Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing - Nature's Touch N1973
by Fisher-Price
|
List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Baby Products Reviews of Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing - Nature's Touch N1973
Customer Review: Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough good things about this swing! My baby went into it the day he came home from the hospital. He immediately snuggled in, and it's been his favorite spot ever since...even when it's not moving. The lowest speed was too fast for him when he was little, so I didn't even turn it on for the first month! You can slow it down by hanging a blanket off the sides, though, if you want. He's now 4 months, and when he's ready for his nap, will turn his head toward the swing and break into a huge smile when he finds it! Any time we're at home and he's tired, he looks towards the swing before giving us any other signs. He's almost always out within about 30 seconds, but if he stays awake he'll just stare in the mirror and talk to himself, or look around from his seat and smile.
We have a portable swing for trips (yes, we did put a swing in a suitcase and flew cross-country with it,when we discovered he won't take morning nap without a swing), and it will tide him over, but there's an obvious preference for this one. Portable swing=1-2hr nap. Papasan swing=4-6hr nap...need I say more? I believe it's a combination of the side-to-side movement and the snuggly papasan chair. He loves the mirror on the bottom. Music and Mobile are not used much - he's just recently become interested in the mobile piece, but the music always calms him down in the rare instance that the swing alone doesn't.
My one recommendation: get a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger! We have to recharge the batteries every few days, because the swing stays on through the whole morning nap...up to 5 or 6 hours if we leave it running!
Pros:
*Side to Side or Front to Back - when baby gets bored of one, it's easy to switch to the other. Every baby is different...this gives choices.
*Very Quiet
*Neutral colors
*Snuggly Comfy!
Cons:
*The headrest is great now, but when he was born it was just in the way all the time. It pushed his head forward, and we couldn't remove it to use something that fit better. He was a little small at birth (6lb, 8oz - 19"), so maybe it's just a size thing. We dealt with it using receiving blankets for a while.
*Space - it's a bit larger than other swings, and even though it "folds" you only save a few inches of space.
Overall, a great product...would buy this one over and over again.
Customer Review: Better than all the other swings out there!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Trust me, we've tried them all! This one is the best. We just got it for our 6 month old. I have to admit, she's been pretty much living out of the linkadoos swing since she was about two months old. It's been okay, and it's given us our lives back to have a swing, which we appreciate. But there's always been this problem with the seat... When she was very small she used to slump over in the corner with her head at a funny angle because it was too big for her. Now that she's a bit older, and is trying to sit up, I find her asleep in the swing all the way bent over with her head in her lap. And she always ends up with an indentation mark from the toy tray on her forehead...
THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN WITH THIS SWING!!! The seat is kindof like one of those pier one bucket chairs (actually, I think they call them papasan chairs - coincidence? I think not), only less deeply rounded. It cradles the baby to keep them from getting all twisted around in the seat. It also has a head bumper that you can adjust to two different hieghts for the baby to grow with it. This bumper totally keeps baby's head in place. When we set this up and put baby in it, she just smiled and laughed. I've never seen her look so comfortable ever. It is so plush, and it surrounds her with this really soft fabric. Also, on the web site I thought the colors were a little bland and I passed over it at first. That's how we wound up with the linkadoos and other such colorful swings. You will get tired of the obnoxious neon patterns and bold color combinations.
The Papasan swing is not bland. It's calm. The whole thing is just conducive to relaxation and harmony. It even makes nature sounds that sound like they came straight off one of those nature relaxation CDs. Also, it will go perfectly with almost any nursery. It is really very elegant looking, I must admit.
There is not a single bad thing I could say about this swing, and I could go on all day listing the things we love about it. But I won't, cause I know this thing is already pretty long. One more little important deatil though: The seat has an incline and recline position, which is really great combined with the fact the it will swing both side to side and head to toe! Wow, we love this thing. Our daughter is in it now - whisper quiet compared to the others. Buy this swing, you'll never go back. Thanks, and good luck!
Customer Review: great swing, when it worked...
Summary: 3 Stars
This was purchased as a second swing - when my older daughter was born I purchased the Ocean Wonders swing and it was the best $100 I spent - she would scream and fight going to sleep until I put her in the cradle swing (she hated the front to back swing I bought) - and then she'd go to sleep within a minute. It was the miracle swing. Our second daughter was born and a really fussy baby. Since my mom was going to watch our daughters when I went back to work, I gave her our old ocean wonders swing and bought this newer model. The ocean wonders still worked perfectly - but this one was prettier, seemed like it would be more comfortable, better music, etc. It's nice. But the one right out of the box had problems - the motor housing made a strange grinding sound, like it was laboring - and this was when only the mobile was working, it wasn't even swinging. I called Fisher Price - I can't say enough about their customer service. They said they would send out a replacement as soon as they were available - it was backordered a month or so, which led me to believe that there was a problem with the housing in general. I got the new one and no strange sounds. For a month. Then the mobile stopped working. My younger daughter was content if the swing wasn't even moving if she could see the birds moving around. The music played, the swing would swing, but no mobile movement. I called Fisher Price and to their credit they offered to send me another motor or a shipping voucher to send it back for a full refund. I decided to stick with it and get a new motor housing unit. But this is the third motor in as many months, and it's back ordered until mid-April - so I suspect there's a problem with the product in general. I haven't seen any other reviews that mention this, so maybe my experience is rare.
That said - the music is much better for this swing - it's much quieter than the ocean wonders swing (although that didn't bother me or my daughter). The colors certainly go better with the rest of the house. The birds are cute and the mirror on the bottom is nice, but I have to say I think the underside of the ocean wonders swing is probably more interesting for a child - little sea creatures moving around and all that. If it hadn't been for the mechanical malfunctions, I probably would have given this another star.
Customer Review: Just about perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
As with many other new parents, I've found this cradle swing to be an absolute joy. Probably the best baby gear investment after the baby's crib.
Highly recommended all around for all babies, especially fussy babies like my son Devin. He sleeps incredibly soundly in it.
Pluses:
-Terrific battery life. (If you've seen poor battery life and/or motor burn out, you're not starting it up right, forcing too much strain on the motor & battery drain. Get it swinging first at just above the rate you want it at then turn it on & dial in the speed. The motor cannot start the swing alone. This is standard with pretty much all baby swings.)
-Fits fairly well in cramped spaces, despite how it looks.
-Solidly built.
-Extremely easy to use.
-Papasan style seat cradles baby wonderfully. Almost as good as a swaddle for calming little fussers.
-Mirror is tops for baby entertainment.
-Very quiet.
-Subtle color scheme fits in everywhere.
-Easy assembly.
-Overall excellent design and construction. Built to last.
Minuses:
-Non-removeable headrest.
-Performs better & more smoothly on non-rechargeable alkalines. using NiMH rechargeables gives slightly noiser, clunkier motor operation.
-Mobile creatures should be face down towards infant. Babies respond to faces more readily than bottoms!
-Design is not concerned with developmental needs - things that encourage and nurture a baby's interest and attention beyond just cute & fuzzy toys would be better.
Features that would make this swing absolutely unbeatable:
-Interchangeable mobile creatures or support for attaching your own toys.
-Wall plug power (no manufacturer does this and I can't figure out why - such a waste to use soooo many polluting batteries! Fear of electrocution I suppose).
-Contrasting colors on mobile parts that would be more visible with a baby's limited vision.
-Collapsibility for portability.
-Vibration feature ala those seen on most baby bouncers. One would fit quite nice in the foot of the cradle.
-Option to buy spare covers. Babies make messes!
- Make bigger models for adults! There's a market in there somewhere =).
Customer Review: Nice swing but not the be all and end all...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am big enough to admit that I picked this swing partly because it matched my decor. It seemed like all the other swings were either primary colors with fish, jungle animals or bugs or something. I liked the soft muted shades of this swing. I liked that it could swing in both positions. The seat looked enviably comfortable. The mobile is exceptionally cute. Moreover, the reviews were great.
Don't get me wrong ... it's a nice swing. It's very cute. Everyone who visits goes on and on about how cute it is. Yeah, it's cute.
But I am going to against the majority and say I am not as impressed as I thought I would be. There are some flaws.
The mobile, while cute, is not angled correctly for the baby to really see it. It's best view is for the adults who are admiring how "cute" it is. Hmmm.
The mirror above the baby is pretty nice. My son seems to like it. Bet he would like it more if he could see the mobile creatures in it!
My baby likes the traditional swing position and dislikes the cradle position. Sure glad I spent twice as much to get that added (hated) feature. Okay, this isn't the fault of the swing but still, it has to be mentioned.
We have a huge living room, but this swing takes up A LOT of room. Sometimes I think I need an addition to the house to accommodate it. It's a real bugger to move (and I am constantly moving it) and while it does "fold" up (sort of) it's a bigger pain that just lugging it out of the way.
Even the lowest setting moves pretty fast. I have seen other reviews suggest adding dragging blankets and such to slow it down until your child is heavy enough. Well, my kid was born at 9 pounds. He is now 12 pounds. How much weight does Fisher-Price expect on this thing to make it go slowly? Should one have to add "drag" to a $140 swing??
It is quiet. The sound/music features are nice even though we hardly use them. It does seem sturdy and comfortable. My child likes it for short periods. It's a nice swing. It just isn't everything I thought it would be.
It is VERY expensive.
If I had to do it again, I would get a less expensive swing.