So what is everyone's favorite swing?

[AnnieW625]

My DD loved her very basic (no music) and very old hand me down Graco open top swing that I got from another mom, and well it worked great for DD, but we really need a new one for #2 (the seat pad is now unusable and I really think it's time for something new). What does everyone suggest? Here are some that have gotten good reviews.

Fisher Price Papasan,
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3090973

Fisher Price Aquarium,
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3799972

Fisher Price Power Plus,
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3266684

Is it better to buy new or look on Craigslist? The reviews on Amazon were mixed of most swings and reviewers said that the swings often didn't last long so that might be a good reason to buy one new even though this is most likely our last baby. Agree/disagree?

I am still okay with simple is better as far as the swing goes (and most likely won't turn on the music if that's an option).

Other recs besides the FP ones would be helpful too.

[gatorsmom]

I've had the FP Takealong Aquarium swing. All my kids hated it. I've had a Graco, no frills, open top swing. Most of my kids liked that. But my absolute favorite was the Graco Sweetpeace. It was the only one that could calm down Greenbean in the prime of his colic and put him to sleep within 10-15 minutes of me putting him in there. The only other way to keep him from crying was me carrying him (for hours) or wearing him in the Moby wrap. I paid full price for that swing when it first came out in January 2008 and it was worth every penny.

[citymama]

My DD loved her basic Graco swing we bought off CL for $15. We gave it away when we moved cross-country, but my thought the second time around is to look on CL when we're ready, or to get one handed down from some other friend whose child has outgrown it. It's a big bulky item and we have no space to have it in here right now, so I'll start to look when we're ready. My general philosophy is to keep it simple and minimize flashing lights and sounds - both for the baby's sake and ours!

[hellokitty]

I loved our full sized FP aquarium swing. However, I sold it after DS2 thinking we were finished having babies. With DS3, a friend lent us their travel FP aquarium swing and I don't like it, maybe b/c I am spoiled by the full sized version, which was nice, since it swung in two different directions. My kids liked the side to side swing better than the front to back swing. I like the size of the travel one, but I don't like anything else about it.

[army_mom]

DD loved her FP papasan swing and we primarily used it swinging side to side. We also used the Graco Sweatpeace when visiting my brother and it worked very well and DD slept just as well. The sweatpeace has quite a few nicer features than the papasan but, for our DD, weren't necessary. She has always been a baby that loves to sleep :-)

We also tried a travel swing but they sit fairly upright (maybe this changes??) and I am not sure a brand new baby would be ok using it. We used it when DD was near 4 months old and she did not sleep as well in it.

[KrisM]

DS1 hated any swing.

DD liked the take along style Aquarium swing.

DS2 got a Sweetpeace and that was awesome for the first few months! Loved that thing. He then moved to the Aquarium swing and liked that, but not too much.

[zukeypur]

We have the papasan swing. It's going strong with baby #3. It does suck some batteries though. Definitely go with rechargeable batteries.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I just sold my Papasan. It was fantastic. Everyone loved it. I'd look for a plug-in Papasan, Starlight, Rainforest or whichever model has the same cradle set up and plugs in - but on CL. Really, I don't see a reason to buy a new one for $140ish and then sell it for $65 like I just did. Just listen to see if they swings were used by families that overuse them.

[arivecchi]

FP papasan swing! Both of my kids and my nephew used it and they all loved it. I though my SIL was going to kiss me when we put her fussy newborn in it and he slept in it for two hours.

[Andi98989]

We LOVE our FP Papasan swing. I got it used from a friend for $50 who had it with 2 kids. Sadly, after just a few weeks at our house (granted it did get pretty heavy use), the circuit board in the motor housing got fried.

DS was a swing addict, so we ended up buying a whole new from BRU; thankfully I had a 15% off coupon. Had he not been so addicted to it, I could have ordered a replacement motor housing from FP for $50 and it still would have cost less than buying a whole new swing. Or I could have found another used one on CL.

ETA: DS is much more likely to snooze in our papasan swing than he is in the open top Evenflo swings my mom and MIL have.