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The 6 Best Nursery Glider Recliners, Tested by Real Parents
By Dara Katz,
1 day ago
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Getting your baby’s nursery in order is one of the best ways to take care of those nesting urges . It can also be a stressor. When I was prepping for my first baby, I was hit with a major bout of decision fatigue. Along with waves of endless nausea and sciatica, trying to figure out whether trendy boucle or sturdy performance material and 300-degree swivel function or lumbar support were more essential felt like scaling Everest: impossible. Now, on my second kid, and second nursery glider, to boot, I'm here to help hand-pick a glider for you—decision-fatigue be damned! The selection of nursery gliders below have all been tested by myself and my colleagues. Is price point most important? My colleague loves her Delta Children babyGap Cloud Recliner with LiveSmart Evolve Fabric . Got a small space? Consider the Monte Design Grano Glider Recliner . Whatever it is you're looking for, put your feet up and relax, you got this.
The 6 Best Nursery Gliders, at a Glance
Meet the Expert
Rebekah Kimminau has been a baby product expert for more than 10 years. She is an international board certified lactation consultant, a CPST (car seat expert), postpartum doula and newborn care specialist. After helping parents in-person working at two different baby products stores, Kimminau launched her own online consulting business, The Baby Gear Consultant , working with clients worldwide.
How I Chose the Best Nursery Glider Recliners
I compiled this list based on the accounts of eight babies, 16 parents and over ten years of gliding our kids to sleep. Gliders can be expensive, so I wanted to include pieces that could fit in a home longer than one phase of a child's life. The picks in this list include a selection from parents who have used the chairs long-term, through pregnancy, infancy and on as well as for multiple functions—like how i sneak into my son's room sometimes to just recline in all that zero-gravity glory. Of course, I took into account each glider's comfort, function (swivel, glide, recline, support), noting each chair's material, construction, assembly and any extra features that add to its comfortability (like, for example, a power lumbar support or USB charging ports). In order to meet the needs of every budget, we also picked pieces at a range of price points. Baby product expert, Rebekah Kimminau , informed of me of the important of certain safety and environmental certifications to consider as well.
With my first baby, I went with style over substance. The glider was boucle and chic (and backordered for half a year, of course), but after 9 months of nursing, I wound up with a knot in my neck that would not go away. SO, with the second baby, I wanted the a chair that could support a tall girl (5' 8") throughout nursing, and I'm so happy I landed on this glider.
The Nurture& Glider Recliner was delivered in two big boxes, one with the back piece and one with the base. As I was very pregnant and couch-ridden (by choice), my husband and a friend carried the boxes up our twisty stairs. My husband was able to assemble the glider with ease, and I was immediately happy with my new chair, replete with juuuust the right amount of bells and whistles: It glides seamlessly (and silently), and the power recline and electronic adjustable headrest have helped me soooo much with the neck problems—even if I'm in a reclined position, I can adjust the neck position to be more upright, instead of straining my traps for 30 minutes or more. It feels like zero gravity. In fact, before I even had the baby, I would post up on the glider to feel light as a feather in the depths of my pregnancy (and sure, get out of dish-cleaning duty).
Also, nobody talks about what a mess feeding a baby can be, so I love that the material is easy to clean, since it was designed with real people—and lots of spit up—in mind.
Today, I use the nursery glider even more than was the baby was first born since my now-8-month-old basically needs to be in a sensory deprivation tank to eat, and, honestly, I look forward to my super comfy feedings—as does my fully supported neck.
The Glider Plus from Nurture& is like the aforementioned model, but pimped out. In nursery talk, that means it's got swivel capabilities and additional power lumbar support, making it a clutch choice for tall parents who still want good, supported cuddle time with baby. “I have an almost 9-month-old and have used my Glider Plus frequently in each stage of his life. But when I was breastfeeding him for the first three months, I basically lived in this thing. From pumping to nursing, to contact naps, it was just an essential,” shares new mom, PureWow Commerce Editor, Olivia Dubyak . “Now,” she continues, “I use it multiple times a day for rocking him to sleep for naps or bedtime, as well as story time before bed.”
The Glider Plus is delivered in two boxes and straightfoward to assemble, however quite heavy. So do not attempt to lift up a flight of stairs yourself.
Design-buffs, this one's for you. This Monte glider and swivel recliner is streamlined (the handle to activate pop-up foot rest is smartly nestled between seat and arm rest), customizable (you can build you own chair on their site), and it arrives to your door assembled. If you're shopping with longevity in mind, look no further. "I've had this chair for 10 years, and despite being barfed on multiple times, it—honest to god—looks as good as the day I got it," says PureWow Editor-in-Chief Jillian Quint . In fact, when Jillian sent me the photo for this story, I was shocked at how new it looked! "I also love that it transitioned from a nursing chair to a reading and snuggling chair to a grownup reading chair." Its modern design makes it versatile, so it doesn't come off as kiddie, and you can customize its look with 25 performance fabric options and four base colors, making it wildly durable and customizable.
“I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant,” shares Executive Editor, Alexia Dellner , “so I haven't had the chance to use this glider with my baby *yet* but I had a similar glider with my first and used it from birth (nursing, rocking, resting) well into toddlerhood (snuggling, reading books before bed). It's especially useful during those middle-of-the-night wake-ups when it can sometimes take ages for baby to fall back asleep so mom might as well get comfortable!” Dellner also shares that she loves how comfortable this glider is and the way it looks (the not-too-wide base and white fabric make it look chic and cosy!), especially considering it's one of the more affordable options out there. “I predict this will get used all the time—morning, noon and night feeds, snuggling together throughout the day, and those inevitable middle-of-the-night wake-ups. If my next kid is anything like my last, he's going to hate every single surface that isn't mom or dad (my daughter would *not* let me put her down in any swing, pillow, mat—she loathed them all!). And by the time my daughter came around, we had gotten rid of my son's glider, so I didn't really have a good place to sit down with her (which is all she wanted—that and the carrier) apart from our living room sofa. It's going to be great to have a chair dedicated to sitting down with baby where I can lean back and kick up my feet comfortably.” The only thing she'd change? “This would certainly increase the price point, but it would be nice to have a USB port to charge my phone in the chair like some of the fancier high-tech chairs do.”
Some people don’t want or have the space for a recliner, but still want the ability to rock (glide and swivel) baby to sleep. This number from Namesake offers a smooth back-and-forth gliding motion, 360-degree swivel and plush cushioning for arm and lumbar support to do just that. And while the stunning blue lattice pattern initially caught our editors' attention, it was a staff member's endorsement that really sold us: "Greenguard gold-certified, super comfortable, easy to wipe down and never squeaks," says Gallery Media Group Senior Director of Brand Strategy Liana Iglesias. What more could you ask for?
Oh, you'd like to put your feet up too? You're in luck—there's a matching ottoman to pair with it.
This glider has an electric keypad to control its functions on the *inside* of the arm rest, so you can easily see what you’re doing, even with a baby in one arm. Baby product expert Kimminau says it’s her favorite electronic glider recliner thanks to its support pillow for your back and the very smooth glide motion. Outside of its great tech features, it’s also plenty roomy, and we love the neutral wooden base and boucle finish (I'm partial to the olive green color)—great, soothing natural textures for a nursery.
What to Consider When Buying a Nursery Glider Recliner
While comfort, aesthetics and price are obvious considerations, our parents cited a few other things they wish they thought of when they were shopping for nursery chairs, which we used in our research:
PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.
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