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Baby Swings Reviews
Updated November 2007
Consumer Reports has covered baby swings, but their editors don't include any testing or ratings. We also found some helpful articles in American Baby magazine, Parenting magazine and Parents magazine. Still, these tend to amount to cursory recommendations supported by little (if any) objective testing. Baby Bargains, an excellent book by Denise and Alan Fields, has a nice chapter on swings which includes reviews and recommendations based on parent interviews. This was the best professionally prepared review we found of baby swings. To parents, the most important consideration in a baby swing is whether their child likes it, so that point of view influences this report. While a baby swing's features are the primary point of discussion in most professional reviews, they remain secondary for parents, with a few exceptions: speed/strength variations, power source options and motor noise. Other considerations include portability and age-based adjustability. We scanned hundreds of owner-written reviews of baby swings, which helped us to see common patterns when complaints were involved. Several shopping sites, such as The NewParentsGuide.com and BabyStyle.com, have a 'recommendations' section, but with no testing details or ratings criteria, it's hard to tell why some baby swings are recommended over others. Amazon.com and Epinions are the best places for parent-written reviews, and we found no lack of opinions on baby swings. For example, we found over 1,000 parent-written reviews for two popular Fisher-Price swings. The
Eddie Bauer Classic Wood Swing
(*est. $130)
scores points in some baby
magazines, mainly because it looks nice. While it is aesthetically pleasing,
we read a lot of complaints about the Eddie Bauer swing. Parents posting comments
to Amazon.com and Epinions complain that the clunky, hard-to-fold wooden infant
swing has a weak swing motion, slipping from one speed to another without prompting.
Many complain about the Eddie Bauer wooden infant swing's music feature, which
has no volume control and can't be turned off. Further, many parents were unable
to get their children in and out with ease; some even complained that their
children became stuck in the harness system. One customer review at the Target
site said the motor died, the swing was replaced, and the motor died again
on the replacement swing. Although the Eddie Bauer wooden swing looks nice,
we found too many usability complaints about the swing to consider including
it in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers. Most baby swings are battery operated, but there are a handful of plug-in
swings, which simply plug into a wall outlet instead of relying on batteries.
Since battery usage is a universal complaint according to parent-written reviews,
swings like the
Fisher-Price Power Plus
(*est. $85)
can really cut down on
battery expense. Additionally, many parents and reviewers wonder if the battery
issue (low power) is the cause for the seemingly poor ability of the equipment
to swing larger babies. We're also seeing more swings that convert into high
chairs or rockers. A new combination swing, bouncy seat and infant carrier,
the
Graco Swing 'N Bounce
(*est. $120)
doesn't yet have much owner feedback,
but in early parent reviews the swing is praised for its versatility, ease
of storage and long operation on the same batteries. One parent questions build
quality. Although Fisher-Price full-size swings have proven to be the most popular
in both professional and owner-written reviews, about 112,000 portable swings
-- the Fisher-Price Rainforest Open Top Take Along Swing, sold between Nov.
2006 and May 2007 -- were recalled in May 2007. Infants inside the swing could
shift to one side and get trapped between the frame and the seat. About 60
reports of bruises and cuts were collected. Note that this Take Along swing
has a different design than Fisher-Price's other portable swings.
... Continued
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
Fisher-Price easily receives the most recommendations in reviews, especially two cradle-swings, the Ocean Wonders Aquarium and Baby Papasan. The Ocean Wonders Aquarium Swing is currently being phased out although it still can be found in some shops and online stores. Graco swings are also liked. A new Graco swing, the Lovin' Hugs, improves on the discontinued Swingomatic with a higher 30-pound weight limit and a 5-point harness (which can be converted to a 3-point harness). We found some recommendations for travel swings, but we also found a lot of complaints about safety. Advertisement
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Baby Swings Reviews |
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© 2008. ConsumerSearch, Inc. A service from 
, a part of The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
ConsumerSearch and ConsumerSearch.com are registered trademarks of ConsumerSearch, Inc. Other trademarks or service marks on this site are the property of their respective owners. ConsumerSearch is not sponsored by any source reviewed, and we accept no consideration or payment for including, excluding, or ranking any reviews, products or services in our reports.
* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
