with this idea, the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft, Ergobaby 3-in-1 Evolve Bouncer, and Maxi-Cosi 2-in-1 Kori Rocker are all good choices. The Baby Delight Alpine Deluxe is similar to the Ergobaby, but it already comes with a removable toy bar for those moments when your little one needs a little more stimulation to keep them occupied.

The Baby Trend EZ Bouncer has fewer songs and vibration levels, while others offer stimulating, colorful lights and sound effects, like the Ingenuity InLighten Bouncer.

The Ingenuity SmartBounce Automatic Bouncer is the only contender that offers 30 minutes of continuous automatic bouncing. It is the only battery-powered option instead of a manual system. While we understand the appeal of a set-and-forget approach to baby soothing, we worry it could lead to sleeping babies and distracted parents. Bouncers are not designed for safe sleeping; as such, little ones should be supervised during use and moved to a safe sleeping area should they be lulled into nap time while bouncing. We want to drive home the point that all of the products, including the Ingenuity SmartBounce, require supervision, making the advantage of the auto-bounce potentially less alluring. We aren't saying you shouldn't use this feature if you buy this bouncer but use it wisely (according to the manufacturer's instructions) and only when you are actively watching your little one while bouncing. These products are designed to provide hands-free entertainment for a short period of time.

Conclusion