During the last month my husband and I felt that our baby daughter was outgrowing her bouncer, in terms of her getting very big in it and she was always trying to pull herself to sit up (probably out of nosiness!). We began to wonder what we could use instead of a bouncer to place her in, when for example we were having our dinner or the dishes needed washed etc etc. Having looked through Amazon, it was here that I noticed the Galt Playnest, which had very good reviews in general, although I felt that it was expensive. It retails anywhere between £16 and £25 for what is really a blow up ring, something you might take to the pool except it has a bottom to it.

The expense of the playnest put me off for a while, plus concerns about the room it was take up, however when I saw one being sold on ebay new but at £8 I thought it was worth trying. The playnest comes unsurprisingly flatpacked in a relatively small box. There are two parts to the playnest. The inflatable ring, that requires inflating either by mouth or by pump, and then a fabric cover which goes over the ring, and is covered in colourful pictures of farm animals, which parts for baby to pull, scrunch and squeak etc. When the box arrived, there was a small leaflet with instructions which were fairly easy to follow, and my husband had the playnest erected within a short time, whilst baby was asleep.

I must state now that the manufacturers actually say that this product is suitable from 6 months onwards, my daughter was four months when we started using it. We felt she was pretty sturdy even at four months to be safely put in the ring. Obviously at this age she cannot sit up unaided, but since she absolutely loves seeing everything around her and continually tries to pull herself up to see, we thought this would also give her some support to help her sit propped up.

As I said my husband had this nest erected pretty quickly, however he did find the valve wouldn't stay completely shut unlike what the instructions state. Although after a little force he managed to get it secure. The instructions also state that when your baby cannot sit unaided, the nest should only be semi inflated, however when we first put our daughter into the semi inflated nest, we felt it gave her very little support, and so my husband decided to inflate it slightly more and it seemed to work better and be more comfortable and supportive for my daughter.

There are some great points to this nest. Firstly the nest itself is wide enough that you can place some of your baby's toys in it with baby so they can have a selection of toys at hand. My daughter loves resting her arms on the sides of the ring where I sometimes also place her teethers and she can pick them up as she wants. It is something that I feel will be a great aid in helping my daughter sit unaided, as she seems desperate to get to that stage herself. The fabric cover of this playnest is machine washable, which in the case of a baby that tends to bring up plenty of milk is very useful!!

THere are also some negatives about this product. Firstly the price. I got it at a bargain, but I really would find it difficult to justify spending anything over £20 for something which is not an essential baby item. The size of the playnest can be an issue when you don't have a lot of room to play with and your living room is already coming down with baby toys! However it can be propped up against a wall out of the way, and easily transported around as it is very very lightweight.

All in all, if you can find this playnest at a good price, then I think it is a good piece of equipment for a baby starting to outgrow a bouncer or wanting to sit unaided. However, at full price it is a costly and space taking piece of kit, that you could do without.