Take Along Swing is the Thing!!
Written: Oct 30 '02 (Updated Oct 13 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Relaxes and amuses baby, lightweight and you can take it with you easily.
Cons: A little difficult to place baby inside
The Bottom Line: For portability, function, and baby's comfort I find this a wonderful and absolute must of a piece of equipment to have.
|
|
|
| popsrocks's Full Review: Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing |
Ok, Ok, so I'm not a parent reviewing a baby product. I happen to be a grandparent and when I first saw the Take Along Swing I thought it was terrific.
I have had some practical experience with babies. It has been about twelve years since I dealt with one first hand but it's like riding a bicycle, you never forget. I have five children and stayed home as Mr. Mom, for many years when my wife went back to her teaching career.
For years we had a stand up, crank up, Graco swing. It did work wonders. I would not have done as well without one. It did have it's problems though. When all the way wound up it would go like crazy. Sometimes I thought it may just start taking the baby in full in circles spinning and spinning. Then it would start to slow down. Finally the music stops and the clicking has ended. It's time to get up and wind up the baby again! It also took up a lot of room space. Those were the "good ol days"
The Take-Along does not have to be wound up. It works on four C size batteries, not included. I did not like that you could not change the batteries without a Phillip's screwdriver. Once in though they are very secure and they last a long time too.
The swing is fairly light weight at about ten pounds. That's part of it's beauty. With baby in it you can move from room to room. Just pick up the handle in the middle and go. It is very well balanced. I did think the molded plastic handle in the middle might be a bit large for some smaller handed people. I liked the non skid pads on the bottom. The swing will not "walk" on the floor as the baby is rocking, even at the higher speeds.
The swing has eight speeds. The faster speed seems to relax baby the fastest. If baby is asleep I set it on a slow setting for a nice gently rock. This is easily done. The switch is right on the top of the swing and very easily accessible. I thought the swing moved in a very smooth fashion. The other thing is it doesn't have the constant loud "click ..click..click..click", the old Graco had. it's pretty quiet.
Well it's quiet if you want it to be. The swing has some "tunes" to listen to. There are five, a mix of classical, and lullabies. I recognize them but don't know the names. There is a volume setting right on top too. The quality of the sound is good and you may find yourself falling asleep if you are seated when the music is on.
The coolest thing about the swing is the "light show". Ok, it's just a few lights above baby's head but they are great!There are four lights, red, blue, green, and yellow. There is a setting on top to activate them. My grand daughter loves watching them twinkle. She just stares and smiles. They kind of go with the music when it's played. Very cool indeed!!
The lights can be activated by baby. There are a couple of toys hanging from the top bar. If the baby pulls on them the lights will go on. My grand daughter hasn't done that just yet. She does however play with them. She "talks" to them and reaches for and swats them. They do keep her attention. Oh, did I tell you my grand daughter is the sweetest baby in the world? It's true.
Back to the swing. The different settings can work with each other or independently. You can have the swing on without the light or with the lights ot with lights and sounds or just lights and sound with the swing or any combination of these. Mom and dad or even grampa can do all this from the easy to use controls on top.
The seat itself is wide, plenty of room. I do know it's a bit difficult putting baby in the the swing. The swing is short therefore making it a bit awkward putting baby in. The harness is very easy to use. There is a wide head pad also.
The swing has baby in a semi reclined position. I don't know how long baby will stay comfortable in this position as she gets older and bigger. Right now at a little over three and a half months she is still very comfortable. She is a small baby however.
The swing is still quite new so I cant's tell you much about durability but it's blue colored metal frame seems stable and strong, the padding is washable, and the molded plastic parts seems to be of good quality and cleans well.
The print on the seat is a bit too busy for me but I suppose it's great for baby to look at. It's has yellow and blue horizontal stripes with small little cartoon style bee, butterfly, and other such type characters on it. They are cute and smiley faced.
All round for it's portability, attention holding, and comfortable sleeping quarters I feel it's a great buy and value at about sixty dollars.
Now did I tell you that my grand daughter is the sweetest............?
More little person reviews by popsrocks,
Graco Leisure Sport Jogger a sporty stroller!
Graco Jumper
Fisher Price Take-a-Long Swing Thing This item Rocks!!
Safety 1st, Swinging Gate It does its job.
Kolcraft High Chair
Fisher Price Sweet Street Schoolhouse
Radio Flyer Wagon
Corduroy A tale of acceptance. This is a wonderful book for children 3-6 yrs.
The Polar Express A book for adult children
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.