Exersaucer vs. Jumperoo
Vertical time has always been a hit with my kids. As soon as they mastered head control, they could spend hours in one of these upright things, which is very useful for when you need to cook dinner or go to the bathroom. Wagon Jr. started in these as early as 3 months old and enjoyed them until he was too tall for the tallest setting, at almost a year old!
As with many of these large pieces of baby gear, we are fortunate enough to own both (one a registry gift, one a hand-me-down) and we have enough space for both (we keep the jumperoo in the kitchen and the exersaucer in the living room). I would highly recommend getting two (or even three, one for upstairs so you can take a quick shower!) so that you don’t have to drag them from one room to another. These items have a huge footprint so people are usually dying to get them out of their house once their kids have outgrown them, so look for hand-me-downs or used ones on craigslist.
Here we go with the battle!
Looks
Both of these are a pretty bad eyesore. They’re brightly colored and have tons of toys hanging everywhere. This is great for baby but bad for home decor. But it’s worth it, trust me. The only real difference I can see is that the exersaucer looks a little flimsier than the jumperoo, but the jumperoo is huge and solid.
Winner: None!
Space/Size
While both are large pieces of baby gear, our jumperoo is larger and taller than our exersaucer.
Winner: Exersaucer
Cost
Right now on Amazon, these exact models are: $73.44 for the exersaucer and $84.99 for the jumperoo. There are other cheaper and more expensive models by different companies for both, but in general, jumperoos tend to be more expensive.
Winner: Exersaucer
Safety
Both of these items are extremely safe for babies. The only real difference I see is that if you stub your toe on the jumperoo you can really cause damage, while the exersaucer is a lot lighter so you won’t really hurt yourself. Silly to use this as a comparison, but it happens a lot in our house!
Winner: Exersaucer
Fun Factor
Both the exersaucer and jumperoo feature tons of toys to entertain baby all over the place (and you can replace toys to keep things fresh and fun). In both of them, the seat turns all around so that baby can swivel and enjoy all the toys. And both allow baby to jump up and down, which is super fun for them. But this is the one area where the design of the jumperoo wins: the bounce factor in the jumperoo is much better than the exersaucer. Plus, bouncing in the jumperoo is pretty much silent, while bouncing in the exersaucer sounds like Bigfoot is crashing through the woods and heading your way.
Winner: Jumperoo
So this battle is pretty straightforward for me. If I had to choose one of the two, I would definitely go with the Exersaucer. It’s much more portable and features a cup holder and snack tray as well. We actually used it as our coffee table for a while!
In this battle, I think it’s important to feature some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make it to the finals.
Graco Doorway Jumper - We actually own this as well because we have a huge wide doorway to our kitchen that is right next to our dining table. It’s very cheap ($44.36 right now on Amazon) and has a very small footprint (actually, none since it hangs! and you can put it away easily.) The fun factor is huge with this one! It’s a little scary since it hangs instead of being stationary on the ground, but we like to use it from time to time to switch things up.
Combi Activity Walker
So these walkers were the vertical time baby gear item before exersaucers and jumperoos came along. They’re no longer popular or recommended since it’s obviously a little more dangerous to have baby zooming along inside the house on wheels, especially if there are stairs present. But some parents still see this as the most fun thing for babies before they can walk on their own, and we’d probably love it as well, but considering we own the other 3 options featured on this post, we don’t really see the need to get this. :)
What has been your vertical time gear item of choice?
blogger / papaya / 12366 posts
Funny you say that – we only had an exersaucer but I wish we’d had a jumperoo instead! he LOVED the jumping and you’re sooo right about it being significantly quieter. He also would put himself to sleep in the jumperoo, but not in the exersaucer. I will be getting a jumperoo for baby #2! and I think I might just sell the exersaucer we have because it takes up SO MUCH SPACE and we live in a 1000 sq ft apartment. nuff said. It’s currently nesting on our balcony covered in snow. :-/
GOLD / nectarine / 2406 posts
We won’t get to use these as they’re not recommended for kids with hip problems but I’m jealous, they look like tons of fun. Wh can’t these things come in adult sizes? :)
GOLD / grapefruit / 4213 posts
If we had more space we would want the jumperoo (much more fun for baby!) but I got a really cheap ($10) used exersaucer with the bouncy plate so until next baby–exersaucer wins by default. You are so right about how loud it is.
@travelgirl1: Aww. :( Bummer!
P.S. Your babies are adorable!
blogger / cantaloupe / 6988 posts
We have the exact exersaucer pictured and are just about ready to get rid of it. It worked for us for just a few months before Jack Jack was over it.
guest
We had both- and for me the exersaucer won as well- the jumparoo was fun- but he grew out of it much quicker- we put it away a couple months ago. We still use the exersaucer now- and our LO is 12 months.
blogger / clementine / 992 posts
We have a doorway jumper. We don’t have enough space for the others and another plus with the doorway jumper is we can hang it outside on our patio cover (I suppose you could take the others outside, too). He loves it!
blogger / kiwi / 698 posts
We have an exersaucer in the box that I’m excited for the baby to grow in to! I’m glad it got such rave reviews!
GOLD / nectarine / 2406 posts
@pastemoo: I know, they look like SO much fun :)
guest
You left off my biggest pro for the Jumperoo – the pure hilarity factor. My son had my husband and I screaming with laughter almost every time we put him in it. He loved that thing so much we even took the big monstrosity with us when we went on road trips. He used to get so excited we were convinced he was going to launch himself out of it!
coffee bean / 27 posts
We have doorway jumpers for our twins and they are a big hit! We just don’t have the space for those large pieces.
GOLD / grapefruit / 4973 posts
Thanks for this! LO is 4 months and I still can’t decide what to get for him. I’ve been searching CL for a good deal. We went to BRU on Sunday and I stuck him in an exersaucer to see if he liked it and he got all wide eyed. It was so cute! I wasn’t going to get one, but after I saw his face light up, I really want one now.
hostess / honeydew / 7845 posts
Ummmmmm….. Baby WJ is killing me with his chubbs arms and chins!!! And the hair!
pea / 23 posts
Just a warning that these baby items are not for every baby. For some they will delay crawling and ultimately walking, as the up/down motion of jumping in place will actually tighten the hamstrings and restrict the baby’s ability to pull their legs forward in the crawling position. If your baby uses one of these jumpers and “army crawls” (using their arms to pull themselves forward and dragging their legs behind them vs. up on all four limbs and utilizing the bilateral movements of normal crawling), then it’s definitely something to consider not using. FWIW, our pediatrician actually discourages their use at all and recommends limiting use to 10 min per day if you do choose to use them with your baby. A ton of babies absolutely LOVE them, but just in a lot of cases can also delay some important physical decelopmental milestones if used for too long.
GOLD / honeydew / 8384 posts
We were given the exersaucer from my SIL that my nephews used. It looks just like the one you have. I can’t wait till baby is here and can use it. It looks like so much fun!
GOLD / pear / 1752 posts
@mama_byrd: Oh my, thanks for posting this. I had no idea!
coffee bean / 44 posts
We love the Combi walker! Our daughter has been in it since she was 3 months; first on the carpet with the bounce feature locked, which kept her completely stationary, but fed her love of standing upright, then at 4 months on the hardwood floors. She’s been zooming around our house chasing the dog and seeing what we are up to when we are cooking dinner, etc. since she was about 4 1/2 months, and is still comfortable in her “car” even though she is now a very tall 10 1/2 month old. We have no stairs in our home, so we felt it was completely safe, and it really has encouraged her ability to stand and we think helped in cruising and now pushing a walking push-toy. She loves it and we are so grateful for a safe place to stash her when we absolutely need to be doing something else (bathroom visit, preparing dinner, etc.). Best investment in gear so far.
hostess / papaya / 10340 posts
@prettylizy: that’s exactly what I was going to say!
admin / honeydew / 8649 posts
we’ve had all 4, and though it didn’t have a super long life, i preferred the exersaucer for charlie. olive was never into either that much, but she did prefer the jumperoo. every kid is different!
GOLD / honeydew / 8952 posts
We’re planning on registering for an exersaucer, but what are you thoughts on a walker in comparison to the exersaucer?
blogger / persimmon / 1234 posts
Little M liked the Jumperoo 100x’s more than the exersaucer. He got it at 3m and was jumping at 4m and was in love til probably 10m. The exersaucer was only really interesting for a couple months.
ETA: We had the doorway jumper, but it didn’t fit in our wide open area between the dining and living room. Best to get that one from a place you can easily return it, if it doesn’t fit.
hostess / papaya / 12072 posts
“bouncing in the exersaucer sounds like Bigfoot is crashing through the woods and heading your way.” So, so true. But she loves it so, she goes in it as much as she wants. :)
GOLD / pomegranate / 3250 posts
Thanks so much for this post! As you know I asked on the boards which is better.
We’re on a tight so going to hit the consignment stores in search of a jumperoo.
We were gifted a doorway jumper too so will have to try that out.
cherry / 134 posts
I searched high and low for a less atrocious-looking jumper but the doorway one wasn’t great, so we bought a jumperoo (fischer price) for our first, Alec. He loved it so much. When he was 10 months, we moved back to Sweden from the US and sold the jumperoo for 35 dollars since we would never ever ever again want something so ugly in our home. Less than 15 months later, Baby #2 hit the bouncing age and we couldn’t see any other solution than to buy a new jumperoo for him. Only here they cost $250! He loves it though.
I think it’s hilarious how the package boasts bouncy fun “anywhere” – as if you could take it with you? We had to partly dismantle it to get it through a doorway from one room to another. And I love how it has “the sounds and lights of the rain forest”, ’cause I remember those exact blinking lights and catchy tunes from my last tropical vacation. ;-)