by Joyce Slaton posted in Products & Prizes

The Bumbo Seat was introduced in 2001, quickly becoming a blockbuster hit and that rare product that does more than just catch on -- it pioneered an entirely new category of infant gear. In the Bumbo, infants were no longer confined to reclining postures. They could sit up straight, look around, keep an eye on everything.

It turns out that babies of a certain age like sitting up. And parents like what babies like, because parents like happy, smiling babies. So if a sit-up seat is on your shopping list, you may like the Bumbo -- or one of its competitors.

The Fisher-Price Sit-Me-Up Floor Seat looks like a cross between an activity center and a bouncer chair, with a wide plastic base keeping everything steady, and a padded fabric seat that holds infants upright. The Sit-Me-Up's fabric leg openings are nice and wide, so if you have a chubby baby with thighs that don't fit comfortably in other seats including the Bumbo, this might be a good option for you. Babies like the attached toys; we like how stable the plastic base is and that the fabric parts of the seat can be thrown in the wash. (Toysrus, $39.99)

Boppy's Baby Chair bills itself as "part highchair, part booster seat, part floor seat." Use it with its three-point harness on the floor to let your baby sit up straight, then attach the chair's tray and use the integrated straps to lash it to a chair and turn it into a highchair.
This nifty, inexpensive little ch...