Fisher Price Hoppy Days Bouncer vs. Babybjorn Babysitter Balance Air
A bouncy chair is an essential in the Wagon house, and Wagon Jr. and Lil Miss Wagon have both loved sitting in them and just hanging out during awake and play times. We’ve owned both the Fisher Price and the Babybjorn, so here is a side-by-side comparison in various categories.
Looks
Obviously, the FP chair has fun, loud, vibrant colors for baby. The BB is a lot more adult-decor-friendly and comes in many colors. We scored a neutral beige one on a deal website, and it looks much less babyish.
Winner: Babybjorn
Space
When in use, the FP chair has a slightly smaller footprint than the BB, but the BB folds flat for storage and travel which is HUGE for us.
Winner: Babybjorn
Material
Both babies have seemed very comfortable in both chairs, but our version of the BB is made of mesh, which allows for breathability during the hotter summer months. Both seats come apart for washing, but we’ve never had to wash either of them– we’ve been able to wipe clean any diaper or spitup disasters.
Winner: Babybjorn
Cost
This one is a no-brainer: the FP retails for $30-$36, while the BB retails for $189.95 – $199.99. With sales, you can probably find some version of the FP at any time for around $30 while the BB will set you back at least $150. Even with the deal website we found ours on it was still $82. I scoured local online classifieds, but no one is ever selling that thing since you use it for so long.
Winner: Fisher Price
Length of Use
Speaking of using it so long… LMW is both tall and heavy, so she outgrew the FP, which is why we bought the BB. Her head and feet were reaching the top and bottom of the chair and she was practically horizontal in the FP. In the BB she’s still pretty upright in the most upright setting, and there’s plenty of space above her head and below her toes. The BB also has the feature of 3 different positions (play, rest, sleep) while the FP is fixed at one reclined angle. Older babies will get frustrated with this angle while the BB can sit them up a lot straighter.
Winner: Babybjorn
Safety / Ease of In and Out
The FP has a three-point harness while the BB just has a piece that you slide baby into. While buckling the harness definitely makes you feel safe with the FP, the BB isn’t any less safe because the piece is shaped just like the harness. However, getting baby in is a bit tougher with the BB, since you have to maneuver their legs into the holes, while with the FP you can just place them in the chair and then pull the straps of the harness around their body.
Winner: Fisher Price
Toy Feature
The FP comes with a detachable toy arch that has a musical frog in the middle. The music is nice probably the first 10 times. Then, for us, it just became annoying. Also, the music is pretty loud and fast (it plays the song “3 Little Speckled Frogs”) and the song is super short, so you have to keep bending down to pull it for younger babies. The BB doesn’t come with any toys, but you can purchase a separate BB toy bar or attach any toy arch (which is what we did). Even though this is an extra cost, getting rid of that loud frog music is worth it for me. But I guess technically FP should win this category since theirs comes with the arch.
Winner: Fisher Price
Vibration
The main feature we really miss about the FP is the soothing vibrations. Many moms consider this feature total magic in quieting their fussy babies. It has led to many naps in the bouncer for both babies. The BB is easy for older babies to bounce themselves in, but there’s no vibration feature, and LMW has never fallen asleep in it.
Winner: Fisher Price
So believe it or not, if you tally up the scores, it’s tied 4-4! When I began writing this post, I did not plan for this to happen. 
What kind of bouncy chair do you have, and what do you love/hate about it?
grapefruit / 4582 posts
We had the Fischer-Price My Little Snug-a-bunny and loved it. we never really used the vibration feature but the fabric was so soft and DD loved to sleep in it earlier on. We stopped using it completely at 3.5 months. She was so big her weight was bending the bars down lol
grapefruit / 4669 posts
You make a good case for both of these! I’m telling myself we don’t neeeed a bouncer, but I may come back to this post out of desperation in a few months, so thanks!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
We had the FP Coco Sorbet bouncer. It worked great for her first 5 months. She will still sit in it but, she loses interest fast now. I really only put her in it when I’m cooking and need her where I can see her.
The vibrations on this thing were a lifesaver when she was a newborn. I can’t count the number of hours she slept in it. She loved the vibrate feature! Plus, the vibrate box broke (er…maybe my fault), I called FP and they sent me a whole new bouncy chair!
kiwi / 511 posts
I actually have two, plus a swing. The FP Aquariam was a hand me down and a blessing when our LO first entered daycare and had a cold/congestion every other week, he would sleep in it because he was fairly upright so he could breath. He also like the toy arc as well. We also have a bright starts bouncy that looks very similar to the FP posted here, and we feed LO in that one fairly regulally and he likes the toy arc. There is nothing fancy other than the vibrator, the toys are just rattles that hang off the arc.
Our LO is 5.75 months old and he is long and skinny but still fits quite nicely in both bouncy chairs.
kiwi / 511 posts
I forgot to mention that when putting the Bright Starts chair together in my exahustion (pg and had a toddler at home) I did it backwards and I couldn’t get the pieces apart. On a whim I called their customer service number, and they were so nice. With 10 minutes of the call (that includes the on hold waiting time) I had the chair disassembled and re-assembled properly. The customer service rep waited on the line while I did each step to make sure I didn’t run into any problems.
GOLD / nectarine / 2884 posts
I bought the cheapest, ugliest, most garish baby bouncer I could find (a Brights Starts Sunnyside– hideous). I put it together and it seemed flimsy and entirely too big for a newborn. So I ended up borrowing a Snuggabunny in muted tones from a friend. We love it! It looks decent in our living room and it is so puffy that he was willing to nap in it when the only other acceptable places was our arms.
BUT he was never willing to sit in it while awake for more than a moment or two. One day I was washing the cover on the snugabunny and I got out the hideous bouncer. I put him in it and he played like mad. I realized that the design features I loved about the snugabunny kept it from really being useful to me. I really only put baby down while awake when I am cooking or eating a meal, so I decided to put the hideous bouncer in our kitchen. Now we eat meals AT THE SAME TIME (wow!) while we talk to him and he plays with the toys. During the day he still naps in the puffy snugabunny. So I have actually really loved using both!
I think a muted tone bouncer with a toy arc that had rings on it to attach your own toys would be the best.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I wanted the BB so badly!! It’s so nice aesthetically! But we had one chair that was lent to us and another that was given for free so we couldn’t justify a third one even though I’d seen it on CL for $80!! haha. Maybe for baby #2 (that’s my excuse for everything these days :-P)
papaya / 10560 posts
I researched the heck out of bouncers/swings all that stuff when I was pregnant and added the BB to my list and got it! I was so thrilled. It has truly been a lifesaver. I have pictures of DS from the day we brought him home from the hospital in it (picture this, the strap part only came up to his nose!) and he is 11 weeks old and use it all the time. We had it in the sleep setting, but recently moved to the second since he is getting big. I highly recommend it, even if it does cost a pretty penny! Also, @mrswagon, I have the brown/beige one and somehow the material is removable and washable! Not sure since you said you have a mesh one. The material is actually reversible on ours as well.
pineapple / 12802 posts
I really like the non-kid look of the BB, but I think I like the sounds of the FP one better, I know we’ll never have tall kids so growing out of it too soon isn’t a worry. I guess you could make a cover for the FP one if you were really put off about the kid-look of it.
clementine / 958 posts
We have a FP Infant to Toddler Rocker (converts from a vibrating bouncy chair to a toddler rocking chair) and a BB that I bought used on craigslist for $40. And I agree – I love them both for different reasons. Although I will say that we’ve gotten a lot more use out of our FP – LO is 13 months and is using it as a rocking chair now. Also, like @matador84, the material on our BB is removable/washable.
nectarine / 2886 posts
We have a BB and I think it was well worth the $$, as we have used it since LO was a newborn (now 6 months). We have the non-mesh fabric BB, and it actually is machine washable! I have mommy friends whose babies have severe reflux, and they slept in the BB for several months. Love the BB!
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
Our LO was never interested in being in the bouncy chair no matter how often we tried. I considered the BB just because it might be the right fit. I never did pull the trigger, but I agree with Mrs Pen- maybe the next one!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
we had both — the same fisher price bouncer pictured above, but a different bb bouncer that you could wash. we never really used the vibrating feature. charlie outgrew it by 5 months. but the bb we used until 8 months. definitely preferred the babybjorn because of its longer life!
grapefruit / 4120 posts
The vibration feature has been important for us so I’m glad we have the FP. Also washability!
At least with the FP you’re not technically supposed to use it once the child can sit on his/her own so the weight thing should be a moot point (although we broke that “rule”).
guest
We have two BB Air for our twins and they both love it…still in heavy rotation at 4 months old!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
The BB we have has little buttons that let you open the harness. So same thing, you can set baby down and then pull harness up to fasten.