Fisher-Price Take Along Swing - Take it back PLEASE!
Written: Sep 25 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to clean, portable
Cons: Not very portable, battery hog, to low to the floor, expensive
The Bottom Line: Don't waste your money, buy a full size swing that is more easy to handle and use
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| Mininut's Full Review: Fisher-Price Aquarium Take-Along Swing |
My fantasy
When my oldest child was born I had the big hand crank swing and it was great if you didn’t count the endless running back and forth to crank that sucker every 15 minutes. Then one day while pregnant with my second child I saw the Fisher-Price Aquarium Take Along Swing and I thought WOW! The best of both worlds. It is portable and I can take it where ever I go and I don’t have to crank it, just make sure the battery’s are fresh, this just has to be the best invention ever. Ok so fast forward into reality………
When my daughter was born I went straight out and bought this swing with ideas dancing in my head about how easy this was going to be and how great it was going to be just to be able to fold this swing up and go where ever I wanted and when ever I wanted. Boy did I get a wake up call.
Let’s take a look at this swing
The colors are great and the design with all the fish are quite fascinating to any child. The Dimensions of this swing are about 18 ½" W x 23 ½" D so It is small and compact so it will take up a lot less space than a typical swing which is a great thing if you have a small home with other children running around. It boasts that it is light weight and easy to carry and that the wonders of the ocean will dance your baby into happiness. Well what about moms happiness? The hanging ocean creatures make dancing lights that are sure to make any baby stare off for at least 5 minutes. You will need 4 C Batteries for this swing to operate and get extra’s they run down fast.
The specifics
This swing is for babies from birth up to 25lbs, so if you have big babies like I do, then don’t plan on using this swing long.
Birth to 25 lbs.
Volume control.
Baby-or mom-activated lights twinkle to six different musical selections.
Plays classical music and soothing aquatic sound effects.
Choose music only, lights & music, or baby activation.
Extra tall handle if you are 5 ft tall, if you are 6 ft tall then this is not extra tall.
Eight speeds but you can’t really differentiate between them.
Deep seat to support baby more comfortably.
Machine-washable seat pad. WOOHOO!!
Colorful aquarium tanks for soothing and entertainment.
Hanging toys and a soft toy in the pocket
Let’s put this thing together
The directions are easy to read and have really good graphics so it is really hard to mess this up but if you get confused, put it down and go and get your wife J. Open your box and you will find
* Seat back tube
* Seat pad
* Frame
* Link toys
* Lower swing arm assembly
* Front tube
* 2 Frame tubes
* 4 - 6x¾” Phillips head screws
* Base tube
Ok so let’s get started, Grab the upper frame tube and rotate it until you hear it snap into an upright position. Grab your base tube and frame tube and while pushing the button on the base tube push it into the short tube on the frame tube until you hear it click, do this on both sides (You may need 2 people for this). Sit your front tube with the rubber feet flat on a solid surface. While pressing the button on the lower frame tube, insert it into an end of the front tube until you hear a click. While pressing the button on the front tube, insert it into the lower frame tube until you hear that all familiar click.
Pull the front tube to be sure it is secure to each lower frame tube, be sure to do this because it can make your swing unstable if not done properly. Insert the upper frame tubes into the frame until you hear that click sound again on both sides. Check to be sure the upper frame tubes are secure in the frame. If you can remove the upper frame tubes from the frame, you have not properly inserted the tubes into the frame. Fit the lower swing arm assembly to the outer side of the upper swing arms and Insert two screws through each upper swing arm and into each lower swing arm and tighten them down, do not over tighten. Now position the seat back tube so that it curves toward the back of the swing. While pressing the buttons on the seat back tube, fit the
seat back tube into the short tubes on the swing arms until you hear the click. Pull up on the seat back tube to be sure it is secure to the swing arms. Fit the top pocket on the pad over the seat back tube and lift the seat bottom tube and fit the lower pocket on the pad over the seat bottom tube .From behind the seat, insert the waist belts into the slots in the pad and push to fasten the
restraint system to the pad. Insert a coin or a butter knife into the battery compartment door and pry the battery compartment door off so that you can place the 4 C batteries in the compartment and then put the door back on. Now you are ready to use your swing!
What I like about this swing
Once I got the swing together (should take no more than 20 minutes) I was so excited to get to use it and I went and got my baby girl and placed her in it. I love the fact that it plays 6 different tunes along with dancing lights and the music plays for about 10 minutes. I also like the fact that there is a volume control and as most moms know, we don’t like any toys you can’t turn down or turn off. The seat pad comes off and can be machine washed and if you have a baby with reflux, this is a godsend. It has 8 different speed levels so you can swing baby at different speeds. And who can get passed the portability!
What I don’t like about this swing
My grand visions of taking this swing every where I went were soon dashed when I realized this thing is a huge pain in the rear to fold and pack. It is not very lightweight, it is bulky and you have to have 2 hands to fold this up. The batteries do not last long, I was finding that I had to replace them about every 3 weeks.
I also didn’t like the fact that this swing sat so low to the floor, this is a sure fire back killer lifting a child in and out of this swing. It is also 8 speeds but it is really tough to differentiate between the speeds so you really can’t tell which speed you are on. If you have big baby’s this swing is not for you, it goes up to 25 lbs and my daughter was born 9 lbs even and she was only able to use this swing for 5 months. Maddie also managed to learn to grab the back bar on the frame while she was swinging and she would promptly stop the swing or she would lean over and grab at the floor. I was always sitting her up and trying to keep her from leaning over again. The swing is small so it doesn’t take up space but if you are tall, learn to look down, I am 6 ft and I swear I tripped over this thing at least once per week.
In the end
I personally would have never purchased this swing for the price I paid if I had known what a pain it was going to be for me to deal with. I do like the fact that it is a Fisher-Price product and they do stand behind their products so that made me feel good. However, this is not as portable as the ads state and in my opinion I would say save your money and buy a standard swing, you will get more use out of it and you won’t kill your back getting your baby in and out of it.
Contacting Fisher-Price
So how do you contact Fisher Price
There are three ways to contact Fisher-Price. You can call them at 1-800-432-5437 or 1-800-442-2664, contact them at http://www.service.mattel.com/ or http://www.fisherprice.com, or mail them at Consumer Affairs, ARCOtoys Inc, A Mattel Company, C.S #9008, Crossways Park West, Woodbury, New York 11797.
Recommended:
No
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Mininut
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Member: Heather
Location: Leander, Texas
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 273 members
About Me:
Mother of 4 gorgeous children and survivor of Cervical Cancer.
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