Before I begin showing you what I believe are the best nursing chairs available in Australia right now, I feel it’s important to let you know that you do not, in fact, need a special chair for nursing or breastfeeding your baby.
The nursing chair is, a bit like baby food makers and other such baby paraphernalia, an added, optional extra as far as caring for your baby goes. The truth is that you can, and should, feed your baby anywhere and everywhere. If you become too attached to feeding your baby in one particular ‘nursing chair’ then you’re never going to get out and about!
Babies can be fed in any chair (or even bed!), if you need extra support, invest in a few extra pillows or cushions to help support the weight of your baby while feeding – you both need to be relaxed.
However, I’m well aware that new and expecting parents might be setting up a nursery in which they have the perfect corner ready just for the perfect nursing chair, so I’m prepared to give you a run down on some good models to consider.
The best bit about buying a nursing chair is that, most nursing chairs these days also double as rocking chairs. While I never had a specific ‘nursing chair’ for feeding my babies, I did have an amazing rocking chair that helped to save the day on so many occasions when my little ones liked to be rocked to sleep.
So, if it’s a rocking chair you’re looking for to fill the chair-sized hole in your nursery, then all power to you – good choice, it will help! (Although, don’t put it in the nursery, put it out in the lounge/family room area so you can be a part of the rest of the world while rocking your baby to sleep.)
Choosing A Rocking Chair For Breastfeeding And/Or Rocking Your Baby To Sleep
Things to consider:
Size
You’ll want a rocking chair that is large enough to comfortably accommodate both you and your baby but also one that will not take up too much space in the room you are putting it in.
When putting it in the room, remember that you need to allow extra space around a rocking chair to allow for the movement of the chair as it rocks, you don’t want it to keep bumping into the wall.
Comfort
You might find yourself sitting in this chair for extended periods of time, especially if your baby is having an unsettled day.
Once you’ve finally rocked them to sleep you might not want to risk moving them, you probably both need a rest, so make sure both you, and your baby, will be comfortable in the chair you choose for a few hours at a time.
Choose a comfortable fabric that your skin won’t mind touching for long periods – if you or your house tends to get hot and sticky, you’ll probably prefer a softer, more absorbent material rather than vinyl or leather.
Aesthetics
If the rocking chair is for a nursery, you’ll want it to look pretty and blend in with the colours you’ve chosen to decorate with.
This is completely a personal choice, what one person considers gorgeous, others may find ghastly, just choose one that you like to look at!
Footrest
Some rocking chairs come with a footrest which will also glide as you rock back and forth, or else a footrest that is attached to the chair that you can extend out with the pull of a lever.
For nursing a baby, I’d suggest getting a separate footrest – trying to kick an extended footrest back into place in a chair while holding a sleeping baby could be difficult and dangerous. With a separate footrest, you’ll still have a flat piece of ground right in front of your chair making it easy to get out of the chair.
Longevity
Believe it or not, your babies will only be babies for such a short period of time. When you no longer need a nursing or rocking chair, do you plan to give the chair away?
Or will it become part of the regular furniture in your house? You might want to consider where you will put it in the future and any implications this may have on the colour/design that you choose.
The Best Breastfeeding Rocking Chairs In Australia
So, which nursing chairs do we recommend? In all honesty, the best way to choose a nursing or rocking chair is to visit the store where you can touch it and test it out for comfort.
However, especially in this strange time of the pandemic, that’s not always possible, so here are the chairs we recommend (in no particular order – remember, you’ll need to decide if you like the look, feel and features yourself as you will be the one spending many wonderful hours soothing your gorgeous little baby in it).
The Love N Care Icarus rocking chair is aesthetically pleasing and looks very comfortable. It features a finely crafted wooden frame with soft fabric and comfortable padding.
The rocking chair comes with knobs on the rockers which help to keep the chair stable when rocking. The colour is a timeless grey which will suit any modern decor.
No footrest is included so, if this is important to you, you would need to purchase one separately.
Full disclosure, the rocking chair I rocked my 3 babies in didn’t have a footrest but we used a big bouncy exercise ball for our feet and it worked a treat! Also, when rocking wasn’t enough to sooth the baby, we could swap over to the exercise ball and do some bouncing which always did the trick!
This rocking recliner, also from Love N Care, was designed with babies and parents in mind, but has the advantage of looking like a regular piece of furniture – which will give you many more years of use, long after you need to feed and rock your baby.
It features soft and sturdy cushions to surround you, and your baby, in comfort as you gently rock – or glide – your little one to sleep. Perfect for late night feedings Clio also reclines so both you and baby can relax (or, better yet, take your baby to bed for those late night feedings, where you’ll both be more comfortable!).
The Clio consists of a solid steel frame and a metal rocking base which provides a quiet smooth, soothing rocking motion, so you won’t have to listen to annoying squeaking and rattling. The extra thick padding on the arms and back should keep you comfortable for many hours at a time.
The smooth recliner mechanism is designed to be virtually silent and can, apparently, be easily used while holding your baby. This is a piece of furniture that could live within your home for many years to come.
How darling does this rocking chair from Ickle Bubba look? This is the perfect chair for a picture perfect nursery. The white wooden frame offers sturdy construction, while the softly cushioned suedette material adds the comfort.
Would it be comfortable enough for extended feeding sessions and nap time? Hard to say, although I do love the handy pockets included in the arm rests to keep all of the essential bits and bobs easily to hand – a book, magazine, remote control, snack or water bottle could all be right at hand with this gorgeous looking chair.
If you think you’ll be Instagramming shots of your baby/nursery, then this nursing chair would be a great option for you.
How can you modernise a nursing chair? Add a USB charger! As we’ve already mentioned, if your baby likes to rock, you might find yourself in this chair for very long periods of time. So long that your phone might run out of juice!
Don’t panic, this gorgeous and extremely comfy looking glider by Nurture& has got you covered. It’s built-in USB charger will give all 3 of you – you, your baby and your phone (or iPad) – the chance to relax and recharge all at once!
This chair also features an electric recline function so you’ll be reclining with just the touch of a button.
The spill proof fabric is stain resistant and liquid repellant which is a handy plus when dealing with furniture and small children.
While this nursing chair seems to have everything going for it, there are two negatives to consider – it is quite expensive and, as it comes from the USA, I imagine you would also need to invest in an adapter for the power cord. Just some things to keep in mind before you rush off and buy this beauty.
The Valco Baby Eurobell Glider feeding chair not only looks super comfortable, it also comes with an ottoman or footrest which also glides as you rock your baby.
It offers a high, fully supported backrest as well as rubber floor protectors for both the chair and the ottoman, so you can keep your floorboards safe from scratches.
The chair is able to rock, recline and swivel making it a terrific companion for baby feeding and soothing. Meanwhile its sleek and stylish look would make it a great addition to any room for years to come.
For a more masculine looking rocking chair, consider this unique offering from Utopia Home. Constructed from solid mango wood with a thick padded seat of leather and canvas.
I’m not sure how comfortable it would be for breastfeeding in, although a couple of well placed cushions could make that happen, however it’s such a stylish and classy piece it could be great for rocking the grandchildren to sleep!
A timeless piece of furniture that could suit any room of the house, this is a rocking chair to consider.
Featuring a solid steel frame with extra thick padding on the arms and back for extra comfort, this nursing chair is definitely worth a look.
The metal rocking base provides a smooth, quiet motion while the silver colour is such a classic neutral it could fit in with virtually any design aesthetic. It also has the traditional look of an armchair so you could potentially keep using it for years to come.
For classic elegance, you can’t go past the Betty Rocking chair. Available in a range of colours, you’ll find a Betty to suit any colour scheme.
The high back of the Betty Rocking Chair has a curved embrace that makes it ultra comfortable, ideal for nursing or simply to curl up and relax, so you could use it in a nursery or in any room of the house for years to come.
The lacquered Beech wood legs of the Betty ensure a smooth and gentle rocking motion, while the chair has been rated a ‘supportive’ softness level rating which means it offers a firm softness helping you to feel comfortable and supported.
The Gideon rocking chair is a model offered by Fantastic Furniture but, before you rush down to your local store to try it out, this model is only available online for delivery and is not on display in any of their shops.
With a sleek and modern look, this rocking chair is made from premium quality linen fabric with a generous, high resilience foam/sponge filling to keep you padded and comfortable.
The linen fabric provides a touch of elegance and adds to the sleek finish this chair can bring to a room. Available only online here.
So many great nursing chair options to choose from. Remember, comfort is key so, if you can, try to head down to some furniture stores or baby supply shops and test out the nursing or rocking chairs they have there.
Otherwise, we’ve given you plenty of great contenders for the best nursing chair in Australia here. Whichever one you choose, we hope you and your baby, and any future family members, get many years of use from your comfy new chair.
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