When I first received the Svan Bouncer in the mail I opened the box and was instantly intimidated. Three pieces? That’s IT? My brain, constantly used to thinking like a computer user, could only function thinking that it just had to be more complicated than it was. The result was that it took me 15 minutes of looking at the instructions and back at the pieces to figure out that it would take me less than one minute to put it together – and that I should have known that!

It really is that easy to assemble. Once you have done it once, it is a matter of only popping one piece out of the other to take it apart (they lay together flat aside from the curved “foot” end, perfect for travel and storage!) and inserting the ends of one piece into the other to put it together again.

The bouncer is made out of wood, but is surprisingly light. This is because it is Bentwood. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology, the wood is steamed, bent, and then let harden into its shape. The end result is a very strong, light, and flexible piece of wood.

The back adjusts from a laying position to a sitting position by simply adjusting straps that do a wonderful job of holding it in place. The bouncer is crafted to allow for a gentle bouncing motion which can be activated by the baby’s movement or you may choose to rock the baby to sleep. A rhythmic tapping of the foot on the bouncer’s base provides a steady bounce. One thing to note is that some babies may not be able to bounce themselves, especially smaller babies.

The fabric is attached to the wood with velcro, is very easy to remove, and is machine washable – Excellent news for those of us who know we’ll have many a mess to clean. I LOVE that there are even loops in the fabric to hang your baby’s favorite dangly toy from. It comes in seven different color options – four with natural wood color and three with espresso colored wood.

The color that we tested was espresso with Vanilla and Chocolate and it was absolutely gorgeous! True to all things Svan, the design is simply a lovely addition to your home and a work of art in itself.

Svan definitely achieves simplicity, form, and function. Retailing at $120, the Svan Bouncer is our very first Favorite Bouncer!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 1:51 am and is filed under Gear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.