Wooden Baby Gym {Baby Product Review}

My baby boy, Caleb, at 3 months old.

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Wooden Baby Gym

My baby boy, Caleb, will use his wooden baby gym various times throughout the day, typically very focused in concentration or enthusiastically playing (doing his “work”). Sometimes he will use the baby gym for 30 minutes and other times 5 minutes. There have been longer and shorter lengths of time, but it really just depends on his interest in it at that time.

My husband and I follow Caleb’s lead. If he’s concentrating, we let him use the baby gym under our supervision. If he is no longer interested, we move onto something else no matter how long or short it has been.

What I Love About This Wooden Baby Gym

Here are some of the many things that I love about this wooden baby gym! This is based on the wooden baby gym we have at our house but will likely be applicable to most wooden baby gyms.

• Many babies love wooden baby gyms. Our baby, Caleb, loves his wooden baby gym. Our niece, Sophia, who is 3 months older than Caleb also loves to use the wooden baby gym.
• It’s fun to use.
• It’s good for strengthening the body
• It’s good for developing concentration.
• It’s good for improving coordination.
• It’s good for developing independence.
• It’s good for tracking and developing the baby’s eye movement and sight.
• It’s good for aim and learning to touch, grab, or hit when the baby sees the baby gym toys and moves a body part, typically his or her hand to get the baby gym toys.
• It’s good for grasping or when the baby starts grabbing toys and other items.
• It’s good for developing hearing and learning sounds if you hang a Montessori bell at the appropriate age. Caleb’s really liked to hit his Montessori bell on his wooden baby gym.
• It can be good for learning colors. Our baby gym toys right now have three colors on them.
• It goes well with Montessori even if it isn’t traditionally a Montessori item.
• It can give you some time to do work or something you need to get done (while supervising your baby of course).
• It’s really enjoyable to watch a baby enjoying themselves using the wooden baby gym. My husband and I have so much fun watching Caleb having a blast or in intense concentration using his wooden baby gym.
• It is light. This is nice for moving it around the house.
• It folds flat easily. The legs easily close together as they are held from sliding apart by a rope. This makes for easier carrying around the house or storage.
• It’s very portable. It is simple to move around the house with one hand, to store away, or even to take on a road trip for the hotel stay.
• It’s a good-quality wooden baby gym.
• It is easy to put together. My husband, Tom, put ours together, but I think I could have easily put it together if needed.
• It’s attractive and looks classy even in main living spaces.
• It’s made with eco-friendly paint.
• It comes in multiple colors.

What I Don’t Love About This Wooden Baby Gym

Here are some of the things I don’t love about this wooden baby gym. Again, this is based on the wooden baby gym we have at our house but may be applicable to other wooden baby gyms.

• The baby gym doesn’t lock in place, which wasn’t a problem when Caleb was smaller. As he grew and got stronger, though, he can move and lift the baby gym. So, even closer supervision is required now. It is simple for us to move the gym legs or gym back in place if Caleb moves it. Note: This will vary from baby to baby as to when and if this will happen.
• This is related to the first point. The gym legs are held apart and kept from going further apart with a rope/string. If the baby gym doesn’t move, the rope stays taut. However, once your baby starts to move the baby gym, the rope can slacken, which could be a hazard if not made taut again as soon it happens. Also, once your baby is bigger and moving more they may try to eat/suck on the rope, which could also cause the baby gym to move. Note: This will vary from baby to baby as to when and if this will happen.
• The paint is eco friendly, but it is at the bottom of the baby gym. It looks very attractive this way. However, once a baby is strong enough, he or she may move over to the gym leg and suck/chew on it or even lift the baby gym up and do the same. This requires ideally moving the baby before he or she gets to that position or moving the baby once he or she starts doing this. If the paint were at the top instead of the bottom, there wouldn’t be paint there. Note: This will vary from baby to baby as to when and if this will happen.
• There could be a very slight unevenness in the height of the sides. That’s mostly to the eye and not in performance. This may just be on ours, but I wanted to mention it.
• You have to unscrew and take apart the baby gym to change out baby gym toys. It’s not very hard, but it can be more time consuming than some. It isn’t convenient to change out baby gym toys often (If that’s something you are wanting to do.). It is still possible to change them out often, though, if you really wanted to.

HOW TO USE THE WOODEN BABY GYM

Place your baby on his or her back on the play mat or lambskin rug under the baby gym. You may want the baby gym toys in line with your baby’s arms. If your baby is concentrating, it’s best to not interrupt but just keep an eye on your baby. That will help to develop your baby’s concentration.

THINGS TO BE AWARE OF

• As with any toys, make sure to be with your baby and monitor your baby while he or she uses the wooden baby gym.
• Zummbi on Etsy says, “It is best suited for children under 7 months.” You can definitely get a lot of use before 7 months, though. We already have gotten lots of use out of our wooden baby gym, and Caleb just turned 4 months old.
• Leave plenty of extra space around the baby gym. You want the area to be safe around the baby gym. You don’t want to risk tripping near him or her.
• It’s not recommended to let babies sleep or nap on lambskin rugs.

The Wooden Baby Gym We Have

My Baby Boy Using His Wooden Baby Gym at 3 Months Old!

These are what we have at home for Caleb!

With these amazing items, you have a wonderful learning and movement center for your baby that can easily be moved where you need it:

Wooden Baby Gym

Wooden Baby Gym Toys

Montessori Bell and Wooden Ring Ribbon Set

We have both a play mat (is in our living room) and lambskin rug (is in our gym), but you really only need one for under the wooden baby gym.

Play Mat

Lambskin Rug

More Baby Gym Options

Here are more wooden baby gyms to choose from!

Wooden Baby Gym

Wooden Baby Gyms on Etsy

Wooden Baby Gyms on Amazon

Baby Gym Toys

Baby Gym Toys on Etsy

Baby Gym Toys on Amazon

Another Way to Use a Wooden Baby Gym

One way I really like to use the wooden baby gym is to do a workout while Caleb uses it!

Fitting in Workouts with a Baby: Using a Wooden Baby Gym

FAVORITE BABY ITEMS

See all my baby product reviews and posts with baby products by visiting my baby products category!

Do you have a wooden baby gym or do you plan on getting one? What kind of baby products or topics would you like me to do a post on?

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