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Original poster

Graco baby swing

16 replies

Grommit · 09/11/2003 19:23

Just noticed the Graco playtime baby Swing is reduced from £99 to £59 on the Kiddicare site. My American friend swears by this product but I don't know anyone else who has used one. Are they good? My only concern is that the baby will get too used to being rocked!

OP posts:
kaz33 · 09/11/2003 19:50

DS2 totally uninterested in it - at the most he lasted 10 minutes but certainly didn't sleep in it. Much preferred to be on his stomach.

They do have quite good second hand value, I bought mine second hand for £40 ( RRP £99 ) and sold it for £50 on Ebay - so managed to make a profit.

JulieF · 09/11/2003 20:00

DD loved hers, she did seem to get more out of it when she was a little older though. I was sorry to have to put it away when she outgrew it. Mind you r it was a present, I would never have bought something that expensive although if someone had offered me one seconfd hand I might have.

Moomin · 09/11/2003 20:19

Dd loved hers and spent quite some time in it when she was tiny. We then lent it to friends who swore by it with their ds who was a bit of a difficult sleeper - it seemd to soothe him. They are a bit cumbersome but now we've got it back it's been folded down and put in the cellar.

ninja · 09/11/2003 21:09

There's one on sale on UKParents for £20 if you live in the sheffield area (+pp if not)

I have to say I bought mine too late - it did rock her to sleep, but she then became more settled in the day. It used to hypnotise visitors tho'

Zerub · 09/11/2003 21:22

We got one from Kiddicare when dd was 2 months, out of desperation. It was the only way dd would sleep during the day (other than in moving pram or car) from 2 to 4 months. It was worth every penny for those 2 months of daytime naps! Would have been worth 10 times... Teaching dd to sleep in stationary cot was hell but it would have been anyway - the swing kept me going until I was ready to try controlled crying

From 4 to 6 months it was good for 20 minutes entertainment every evening just before dh came home (when I was getting desperate!). From 6 to 8 months she used to sit in it and play with toys on the toy tray, but didn't much like it moving. She liked being a bit higher up I think. Then she learnt to sit up on her own, and crawl, and wasn't interested in it any more.

Wouldn't recommend it as a sleeping place unless your baby won't sleep anywhere else - in which case buy one now! (I did have to feed her to sleep and then put her in the swing... but if I fed her to sleep and put her in the cot, she woke after 5 minutes).

As a toy, yeah, 20 minutes a day for a few months is probably worth it if you can get a cheap one.

Katherine · 10/11/2003 12:30

funny just had DD2 (11wks) in one at a soft play area this morning. She seemed to really like it but took up a lot of floor space. Not sure where we would fit one at home.

WideWebWitch · 10/11/2003 12:41

I've just been given one of these and was going to chuck it as it does take up a lot of space and it seems very fast to me. Hmm, maybe I'll give it a go and sell it if it turns out not to be the thing for this new one.

Metrobaby · 10/11/2003 13:08

In the first few wks my DD was a scared by it but then afterwards she seemed to really like it. I used mine for the same reasons as Zerub - as a means to getting her off to sleep during the day until I was ready to use CC. As soon as she nodded off I stopped it as I didn't want her to rely on constant motion to keep her asleep. It was also useful for her to sit in as she used keep leaning forwards in those baby bouncer chairs. When she was about 7 months we had stopped using it.

Angeliz · 10/11/2003 13:15

just a warning, my dd had the Graco swing and loved it! As i was putting her in it one day she screamed and i noticed i'd scratched her leg quite badly. The peices on the side where the front cover clicks in were razor sharp. We took ours back, got a refund and complained, however nothing was done about it and when we went to trading standards they said ours was not the first complaint, so if you get one, do check the finish on all plastc! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but felt i had to warn you!

tinyfeet · 10/11/2003 13:42

DD loved it and was in nearly every day for at least an hour from the time she was about 4 months old until she was about 10 months old. After that, she was too big, but it was great during those 6 months. She would fall right asleep in it. I don't know if she really got used to being rocked, and she wasn't the best sleeper, but I was glad to have the swing. HTH.

Demented · 10/11/2003 17:03

We had one for DS2 and it was absolutely fantastic. We mostly used it in the first few months to get him to have a daytime sleep as it was virtually impossible to get him to sleep during the day any other way. Once he was about four months he seemed happy to go to sleep in his cot during the day. When he was older he enjoyed using the chair to sit and play with the toy tray and it was also used as his curry seat, when we had a takeaway he would sit in it to eat his nan bread, those were the days !

The only problem I ever noticed was along the lines of Angeliz's complaint, DS2 used to draw his legs up if windy and bash his wee knees off the tray, although ours didn't have any sharp plastic he would get quite distressed and would need taken out.

I would say go for it, if you or baby don't like it they have a good resale value.

ames · 10/11/2003 23:04

I think they market them as being able to sooth 'almost' all fractious babies but I bought one for dd was was a very fractious baby and she hated it, screamed even louder, which at the time I didn't think could be possible! We tried several times but ended up taking it back.
I bought one second hand for ds who was far more placid but liked to be rocked and he loved it, still does. Haven't found that it got him too used to being rocked, as he will settle in his cot with no problems, but its not something I've ever really used everyday.

bunny2 · 10/11/2003 23:06

It was excellent for soothing ds, even when his eczema was really bothering him, the rocking motion calmed him and he slept. I recommend it.

fio2 · 11/11/2003 09:34

I bought a second hand one (battery operated) and my two loved it. Came in very very useful especially when colic striked

leander · 11/11/2003 09:40

we loved ours,it was a godsend It meant I could actually put ds down and have a cup of coffee.I hope our next one likes it as much.

Hughsie · 15/11/2003 16:04

Absolute god send for ds1 who was very feisty and difficultt o settle but ds2 is so placid that he never really needed it - he did use it early on for a morning nap. Not so good when they get bigger and start grabbing the frame

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