Help me decide between these swings

[hellokitty1]

Fisher-Price Lil' Lamb Dream Swing


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41gDSMqQR%2BL._AA260_.jpg

OR

Graco SweetPeace Soothing Center
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wPbto1-HL._AA260_.jpg

i am the horrible mother that posted about CIO in the lounge so if you reveiw that, you'll be familiar with my situation. we have a traditional swing but ds hates it and just screams after two minutes. so since i was accused of not taking people's advice, i felt the need to go splurge on a swing so help me decide between the two. thanks. (note: some intentional sarcasm intended).

[WatchingThemGrow]

I didn't get to read all of the other thread, but the sideways rocking of the FP Papasan swing (same as 1st one) saved us many a time.

I know Lisa (gatorsmom) found the sweetpeace things to be a lifesaver when her twins were small. Not sure how it moves, though, maybe in an arc?

[hellokitty1]

I didn't get to read all of the other thread, but the sideways rocking of the FP Papasan swing (same as 1st one) saved us many a time.

I know Lisa (gatorsmom) found the sweetpeace things to be a lifesaver when her twins were small. Not sure how it moves, though, maybe in an arc?

yeah. i thought the varied swinging motion of these newer swings was a nice feature. i sent gatorsmom a pm to ask her about the graco. it looked snazzy in the store. i think a plus is that the sear can be removed as a bouncer and i can out my graco carrier in it. i believe this is true based on product description.

[KHF]

I had a FP aquarium swing (like your first choice) and briefly owned the Sweetpeace. My FP aquarium swing, despite having been used minimally with DD and stored in good conditions in our finished basement for 3 years, did not work when we pulled it out to use with DS. FP does not offer replacement motors for that model anymore. That said, we did like it just fine with DD when she used it.

The Sweetpeace is gorgeous. The fabrics feel good and the concept is great. The original one we got had one of the loud motors. Graco was great about it. They sent a shipping label to return it to them and shipped me another one when they got the original one. That said, I ultimately decided to return it to Amazon anyway. I gave birth to Godzilla baby and he wouldn't have been able to use it for very much longer anyway.

The Snugride we had at the time did indeed fit in the swinging part and the ability to lift off the seat was great too. It was nice for bathtime with DD...I just put DS in the seat and set him outside the bathroom.

FYI, I only paid about $120 for the Sweetpeace on Amazon. The price fluctuates a lot on that one...so you might keep an eye out for a sale. Also, our BRU had one of the cradle swings on sale for $69 at their last one day sale. Not sure what the price is on them now though.

[JBaxter]

Wow they have gotten alot nicer in the past 5 yrs. I have the aquarium swing from Nathan who is 5. It swings front to back and side to side. We still use the side to side motion. My boys #3 & #4 had startle reflexes for a long time in the front/back motion.

??Does that help? WHich one has the higher weight limit ( my boys are BIG)

[hellokitty1]

The Sweetpeace is gorgeous. The fabrics feel good and the concept is great. The original one we got had one of the loud motors. Graco was great about it. They sent a shipping label to return it to them and shipped me another one when they got the original one. That said, I ultimately decided to return it to Amazon anyway. I gave birth to Godzilla baby and he wouldn't have been able to use it for very much longer anyway.

The Snugride we had at the time did indeed fit in the swinging part and the ability to lift off the seat was great too. It was nice for bathtime with DD...I just put DS in the seat and set him outside the bathroom.

FYI, I only paid about $120 for the Sweetpeace on Amazon. The price fluctuates a lot on that one...so you might keep an eye out for a sale. Also, our BRU had one of the cradle swings on sale for $69 at their last one day sale. Not sure what the price is on them now though.

I know the sweetpeace is not meant to be a travel swing but if i wanted to take it to grandma's, could i do that with just a litte bit of awkwardness?

[WatchingThemGrow]

I know the sweetpeace is not meant to be a travel swing but if i wanted to take it to grandma's, could i do that with just a litte bit of awkwardness?

We've found grandparent arms are as good as any swing money can buy. unless you're there a LOT and often, I don't know if I'd be traveling with one.

[hellokitty1]

We've found grandparent arms are as good as any swing money can buy. unless you're there a LOT and often, I don't know if I'd be traveling with one.
gparents arms are good but when we're there, we're there for a few days. their arms wn't last that long. lol. i was there last week and the baby was passed around like hot potato.


i just saw a video of the graco swing on their site. it's seper good marketing bc i think i'm sold on it. it's onlt $20 more than the fp one but has tons more features and they showed how to take it apart if i were to take it somewhere.

i may be using my 20% bru coupon on this tomorrow along with the $15 gift card i got from the last pampers promo AND the $3 card dd got in the mail for her b-day from tru. :-)

[hellokitty1]

??Does that help? WHich one has the higher weight limit ( my boys are BIG)

i believe they are all 25 lbs. DD is only 10th percentile so even though he's already 8 weeks, i hope it will last awhile.

[KHF]

I would say the sweetpeace wouldn't be any more difficult to travel with than any other full size swing.

Yeah, all the swings I found were 25 pound limits...and since DS was 15 pounds at 2 months, we decided against keeping the swing. But it really is nice, and different. Hopefully you'll get one with a non-faulty motor. If it's loud though, call Graco CS...they are aware of the problem.

[The Review Mommy]

fyi-my twins only liked the side to side motion in the FP Papasan. they cryed in the front to back too...

[gatorsmom]

When the twins were about 8 weeks old, Greenbean started becoming very colicky. At the time, we tried different things and no one could really figure out what was causing it. Now that he's 17 months old, I"m pretty sure he has sensory issues and couldn't calm himself down at that age. Most evenings he was in the Family room with the rest of us and with 2 preschoolers and another baby plus the TV and toys, it was noisy and he couldn't calm down and just cried for hours. The only 2 things that calmed him were me wearing him in the Moby Wrap or swaddling him tightly, placing him in the Graco Sweetpeace, puting the sound on "womb noises," putting the canopy down over him to completely block any images, facing him outward, sitting up fully, and swinging on full tilt. It was like he needed to be in the womb again. And it really worked.

I don't know anything about the papasan swing, but I can see from the pictures that those bright colored toys hanging from the top would have just made Greenbean cry more. The Graco Sweetpeace is very neutrally colored and unexciting. You can pull the separate seat out and face it 4 different ways so that they are swinging sideways or forward and back with many different views. The canopy is WONDERFUL because it can come down over the baby and almost completely block their view. The sound system is EXCELLENT. It sounds very, very real. And if you don't like the sound options they provide you can hook the swing up to your mp3 player. Also, they have more sounds you can download off the Graco website.

I never traveled with it but took it apart many times in order to vacuum. It can be broken down to fit nearly flat (except for the seat). It comes apart into the 1-base, 2- pedestal, 3- seat holder, 4-seat. And if you want, you can take the base apart too fairly easily.

If it's really a difference of $20 between the papasan and the sweetpeace, there is NO DOUBT, I'd get the sweetpeace. It is just such a great swing, especially for a parent trying to deal with sleep issues. And it is so many great functions and accessories. I can't say enough great things about it. The only drawbacks I ever saw was the price (I paid $170) and the amount of room it takes (it swings really wide).

I'd encourage you to do a search here using the words Graco Sweetpeace. I'm a HUGE fan but maybe some of the past threads can point out more cons so that you aren't getting such a biased opinion!!

gl. let us know what you decide. :)

[hellokitty1]

When the twins were about 8 weeks old, Greenbean started becoming very colicky. At the time, we tried different things and no one could really figure out what was causing it. Now that he's 17 months old, I"m pretty sure he has sensory issues and couldn't calm himself down at that age. Most evenings he was in the Family room with the rest of us and with 2 preschoolers and another baby plus the TV and toys, it was noisy and he couldn't calm down and just cried for hours. The only 2 things that calmed him were me wearing him in the Moby Wrap or swaddling him tightly, placing him in the Graco Sweetpeace, puting the sound on "womb noises," putting the canopy down over him to completely block any images, facing him outward, sitting up fully, and swinging on full tilt. It was like he needed to be in the womb again. And it really worked.

I don't know anything about the papasan swing, but I can see from the pictures that those bright colored toys hanging from the top would have just made Greenbean cry more. The Graco Sweetpeace is very neutrally colored and unexciting. You can pull the separate seat out and face it 4 different ways so that they are swinging sideways or forward and back with many different views. The canopy is WONDERFUL because it can come down over the baby and almost completely block their view. The sound system is EXCELLENT. It sounds very, very real. And if you don't like the sound options they provide you can hook the swing up to your mp3 player. Also, they have more sounds you can download off the Graco website.

I never traveled with it but took it apart many times in order to vacuum. It can be broken down to fit nearly flat (except for the seat). It comes apart into the 1-base, 2- pedestal, 3- seat holder, 4-seat. And if you want, you can take the base apart too fairly easily.

If it's really a difference of $20 between the papasan and the sweetpeace, there is NO DOUBT, I'd get the sweetpeace. It is just such a great swing, especially for a parent trying to deal with sleep issues. And it is so many great functions and accessories. I can't say enough great things about it. The only drawbacks I ever saw was the price (I paid $170) and the amount of room it takes (it swings really wide).

I'd encourage you to do a search here using the words Graco Sweetpeace. I'm a HUGE fan but maybe some of the past threads can point out more cons so that you aren't getting such a biased opinion!!

gl. let us know what you decide. :)

Lisa-
Thanks tons for posting. tomorrow cannot ome soon enough for me to go out and get it and try it out.

[kijip]

We have the FP one. I think it is adorable. I like the lamb ears, LOL. The side to side swinging motion does the trick for F.

I did not know the SweetPeace one swung, I thought it vibrated/glided. Good to know.

[gatorsmom]

We have the FP one. I think it is adorable. I like the lamb ears, LOL. The side to side swinging motion does the trick for F.

I did not know the SweetPeace one swung, I thought it vibrated/glided. Good to know.

Oh, yeah, the sweetpeace has the option to vibrate as well, on the seat. Which means while it's swinging the seat can vibrate, or you can take the seat out of the swing and set it on the floor somewhere and set it to vibrate like a bouncy seat (it has 2 vibrate speeds). I forgot to mention that because i rarely used that feature.

It's kind of funny how it swings. Because the seat isn't actually suspended. But it does swing, not glide. I just can't explain it better. Next time you get a chance in a store, turn it on. it's pretty cool. :D

[DebbieJ]

Last year's version, FP Nature's Touch, is on sale for $79.99 at BRU right now. It is less "loud" toy and color wise than the lamb one. You might want to check it out.

[hellokitty1]

Oh, yeah, the sweetpeace has the option to vibrate as well, on the seat. Which means while it's swinging the seat can vibrate, or you can take the seat out of the swing and set it on the floor somewhere and set it to vibrate like a bouncy seat (it has 2 vibrate speeds). I forgot to mention that because i rarely used that feature.

It's kind of funny how it swings. Because the seat isn't actually suspended. But it does swing, not glide. I just can't explain it better. Next time you get a chance in a store, turn it on. it's pretty cool. :D

Oddly, BRU has it in the Bouncer category and NOT the Swing category. Weird to me and when people are looking for swings they will not see it and when they are looking for bouncers they will noy understand why a $170 bouncer exists.

the graco website has a great product demo video. that's what sold me on it.

[gatorsmom]

Oddly, BRU has it in the Bouncer category and NOT the Swing category. Weird to me and when people are looking for swings they will not see it and when they are looking for bouncers they will noy understand why a $170 bouncer exists.

the graco website has a great product demo video. that's what sold me on it.

It does seem strange that BRU would have it in the bouncer section. The first time I saw the sweetpeace was at Baby Depot where I had a coupon. I was desperate to get Greenbean to quit crying and I was coming into the store to buy the FP papasan swing. While I was looking at it, Sisi started to cry and i noticed the machine next to her would swing an infant carrier so I put her carrier in the swing and went back to investigating the papasan. She quieted down immediately. THAT's when I said, "hey what is THIS thing?!"

I agree the product demo is great. Hold onto that website address because you'll be able to get music from it (lullabies, white noise and other sound bites). I actually made a cd with lullabies from the website.

[JTsMom]

I'm not one who usually goes for baby gadgets, but my swing was worth it's weight in gold! We had the FP aquarium one. My sister had the same one. We called them our baby crack. ;) Both of our kids slept so much better in them.

The FP you posted looks really similar. Having said all of that, the Sweetpeace looks awesome! I'd buy that one in a heartbeat! My DS has sensory issues too, and we had a lot of the same experiences Lisa described. I know the Sweetpeace would have been great for him, especially with the MP3 player! He loved Frank Sinatra, and we'd put his swing by our computer and play it for him there. DH wanted to buy him an MP3, and I thought he was nuts- he'll be ROFL when I tell him about this gadget.

[tny915]

Just thought I'd chime in as one of the few whose DC did not like the Sweetpeace. I personally loved the swing and thought all the features were very cool. But every time I put DD2 in, she'd cry. I tried every swinging position, tried upright, tried recline, vibrating and not, and she just cried. Ended up selling it for about half what I bought it for.

We also tried a take along FP Aquarium swing. DD2 liked it only slightly more, meaning she'd last a few more minutes before she cried. She was just not a swing kid.

I'm sure you'll have better luck since you'll actually be able to try before you buy. We bought when DD2 was still in utero so by the time we learned her preference, or lack thereof, it was too late to return.