Fisher-Price Rainforest Open-Top Cradle Swing
by Fisher-Price
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List Price: Our Price: $103.95 You Save: $41.04 (28%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $89.97 (click here) Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Fisher-Price Rainforest Open-Top Cradle Swing
Customer Review: Soothes the Baby, So it Soothes Us Too!
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I purchased this swing upon the recommendation of others that a swing is one of the best ways to occupy your baby and after owning a Graco model (can't recall the model). The Graco model had a motor issue and like all Graco products was very dull. We returned the Graco and bought this as a replacement and could not be happier.
Easily the two biggest selling points of this swing for us is that it runs on AC power (or batteries) and the bright colors for the baby. The colors are not way out there. It is mainly three blues and three greens and easily goes in any boys room (and probably some girls). This swing (Rain forest model), unlike the Graco, has a quiet but strong motor, can be plugged into a wall outlet, is very sturdy and easy to assemble. Where as the Graco relied on the motor to produce the monotonous, continuous sound that babies seem to like, the Fisher Price actually uses the included sound system to make a more pleasant sound while the swing is moving. The other sounds that it produces, songs, animals, running water, are not annoying.
I have two cons about this product, but both are easily overlooked since it's such a great product. One, it has a large footprint when setup and in use. However, the legs do fold together to make the footprint smaller when not in use. The other is the mobile. It makes a lot of noise to move the different parts, but our baby doesn't seem to be that interested in it right now; mainly enjoys the swinging motion.
Delivery was quick (with Amazon Prime from Amazon Mom)and it looked as though Amazon may have taped each end of the box where it opens to give it more strength for shipping. The price was also very good.
Customer Review: Love this swing!
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this swing when my son was about one month old. He loves it! He really likes the bright colors of the mobile animals and used to stare at them in amazement. As he has gotten older (he's now over 4 months), he gets bored a little more easily, so he doesn't like to stay in it for as long as he used to. I usually use the swing when I need to get things done around the house and can't take him along - like cook meals. I'm sad that he's quickly approaching the weight limit of 20 pounds (he's a big kid), so we won't be able to use it for a longer period of time.
We bought this particular swing because of the bright colors, its ability to be plugged in, and because it can swing both side to side and front to back. We also liked the music choices. Most of the songs are easy to listen to and won't drive you crazy. There is even one choice of just animal sounds (birds chirping, etc). It's nice for when you really don't want music playing in the background of your phone call.
Some people have reported problems with the swing stopping, saying they have a faulty motor. After a few days, we thought this was our problem as well. But then we realized that the seat wasn't aligned properly. Since you rotate the seat to change the swinging direction, you can change the center of gravity of the seat. Rotating the seat very slightly to the left or right and making sure the vertical swinging bar is centered in front of the plastic part (just under the picture of the elephant) will make it swing much better. As long as I check that the swinging bar is centered before turning it on, it works perfectly.
Customer Review: Great features, but a space hog
Summary: 4 Stars
When my son started daycare at 3 months, they had a whole bunch of new toys and swings he'd never seen before. We already had the smaller Fisher-Price Rainforest Take-Along Open Top Swing, but it only went front to back, not side to side. My son loves the side to side motion for taking naps.
We normally keep it in the side-to-side position because it's easier to interact with him this way. I like sitting on the floor in front of him and reading a book, holding it out to the side so he can glance back and forth between the pages and my face.
My son likes talking to the animals circling in the mobile above, ducking behind the waving leaves. There's a wide variety of songs in various settings: lullabies, upbeat playful songs, nature sounds and a new-age-like nature sound/song combo. The seat can be rotated from back to side to front or anywhere in-between. There are 6 different speed settings, though my son normally doesn't like anything faster than the second speed.
We like the fact that it can be plugged into the wall, although it can also take batteries.
It's pretty huge and takes up a lot of space. It's also heavy and cannot be moved easily. If you don't have a space you can dedicate to this product for a few months, this swing will likely annoy you despite all its cool features.
I definitely think it's worth the price, especially considering the smaller swing was about $60.
Customer Review: Mobile lacking/busy pattern
Summary: 3 Stars
I think the fact that this swing can be operated electrically is a great concept. I only wish fisher-price would have thought of this concept sooner, owning two swings myself that eat through batteries. Although being cute, and having a visually stimulating pattern, I do not find the pattern very soothing, it is a bit loud. Besides the print, I feel the mobile is too basic. although it has various moving parts, the only thing directly above baby to look at when seated in the swing, are the plastic arms of the mobile, where the mobile attaches to the swing. I think fisher-price could have done a bit more here. My husband and I own both the nature papasan swing, and the aquarium swing. In addition to the dancing mobile on the papasan, my baby has a mirror directly above him to look into. He loves this, and found it especially fascinating when he was very young. Also,with the aquarium swing, in addition to the moving mobile with brightly colored plush fishes, my son also has a dome type water globe to gaze into, all with various colored lighting, and swimming fishes. This was awesome for those middle of the night soothings. This feature has mesmerized him to sleep more than once. Also, the pattern on the nature papasan swing is very neutral,and the blue fishie pattern on the aquarium swing more calming. I know many parents are disappointed that fisher-price is discontinuing the aquarium line. I feel the rain forest swing probably still has some kinks to be worked out, based on this, as well as other reviews.Customer Review: cute design but.......
Summary: 2 Stars
Got this swing as a baby shower gift...really exited about it because I loved the design (matched my baby's theme), it was so cute, and it plugged in. We put our newborn in it, crank it up to top speed (which didn't seem very fast, and actually got slower over a two week trial) and he would just cry. Being new parents, we just thought that we had one of those few babies that didn't like the swing.
On a visit to my sister's house, she offered to let my son use my neice's FP Ocean Wonders Aquarium Cradle Swing (see link), but I said he wouldn't like it; but she convinced me to try it so I did. It moved so much faster (and without any clunking noises) than the Rainforest swing, and had so much more to entertain him, that he was quiet within a minute, and asleep soon after. He slept in it for an hour. A miracle. I ordered one immediately, and was pleased to find out it was cheaper too! And Amazon.com got it to us within 2 days!
I think they have the right idea with the Rainforest Swing: cute design, seat that can sit up or recline back, plugs in or uses batteries, has a swing up arm for easy in & out of baby. But there are definetely some bugs in the motor to work out so it is quieter, swings more forcefully, and doesn't essentially wear out in a very short period of time.
Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium Cradle Swing