How old to use a bouncer?

My sweet sister in law gave us a bouncer (fisher price hoppy days), but we are moving after our son is 2 months old, and I'm not sure when to take it out of the box. How old does a baby have to be to use a bouncer? What about a swing? Do I need to use a soft head positioner thingie? Thanks!

kinda depends on each baby since some babies have neck control earlier than others, kinda like Nicole's baby Xander just posted about her little man rolling over where my little Emma is barely able to lift her head even though she's older than him.

I have a papasan bouncer (lays really flat) that I use for Emma and a swing and a travel swing that I use both in the most laid back position until she gets older, but I also have a bouncer that sits more upright and doesn't lay back all the way that is for a baby that has okay neck control, i'd say a usual 6-8 weeker would do fine in it but since my DD was a month early she won't be ready for it for a few more weeks...so I guess it depends on if you go to your due date and if your little one is strong or not.

sorry I couldn't be of more help!

I've used the bouncy seats within a couple weeks. I never thought about that being too early. They usually lay back when you put the baby in it. I always used the vibrating ones and they usually help keep baby asleep for a while. By the time my babies were 6-7 months they were too big for them because they were already crawling and trying to climb out of the chair. The same with a swing and always use the neck/head support until they have good control which for my babies was about 3 months.

I used both a bouncer and swing with my DD from the day I brought her home from the hospital. She already had pretty good head control (was able to lift her head up for a few seconds before having to rest it). With the bouncer (it wasn't a self bouncer, I had to use my foot) I just bounced it lightly or used it as a chair next to me... with the swing I had it at a low setting. As the first poster said, it depends with each baby though. Just take it easy so there isn't any "thrashing" and the babes head isn't going all over.