The Hushamok

Have you ever wanted a cradle that also functions a swing? The 'old fangled' swinging crib is back and several companies are manufacturing them. This stylish and very safe kind of baby bed is also called a Hushamok. That is because the Hushamok company makes the best of these types of suspension cradles. These types of cradles were originally very popular in the seventies and they haven't been much in evidence until just recently. Perhaps this is because they are such large unwieldy objects. Buying one is practically like agreeing to have a huge metal sculpture in your house. As gorgeous as they are these Hushamok cribs are simply not that compact.
Basically this swinging freestanding crib consists of a canoe shaped hammock style bed that is suspended inside a large metal armature. The cradle itself is made of cotton or nylon. The suspended crib actually looks a bit like an extended papoose with a zipper. You can safely zip your baby into this crib just like you would a tent but the baby is not completely encapsulated by the tent's fabric.
The Hushamok is not exactly a space saver. The actual stand that holds baby crib is huge and C shaped and you would need an entire corner of a room to set it up. My neighbor who had this crib actually had it set up in the very center of her room because it is so tall unwieldy and big. It is just a giant C shape that is connected to a T-shaped hangar on spring. The actual cradle hangs from the T by a huge spring of metal.
The fact that the Hushamok is a suspended cradle allows us to give it a gentle shove. It will then proceed to gently rock the baby back and forth in a subtle manner for hours.
Many contemporary young couples just adore this bed. For one thing it is really unique looking. It does look like it belongs in a Swedish furniture museum even it is really large. The cribs themselves come in cool colors like electric pink or neon green. .
Furthermore it is approved by the American SIDS Institute because the way it is constructed forces the baby to sleep on its back and discourages the side sleeping that can lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. If the baby tries to roll over the cradle starts to rock and prevents the baby from doing so. The result is less worried parents because they realize that their child is not going to suddenly end up on its belly or its side. You also don't have to worry about the child falling out of the crib either as the suspension on the crib will compensate for the movement of the child and nudge it gently back into the center of the cradle. There is no way this child can actually fall out of the Hushamok!

Cool Looking Baby Rocker

Seventies looking Swedish furniture is all the rage lately not only in conventional furniture design but also in baby furniture. If it is made out of teak, some kind of blonde wood or made entirely out of one piece of melded wood than it is considered to be very hip and cool. Think of the kind of furniture that Gwen Stefani or Brad Pitt would be inclined to put in their baby's room and you are on the right track.

If you looking for a rocker for your baby that is almost like a high-end piece of designer furniture that would be found in a Stanley Kubrick film then you need to look at the types of baby rockers made by a company called Bloom. You can see what they look like on a site called Gingerbread Monkeys, which has tons of photos of them in every color of wood and every color of fabric.

Architecturally these unique rockers are aerodynamic and also iconic. Even though they are kind of pricey they are real conversation pieces because they almost look like pieces of art. They are the baby rocker equivalent of the Movado watch which is collected in museums.

The company calls these dynamic baby rockers — loungers. These loungers are available many different colors. The best thing is that there is no assembly required because the Bloom Lounger is all in one piece. It looks like a big bent piece of wood and as well as designer combinations for the seat versus the rocker itself. For instance you can get a black base with a black, orange, blue or red fabric seat. The fabric is vinyl and very washable. I have heard that you can also get these in leather but I have not run across them online yet. Maybe this is the type of designer touch that is only found in Sweden or Spain.

The rocker itself is nicely polished so you can see the grain of the wood. The rocker is a U shape with a dip in it for the seat.

The seat itself comes with a five point padded safety harness and an easy to clean leatherette seat. The pads make sure that if your baby gets fussy that he or she can't hurt him or herself. The straps are nice too. They don't look all cheap – like a bungee cord holding your baby in the seat.

The price for this designer baby lounger is not very cheap. It clocks in at $250. This is to be compared to forty bucks for a cheaper, less artistic looking one that you could buy at a Walmart or Costco. However it works really well. Your baby does not have to wriggle around much before the U shaped board develops a 'wang' motion. Basically it is a sensitive instrument that can keep your baby soothed and happy for many hours.