Bye-Bye, Little Swing!

Moving out of stages in life is hard. Even if the new stage is fresh and exciting and full of wonder, it still can be hard to leave the old stage that you've grown so used to and loved so much. I'm such a wishy washy sentimental person. I'm all moody about getting rid of our infant swing. Yes, I'm sad over a silly swing.



I had really wanted a baby swing for Nicholas but I was trying to be practical and not go overboard on buying baby stuff so I didn't buy one. Dad came to visit when Nicholas was just a few days old and he got the swing for Nicholas. It was a wonderful gift but we were just too tired in those first few weeks to have the energy to put it together. So it sat in the box for a brief time. But then I was at one of the various follow up visits with my OB/GYN and I mentioned that Nicholas seemed to be colicky - crying hours at a time for reasons we just couldn't figure out. My doctor asked if we tried a baby swing. I embarrasedly said that we had one but just hadn't put it together. My doctor's prescription? Go home now and get the swing put together. The energy spent on putting it together will more than be made up for by the restful sleep of a colicky baby.

The swing was put together that night and it was an instant success! Nicholas loved that swing. For his first month or two, he spent a lot of time there. He napped in it, played in it, sat in it while I read to him. It was a life saver for all of us.



When Rachel was born, we knew we had to get the swing down from the attic. It was definitely a necessity. However, Rachel is so different from Nicholas. From the beginning, she has liked her sleep. At about 2 weeks old, she was sleeping peacefully through the night and then slept for most of the day as well. She was never colicky and although we let her sit in the swing for a change of scenery, it was never something we felt that she couldn't live without. But still it has been neat watching her grow up, sitting in Nicholas' swing, doing some of the same things he did in it.

But now Rachel is too big for the baby swing. I just put new batteries in it and it swings just fine. However, when I put Rachel in it this morning, it just barely, I mean ever so discreetly, wiggles a little from side to side. She still likes sitting in it but there's really no swinging going on. And she, like Nicholas when he got too big for it, would prefer to lean herself over the side as much as possible to try to grab at anything on the floor within reach. The swing is very stable so I don't think it would fall over with the weight shift but it certainly wasn't designed to manage that kind of weight being disproportionately hanging out of the seat.



We aren't planning on having anymore children and the swing takes up quite a bit of floor space so, sadly, I admit that it's time for the swing to go. I have found a sweet little grandmother to give it to. She will be watching her 8 week old granddaughter while the mom goes back to work. She is very excited about getting the swing. Bye-bye, little swing! May you bring peace and joy to another little baby (and rest for her parents and grandparents)!