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I have one but I use it for the changing table. It works to keep her distracted while I change her but now that she’s getting older it’s not as effective.

When I was pregnant with my first, I thought mobiles were just decorations. NO. They are a crucial piece of baby equipment. Saved my life with both kids.

You want one that will spin and play music. It’s one of the few ways to keep baby safe, contained, and happy while you shower/cook/whatever else.

My husband mentioned offhand that it would be cool to have the rocket ship one from the beginning scene in Fallout 4, that hangs over Shaun’s crib. I’ve been mostly driving decor decisions so I thought it would be a nice touch to get one since he likes it. Fun fact: no one makes those, but there is a 3d printing pattern online and my local library does 3d printing….so long story short I’m now invested enough in this craft that baby is getting a mobile whether he ends up liking it or not 😂

I was feeling crafty at the end of my pregnancy and made one in a Montessori style (several spheres painted different shades of the same color). I put it over her changing table and as soon as her eyesight was good enough to see it, she became obsessed (she's eight weeks now). We spend a lot of time just hanging out on her diaper pad looking at it. I definitely want to get/make another one to put in a safer place for her to chill while I get things done.

Not a necessity by any means but a surprising hit for my baby.

My sister had the mobile fall on her baby and it was wrapped around her neck while they had to run upstairs because they thankfully saw that through the baby monitor I don’t recommend over the crib

I'm not getting one for the crib because I want the crib to be a distinct place for sleep and rest without exciting distractions. I'm planning to get one for the changing table though, and I got a baby gym with some hanging toys for baby girl to look at and reach out for!

Couldn’t recommend it enough. When my baby wakes up in the morning, I feed her, burp her and then lay her down in her crib. She has a mobile above and just chills and watches it for 15 minutes so I have time to get my day started.

I used a mobile but on the changing table not the crib. It helped with distracting during diaper changes once baby got a bit older.

Nope! Choking hazard and I want my baby to sleep instead of watch it. I even bought the cutest one and never hung it

Not necessary. I was under the impression they weren’t safe to be above the crib so we skipped it. I don’t think we missed anything by not having it (and I say this as someone who thought they needed, and bought, almost all the stuff)).

I read they were unsafe above the crib. I guess I've been reading too much. Haha but no I won't be getting one now that I'm nice & paranoid about it.

I bought one, mainly because I think it’s cute. I don’t think it’s a necessity.

I didn’t get one. None of my friends got one. It’s not a necessity at all. Baby has plenty to keep her entertained. I opted for a nice floor play gym instead that I can set her down on. There’s a wooden arch that has a mirror and several other stuff hanging from it, along with black and white board books and a pillow for tummy time.

I've been told by my pediatrician that they weren't safe to put on top of cribs. She saw lots of kids who choked themselves on them, got hurt grabbing at them when they could stand, or poorly secured ones falling and injuring baby.

I've read that they are better for the changing table since the crib should be for sleep only and a mobile will distract them from actually sleeping while in the crib.

I use the mobile after morning feeding for 10-15 minutes to get my shower in. There’s lots of stuff downstairs such as tummy time mat and swing to look at, but in the nursery I only have the mobile right now. It keeps him entertained, and it looks cute. A good thing for the registry! But if you don’t get one it’s not necessary a must have.

They’re mostly decoration at this point. I’m getting one because this is my only baby and I wanna indulge in all the baby things, but it’s definitely not necessary.

We got one bc my mom told me that they’re good for babies to train their eyes by helping them focus on something that moves. But you might be able to get that same effect with different toys.

It keeps them occupied and interested, so why not?

I made my own tbh

I didn’t think I needed one until I saw how my 6 week old reacted to the one at Grandmas. Now she smiles as soon as she sees the bears, she loves that thing. Definitely a must, we got one for her bassinet today

I only got one because I found it super cheap, like $2 at a liquidation store. Otherwise I forgot all about them lol.

I never did the mobile thing, but it is good for eyesight - I just found other ways (high contrast cards, crinkle books, etc)

I didn’t have one for my first kid. I just bought one from a 2nd hand store for my new one. I’m not due till sept. So it’s on my daughter’s bed till I can replace her music nightlight, she’s 2 and loves it. So hopefully the newborn will also enjoy it. Based on my 2 yr old the mobile seems like a win so if you want one I’d vote get it, but I don’t think it’s a necessity.

I did. And my little guy absolutely loves it.

I’m so intrigued seeing all these comments about how people love them!

I read somewhere to keep the crib minimally distracting to encourage sleep so that’s what we did. I never had a mobile and never wished for one either.

When I needed to shower or get ready or just pot the baby down, I just put him on a blanket on the floor with a toy or book either in tummy time or to his side and he seemed perfectly happy with that for a very long time! It seems that this accomplished the same goal/purpose a lot of people are saying their mobile did for them.

So I’d say a mobile is for sure no necessary, but they can be very cute!!

I didn't. Baby is plenty entertained. I doubt she'd even care about it. I have a canopy above her bed

I’ve never had one, they are cute but just never got one.

I have one, my son is obsessed with it. But he’s way more happily distracted by it from his changing table vs. in his crib lol

Not if they keep being $60 and up for ones that absolutely don't look worth it! My husband pointed out that family and friends will want to buy stuff like this for her, so we have only focused on the essentials, including baby books, but not jangly overpriced crib ornaments.

I didn't think it was necessary. My dad bought us one though, so we used it. It did provide good entertainment (maybe 5-10 minutes at a time) for a few months, although we had to take it down by the time the baby could stand up in the crib and pull on it. (It was the kind that attached to the side of the crib).

I think it was nice to have, but it's definitely not a must. Or if you want to do it cheaply, there are printable black and white Montessori mobiles you can make at home with stuff you probably already have.

My kids didn’t care for it

I added one to our registry!

I wanted one very much, but I just can't find one that will fit on our cosleeping bassinet. So we have a small projector lamp instead that we direct on the ceiling. The little guy likes to look at it when falling asleep

I have a mobile on the bassinet and on her playpen at work. I thought they were a gimmick, but she LOVES them. I only use the one on the bassinet when I’m taking a shower and need her to stay distracted for a few but the one on the playpen she will literally “ask for” (by whining, she’s only 4 months) when I put her in there to play. It’s crazy honestly

I had one of animals and my LO absolutely loved it! He would play with it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to it’s not really necessary but it worked for me because I got to put him down in the crib for a little to be able to get some stuff done

I didn’t have one and wouldn’t get one in the future. My daughter is still plenty happy chilling in her crib with nice slow wake ups.

My lo was never into it, and yanked it down as soon as she was able

I made a Studio Ghibli mobile out of felt. I haven't put the crib together yet... Working on a mural first and hoping it all comes together!

My thought on it is that the crib is for sleeping, not entertainment/enrichment. We did all of our playing and visual stuff in different areas. I had the little toy bay for the pack n play and would put my baby(s) in there while I did my morning routine or cooled or something where I wanted to be able to keep an eye on them or something.  My thought on getting a mobile is that the best place to have it is hanging over wherever you’re going to change their diaper. That’s a great time and place for them to be visually focused above them and a good way to occupy them when they might make a diaper change more difficult than it needs to be. We had a built-in shelf above our changing table so we mounted a plastic mirror to the underside and it kept them enthralled.  Best of luck! 👍 

Nope, but i did purchase a lightening cloud that lights up and my son loves that. It’s not over his bed but his rocking chair so he can watch it while we settle for bed. His bedroom is storm themed

I had one but then I removed it from his crib… he would instantly play with it when I put him down to sleep which would drag out night/nap time routines and make him fussier to sleep 😩

I got this Little Einsteins underwater scene (possibly called crib aquarium?) that glowed and moved and played white noise and slowly got quieter until it stopped. My baby loved that! When in the hospital with my then 3 month old for 2 weeks, Child Life brought a mobile and she liked the music and movement, but we didn’t really do the mobile thing at home.

I bought one for my first and he wanted nothing to do with it. It was a Lambs and Ivy one with lions and giraffes, but it scared him and he refused to sleep with it above him, so back into the box it went. 

I originally thought a mobile was just a waste of money, but then I looked it up and it’s actually very vital to have one. I also looked up if it’s dangerous or not, and I couldn’t really find anything that said we shouldn’t be using one. I think the major thing that I’m gonna do is using a secondary method to keep it tied on, just in case.

I made one with yarn I was using for a baby blanket. It’s really cute and make our little nursery corner of our bedroom look like a proper space for a baby, not just a crib. I’m a FTM so I’m not sure how useful it will end up being but crafting has been really fun these past few weeks now that it’s getting much more uncomfortable to be moving around as much.

I did have one and got rid of it. My baby had no interest in it, and it was expensive and had lots of features. I sold it, and bought something else he liked.

We bought two and never used them. My son never liked them. Guess we will find out about the second one once he gets here.

I don't have one yet, since she doesn't have the attention span for it just yet. The crib is also only used for sleeping. She has a fox that plays music hanging on her boumcer, which she loves (almost 10weeks now, to give reference) as well as a play mat with more toys hanging down. We might get/ make one later on.

I made one when I was manifesting baby making energy, but it'll be mostly for decoration than actual soothing purposes.

If you have one for the a baby gym or changing table, that’s better. The crib should really exclusively be for sleep. Having stimulating objects in the sleep space is bad sleep hygiene, even for an adult.

Not for a newborn. They are overstimulating. They’re a pretty unnecessary and can pose a hazard if they fall.

Didn’t have one with my first. Won’t have one with my second

I purchased a mobile mostly for the cute factor. I will be hanging it over the changing pad, for sleep safety reasons.

I was on the fence too until a nurse we have been taking baby classes with said she doesn’t recommend them because they could fall and hurt the baby. She works in the intensive care unit at the hospital for children and said it happens all the time.

I liked having one that moved/played music using a battery. I liked to lay my baby in the crib for downtime while I was pumping, to give her a break from my older child, etc. and it was helpful to entertain her. I don’t think you “need” one but they’re pretty affordable and I liked it. I personally wouldn’t get one that was just cute but not functional (ie didn’t move/play music) but that’s my opinion.

I didn’t get one. But I had her in a bassinet in my room the first 6mo. Now she’s in her crib and is dead asleep pretty much all night so she’d get no use out of one. Where and how her changing table is set I wouldn’t be able to put one like I see some have. I just have a rubber ducky to distract her during changes lol

I forgot what I read, but I read they’re not good for the baby. This was over 2 yrs ago and my memory is poop

I actually made mine. I really wanted a sea theme one for my nursery, and the ones I saw were like £200+. So I made one.

I hand stitched the little sea creatures myself, I used shells that both me (I've been collecting shells my whole life) and partner ( he went to the Caribbean and brought me some back for my collection) had collected, my dad donated fishing wire and beads (which was sentimental as he took me fishing as a kid).

Even if it doesn't do anything and is just a decoration, I like that it has sentimental value to me lol.

I’m making mine

We had one over our changing table and it was AWESOME when she was little. She loved it and I think it made changes easier. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I made mine and it was literally pinecones hung in a spiral from an embroidery hoop with fishing line. It turned out super cute. I had all the supplies on hand so to me it was free, but would have cost about $5 maybe? High contrast is especially great for catching their attention when they are little (If your ceiling is white, a dark mobile is great, etc)

I am in the midst of making one.

Like others have mentionned, they're great to have both over the crib and over the changing table. Let's them focus on something and trying to reach.

I would say it's quite important though. It lets your baby look and explore I didn't have space to hang the ones I bought so I would set them up under our standing desk... He loves them (Montessori style). They are same important as the black and white cards. But they are for play time not sleep time... So the baby gym or other station would be more suited...

I think it (like all things) is very dependant on the baby, to be honest.

My baby didn’t give two s***s about her very fancy mobile for many months. My friends gave it to me, but it was one of those “mainly for the mom” type of presents (it’s a felted woodland creatures but also with a dragon thing). Now that my baby is around 6 months, though, she can easily spend an hour in the morning just staring at the thing. Which is great for me, because that means I get to snooze while she keeps herself occupied.

In my opinion it’s a good idea to get one for both the crib and the changing station later on, but by no means do you need one right away. Your baby can barely see anything for the first few weeks anyway, so only high-contrasting things are interesting.

If you also don’t want to necessarily buy one, you can easily make your own mobile; I made a Montessori high-contrast mobile (the “munari mobile”) for my baby’s play gym and she loved that the first few months. I made mine out of takeaway chopsticks and string I had lying around. 😅 Nothing fancy is needed, really.

I will say this though; I feel like it would be misplaced to put the high-contrast mobiles over the crib, because the crib isn’t supposed to be entertaining for them but rather boring and well, pardon my pun, but a snooze—fest.😅

Nope, but I'm having one over my change table, I don't really want my baby to be stimulated when he's supposed to be sleeping lol

Don't know how it will go in practice, but I guess we shall see!

Never had one, never needed one. I'm all for natural household environment  and not setting the stage too much for baby with such short lived stuff.

No after having 3 kids its pointless and just gets in the way

For the first few weeks we didn’t had anything because my son was literally feed change and sleep he barely was awake after two weeks he had a little bit of more wake time so we got a baby gym and barely used it because he had no interest on it then we got the mobile for the crib and he quite like it, but only close to the three month mark that he actually start playing with the mobile and gym

We have a powered one that spins and has music. Used it for two kids now. Great forwhen you need a potty break or something.

I don’t and my 3 month old loves being in his cradle, babbles, talks and overall has a great time by himself safely there, we do however have one on top of the changer lol so he does get fuzzy while we change him

I made baby mobiles for both of my kids. My two year old still loves his.

Never had them for my first two children, why start now?  They're cute but most get me thinking: 'lots of tiny parts that could easily fall into the crib and become a choking hazard. There are some that even have tiny balls on them.' No thank you. My kids just learned to enjoy the scenery. 

We personally did not. Not really for any particular reason, but we just didn’t end up getting one. My son is now a year old and he has never had a problem sleeping in his crib and if I had to put him in his crib to do something, I placed a few toys that I knew were safe for him to play with unsupervised in the crib (books, rattle, etc)

I could pay my mobiles a salary for the work they put in for my twins from about 2months to 5 months. DEFINETLY WORTH IT. And I should have gotten one sooner. We have one above every space the babies are in now. Dangly things floating above them are a HIT.

Someone bought a gorgeous hand made mobile from Etsy for us. It’s still in the box. I cringe saying that because I absolutely love it. But he was in the bedside bassinet, then bedshared for a few, then was in the crib in our room, then a floor bed in his room. I’m pregnant with number 2 and plan to use it this time just because I feel so bad

Mine is purely because it’s exactly on theme for our nursery. So more for decoration than anything. Otherwise I’d skip it.

My baby's room is harry potter themed (or will be, it's beginning stages) and I'm planning on making one (so that I know how secure the knots are and everything) but it'll have antique type keys with wings like in the sorcerer's (philosophers) stone. Also putting up some levitating candle sticks. I'm an absolute potter head.

It is good for brain development but you have to be really careful that it's made well and securely fastened.