Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a sucker for a good deal and I hate paying full price for anything. This is a bit of a problem for me because, of course, I always want good design, things that look good... no compromises. I take my bargain hunting as a challenge which I think you've probably figured out in my postings about fashion. And for the most part on the fashion side of things, we're in good shape, Downtown Mama. No, we may not necessarily be getting the same quality stuff as their designer counterpart but really, who needs quality for things like boyfriend jeans, boyfriend shirts or any other boyfriend-type clothing item that will no doubt be on a "don't" list next season?
So I found it super frustrating when I tried to apply this shopping philosophy to home design and in particular for the all important nursing chair.
Really? Is a nursing chair important to have? Well, my recent trip to visit family in Winnipeg sans nursing chair (it didn't *quite fit into to my carry on), revealed to me that it was probably the single most important purchase I made in preparations for Archer's arrival.
When you're pregnant you have lots of aches and pains but in my estimation, it doesn't come anywhere close to the aches and pains you have once your little one arrives. All the bending over, picking up and playing on the floor with your little guy, leaves you with back, shoulder, even wrist pains you've never experienced before in your life. It doesn't help that we're all slightly older and more rickety (if that's a word) than mamas of past generations.
And nursing, without a good nursing chair, can be the biggest source of pain of all. You probably get a sense of this if you try nursing in the middle of the night in bed... you are slumped over, leaning into your baby, usually with no support for your thighs - doing all the things that they tell you not to do when you're learning how to nurse. And you wonder why you wake up sometimes hardly able to walk or why women give up on nursing earlier than they necessarily wanted to.
So why, considering all of this, can you not find a good looking nursing chair that doesn't cost a mint?
If you've looked at nursing chairs, you realize that not only are they not good looking (over-use of a double negative there... sorry), but it seems that manufacturers have gone out of their way to actually make them look as ugly as possible as is evidenced in the picture above. What the heck?
And not only are they ugly but they're not cheap - chairs like that pictured at the top go for close to $500-$700 once you add in the ottoman which I think is needed if you don't have a nursing stool. If you are stuck with no other options for a nursing chair, then either please spring for one off Craiglist (no one's keeping these chairs after they're done with them so there are lots of options) or spend the extra $100-$200 and order a Monte Luca Glider which is the most comfortable and in this DM's estimation, nicest looking nursing chair out there and which is the chair that I, at the end of the day, bought new (after looking for months and months online for a used version - *no one is giving these away when they're done).
But are these your only options? Further research reveals that there are some good alternatives out there... try this Ikea Lillberg chair for only $159. I doubted its comfort factor but a search online garners this chair many positive reviews from those who have it - apparently the pillows move a little too much but this can be solved by simply adding some velcro to the backs of the pillow and chair.
The Karbon chair from EQ3 is a little more at $549 but has many of the positive attributes of the Monte chair - a high back (for when you can't quite keep your head up in the middle of the night) and a narrow, shallow seat which I find really important for good posture. The chair has lots of options in terms of fabrics like all EQ3 furniture and has a swivel option which is great.
I ordered the LUCA, because of you ;)
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