1 stars

We researched every swing out there looking for the "best" for our child. This swing had the best reviews at the time. (October 2008) I gave this swing 1 star for looks alone. It sure looks and feels nice. But, the motor is very loud and always seems to be struggling to keep up with itself by stopping and starting over. The seat only has two sitting up posistions and does not allow your child to lay down. I got this at my shower with no reciept and target has such a terrible return/exchange policy we are stuck with it. My daughter has never liked it and is now 3 and half months old. Every few days I stick her in it thinking she'll like and she screams, she loves her cheap travel swing and a relative's fisher price lamb cradle swing. I would not reccommend this to anyone.

4 stars

If you are considering this purchase, make sure you buy it from a physical store like Target that will accept returns. I say this because the first unit I bought was defective in that the arm was able to swing, but NOT with the cradle on the arm (and certainly not with my son in it), so it was essentially useless. Luckily, I was able to exchange it for another unit, which has functioned perfectly.

What I like:
*assembly is easy, and takes only about 20 minutes
*rocking motion is very smooth, and my son loves it -- even if he's not necessarily sleepy, he will sit in it for extended periods of time and be perfectly content, which is otherwise unlikely to happen even if one were to hold him in one's arms
*ambient white noise tracks are nice, especially the river/running-water one, which puts my guy to sleep really well -- the other ambient tracks are in-utero heartbeats, rainy storm, and trickling stream
*the unit plugs in to the wall, and is able to run indefinitely or you can set the unit to turn off after 30 minutes
*doesn't take up much space, occupying about 3 ft x 3 ft
*padding is very soft, and the head-rest is nice to prevent your baby from rolling off to the side
*cradle is detachable and is able to rotate into different positions without moving the base

What I don't like:
*motor is annoying if white noise or music is not playing -- it kind of sounds like a man-goat groaning
*music is kind of lame and tinny
*speaker pops when you turn it off and it startles my son, so I cover it with my hand to dampen the noise
*expensive relative to other swings
*would have been nice if the first unit I purchased was functional

5 stars

This swing is wonderful~~~so easy to put together and doesn't take up that much room. I also love it because you don't know if your child will prefer to be rocked back and forth or side to side and this will do both! So no matter what your child lkes this will work. Also I can hook my MP3 player to it to play songs I'd like to soothe my child with. It's so great, you don't need batteries unless you decide not to plug it in, it's optional. I read the reviews and they said this was not quite...I had no issues with it~ My baby just loved it as much as I did~ This gave me the time to do other things around the house! I just can't rave enough about this!!!!

4 stars

I have had this swing for seven months now and I haven't had a problem yet. My baby has reached 17 pounds and it continues to work flawlessly. I particularly like the fact that we can plug it in and not have to worry about batteries like other swings. Motor is a little bit louder than other swings but my baby never seemed bothered by it. When my baby does kick her legs it seems like the hard plastic that attaches between here legs which holds the mirror and other toys is hard enough to bruise her if she kicks hard enough...that hasn't happened yet. I love the music and sound features.

5 stars

I bought a different Graco model, put it together. the motor was loud and it did not even swing. I went back to the store. Looked at every model. I was about to get the Fisher Price Little Lamb model.. noting it had a Best Model Choice award for 3 years in a row. But Some features I did not like about that model.. the tray was flimsy. I tried opening it, and the tray literally popped off and flew briefly. I did not like the safety belt on the Fisher Price. It was just a mere lap belt. Had no shoulder straps.
I wasn't comfortable putting my 2 week old child in a chair without shoulder straps. She still has the wobbly head. Perhaps if your child is a little bigger and can hold their own head up. Maybe just a lap belt is okay for you.

Final Verdict. Yes the unit makes an audible noise. Probably more quiet than the other model I got that didn't even work. But, with sound effects, vibrating seat and mp3 option The 2 week old, fell fast asleep. I think some of the other seating positions may be for when your child becomes a little more advanced. I just put the setting on 1. The motion of the swing is not a constant. It kicks in just enough to cause movement. It may swing short, it may swing long. More random. I think it was meant to be that way. Mind you I set it on 1 for the 2 week old. It assembled alot better than the other unit also. No tools. It practically put itself together.

3 stars

Wait to buy this, your baby may not digg the motion. Not like a swing, similar but different. It is noisy but and not very rythmic. The motor does sound like it is struggling. This is something you would think they could fix. The seat need to lay back more and stick when trying to remove it form the base. Very little visual stimulations for baby need to have and additional bar that is similar to a bouncer that could also be removed. We loved this but realize it was a first try. Wait take your baby to try it out in a store move the parts around and take not of how big it really is. The contol panel is very hard to get at you need 360 access to the soothing center to be able to use all the features. So don't think it will fit in a corner or against a wall.

5 stars

This swing is the coolest thing ever! I wish I could fit into it! We received this swing as a gift and it is one of our favorite gifts. Our baby is only 1 week old and this swing has been such a great help in getting our little one to sleep. Using this has helped reduce the crying time/fussy time before falling asleep.

I like all the options of this swing--you can place the seat in a variety of positions which changes the way the baby will swing. And all the sound options are great including the use of the MP3 player to hook our I-Pod up to. When we're having fun with our baby we'll play some KISS or other hard rock music and imagine she's on the "Flying Bobs" at the summer carnival! :-) Perhaps we're getting as much fun out of this thing as the baby! But we can also use the MP3 player hookup to simply listen to music throughout the house--it can be turned up fairly loudly.

I also really like the swaddler that comes with it for our very new baby. Makes her feel secure and warm. You can tell whoever invented this thing really thought things through and left no stone unturned. This may be a fairly pricey swing but you get what you pay for...and that's alot with this swing!

5 stars

I wish my daughter liked swings still, this was my favorite baby item! I had heard about the creaking some parents have complained about, but it was so quiet I never noticed it until I listened for it. I love that you have such a wide range of speeds and volumes. The seat can be turned in all different directions and is even compatible with the graco snugride carseat which was fun to experiment with. I liked all the different nature sounds, lullaby, and activity music, and it is also MP3 compatible for your own music downloads. And if it's too plain for your baby you can add graco stroller/highchair toys to the lap bar in place of the little flat flower. In all, this is a really cool swing!

5 stars

This swing is so easy to put together and doesn't take up that much room. It took me less than a half hour to put together compared to other items I received. I also love it because you don't know if your child will prefer to be rocked back and forth or side to side and this accomidates both! So no matter what your child lieks this will fit their needs. Also I can hook my MP3 player to it to play songs I'd like to soothe my child with. It's so great, you don't need batteries unless you decide not to plug it in, it's optional.