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I wish I had a helpful suggestion, but instead I have a caution... the glider I used when my daughter was a baby had padded armrests, and I honestly couldn't have done without them. So that's something else to keep in mind. I'm not sure how you'd add them without spoiling the beautiful look of this chair!

Yeah, I was going to say I can't imagine a rocker without arm rests. Plus, that seat seems kinda deep and the back low for a rocker. If it is the fabric you love, why not try to find something similar and make pillows for another rocker.

Heh. That's so funny. I was about to say exactly the opposite of webmacher, and commend you on your choice to go with an armless rocker. I have one, and it's fabulous. So comfy, and I've never had to worry about clunking my babies' heads during middle-of-the-night feedings. (I'm a clutz when I'm tired; add a darkened room, and it gets even worse.)

Mine is also on a swivel-rocker base (which you can't even see, because the chair has a low profile), so I can get in and out of it from any angle. Very helpful in our tiny 8' x 10' nursery.

Oh, a link would be helpful here, wouldn't it?

I'd recommend googling "swivel rocker base". I found this one without even looking hard. Depending on how handy you are, you could either order the part and install it yourself, or else you could get a carpenter to install it for you.

I couldn't have held my babies without an arm rest..once they get to a certain weight you need support!

You could just cut a piece of wood in a rocker shape and put it on the bottom, you will have to research the shape and size needed though.

I have always wanted to try this! However, I was worried about the strength of the chair legs in the event that I tried just putting rockers on the bottom. I also strongly prefer armless rockers, but I have a chair I want to convert for the next baby that has arms. I'm going to generously pad them and hope for the best.

Does anyone know if rocking chairs have stronger attachments between the legs and the body of the chair? I LOVE the swivel rocker base idea. Thanks, Tammy E!

P.S. I'm a worrier, because I broke my antique wooden armless rocker rocking my baby to sleep one night. The entire back snapped off and I got STUCK between the stabby, broken off posts! Thank goodness my husband was home that night to rescue us. It had my 18 month old telling everyone the "rockinchair boke" for weeks!

All that foam offgassing fire retardant and glues on upholstered chairs is not good for a baby.

I would also be concerned with the strength of the legs that are already on the chair. The swivel rocker base seems like a fantastic solution to this though. You could remove the current legs, and then build on a box (maybe upholstered in a solid blue or other contrasting color for aesthetics??) to get it back to its original height before adding the swivel rocker attachment.

Or maybe you could take it to an upholstery/furniture repair shop for some recommendations on modifying the chair.

And, cliodog, while I understand your concerns about gases, phthalates, etc, not all of us can afford to replace every piece of furniture and plastic in our homes when we have a child.

I have a chair just like this one, but it does rock. I bought it for my nursery as well. It lasted about 2 hours after the baby was born. The arms on chairs are super important when you nurse, even if you plan on using a boppy.
I bought a new chair that was still nice looking with arms. that lasted a few days until a friend lent me their ugly (and plain) ikea chair with a higher back. the higher back was key to me relaxing, having some head support is amazing at 2am, 5am, 7am etc.
if you really want to chose style over function, home depot sells rocker mechanisms you can install under the seat so they'll be hidden.
good luck!

I don't understand why people need rockers... I breastfeeded my daughter till she was 18mo , the most comfortable chair for this was ... papasan. Seriously! On the rare occasions when she needed to be rocked back to sleep, I used yoga ball. It's super productive! Just me 2 cents. Keep the chair. It's gorgeous.

I couldn't have held my babies without an arm rest..once they get to a certain weight you need support!

It's so interesting to me how everyone's feedback is so different! In my experience (nursing one baby until he was almost two years old and weighed around 30 lbs, and nursing a second baby who is almost a year old and already weighs about 25 lbs), I've never had a problem with having an armless rocker... and I've logged a LOT of hours in that chair. And given that both my boys are so tall -- and so prone to athletic goofing while nursing -- I've been thankful to have the openness of an armless chair. Go figger!

To be comfortable, a rocker should have a high back, so that you can rest into it -- around 41". Plus, another vote for padded arms.

Try out a variety of rockers for yourself to see which proportions you find most comfortable, bearing in mind that you may be using it with a sleeping baby in your arms for long periods of time.

I used a glider for my first child and hated it. It arms were too high and the seat was too deep for me, I needed a pillow behind my back to be comfortable. And he didn't like the back and forth motion, he liked side to side.
So with my second baby I knew exaclty what I wanted.
I got an armchair from Ikea. It is a bit smaller so that it isn't too deep for me to sit it. The back is high enough that I can lay my head back for night rocking marathons. And there are arms, but they are really low, just perfect to rest my arms on now that he is bigger and heavier!
I got an old rocking/swivel arm chair from my grandma and took the base off of it. My husband cut a square of plywood to fit the bottom of the Ikea chair and screwed it on. Then he screwed the swivel rocker base to the plywood. It works like a dream. I love spending time in it. And it cost a fraction of the price of buying a swivel rocker form pottery barn or land of nod!
here is a picture of it on my blog, scroll way down.
http://whitneyjdavis.blogspot.com/2008/08/sewing-yet-again.html

My baby was about 7.5 pounds at birth -- not huge. However, he's been in the 99th percentile for height and weight since one month. He's 6 months old and 22 pounds!!!! I can 't breastfeed him using our antique rocking chair because the arms get in the way. So, if you do get something with arms, make sure its not too narrow. I would stick with the slipper chair and a boppy. It helps if the chair base is large enough to pull your legs up onto -- like in a modified lotus position. And make sure that the chair base is comfy enough to sit on for 30 minutes without moving around so your bum doesn't hurt.

I can't offer any advice on how to convert it to a rocker, but I thought i would point out that you can get almost the exact same chair (pattern and style), but different wood legs at Target for a fraction of the cost. It sells for around $270, and free shipping. I am not sure how to attach the link, but you can search the blue diamond upholstered chair. Good deal!

I'd be interested in knowing more about turning a chair into a rocker - On a seperate note, it surprises me that there is a lack of rocker designs. It seems like a common search for people is un-glider like looking chairs for the nursery. It's hard to spend that much money on something, when you don't love the look - and know that within X amount of years, you will want to get rid of it.