Is it REALLY detrimental though?

Since about 2 months old, AJ's been super interested in standing.  Silly boy will cry and cry and cry and have all the adults in the house scrambling to figure out what's wrong with him. Hungry? Sleepy? 

Nope. He just wants to stand. And as soon as you put him in a standing position, he's all giggles and smiles.  Silly child.

He's about 19 lbs now.  Yeah.  Heavy.  And lifting him/holding him so much has started giving me a persistent shoulder ache.  Not to mention tendinitis wherever there are tendons.  A co-worker suggested I look into getting a jumperoo of some sort.  Her son started using one at 4 months.  They're entertaining (for both kiddo and mom) and they're safe to use.

We have an Exersaucer that's a hand me down, so I put him in that thing today.  He did have a lot of fun, but I was left with questioning whether or not it was safe for him.  Even at the lowest setting, I saw a lot of tip toeing, and leaning over on one side.  To me, these are clear signs that he's not ready for a saucer quite yet (at least for not more than like a couple minutes at a time).  Supposedly a jumperoo though gives you more room though - I believe your knees can flex, and you can end up in more of a squatting position...which I suppose is better right?

So I did the no-no.  Googled it.  Came up with ALL SORTS OF ANSWERS.  The unified answer from the physical therapy community is that its absolutely detrimental to put kids in saucers/jumpers before they can walk - and may delay walking by up to 6 weeks!  They recommended if absolutely necessary, leave your kid in one no more than 20 minutes a day.

Well, gee.  I was only hoping to use it maybe 5-10 minutes a day, mostly to make my son laugh.  Is it REALLY that detrimental? Sometimes I feel like there's such a big deal made about things that we forget the most basic rule in life - everything in moderation!!!!  If I was using a jumper as a babysitter, yeah I'd have to admit, I'm probably being a little negligent.  But this really is like the TV thing all over again.  Will 5 minutes of it a day really destroy my kid? I doubt it, especially in light of the fact that many of us parents were exposed to these things as a kid. Guess what?  WE'RE STILL ALIVE AND WELL, thank you very much.

Ok, done with my rant.  Time to go find a Johnny Jumper for cheap on FB.