Customer Reviews

Baby Einstein Discovering Water Play Gym

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Let me start by saying that I was very hesitant about buying this playgym because of some of the negative reviews I read. However, I really wanted some sort of playgym for my month-old daughter, and I wanted to see it in person before buying. Our local Babies R Us only had two models in the store when I went there: this one and the Carter's Butterfly Play Gym. Despite the glowing reviews I'd read about the Butterfly gym, when I saw it in person I was extremely unimpressed. In my opinion, the colors were dull and nothing about the gym excited my interest. The Discovering Water gym, however, immediately caught my eye with its vibrant colors and water-filled music box. I decided to give it a try and figured I could always return it if either my daughter or I hated it.

I have to say I'm DELIGHTED with this gym. No, it's not perfect, but then again, what is?

The first thing I really liked about this gym was that it's different than all the others I've seen. Every other gym seems to have the same standard design: a flat floor mat (usually square) and two overhead arches that cross in the middle in an X shape. The DW gym, however, has a rippled floor mat with flaps that can be lifted. Each flap is shaped like a different sea creature (a fish, dolphin, whale, etc) and has a cartoon picture of that animal on top and a silkscreened photo of the real animal underneath along with the name of the animal in English, French and Spanish. Even though my daughter is too young to actively lift the flaps to look underneath, at least they give her something to grab onto at floor level when she's lying on the mat. As she gets older, she can do more actual playing with the flaps themselves. I just feel that this gives the mat itself an extra layer of interactivity that's missing with the other activity gym mats out there.

The standard X shaped overhead arches of other gyms form a square shape (four equal-sized spaces between where the arches meet the mat) and leave the gym wide open on all sides (which, I realize, some people might love). The DW gym has two overhead arcs that come together in the middle and then bow out again rather than criss-crossing. This makes more rectangular-shaped openings (two long sides and two short sides) than with other gyms. What I really like about this design is that the arches themselves have a short length of netting (like a fisherman's net) hanging down from the top. This combined with having one short end occupied by the water-filled music box really gives the gym a semi-enclosed feeling, like the inside of an undersea cave. I think it makes for a wonderful spot for imaginative play, much more so than other activity gym designs I've seen.

The gym itself can accommodate 12 hanging toys, although only 3 are included. I think the selection of toys that are included isn't the best. The plastic fish reminds me of a dog's squeaky toy, right down to the squeaker inside, but the high-contrast colors really seem to attract my daughter's attention. The stuffed turtle is one of the Baby Einstein licensed characters - it's cute enough, but it doesn't "do" anything, and when it hangs overhead the only thing to look at from below is its plain, undecorated stomach. This is a toy best played with at eye level, unattached to the activity gym. (I bought another, slightly larger stuffed turtle toy with a mirror in the stomach to hang overhead). The third "toy" is really a set of thick plastic flashcards with sea creatures and their names on them. The pictures are very nice, but I don't really see how a young child would necessarily play with them except maybe to clink the plastic discs together (kind of like a set of plastic "baby keys"). I wound up purchasing 3 or 4 additional toys from a variety of companies to add to the gym - I object to having to spend the extra money when the gym itself cost so much, but all the activity gyms seem to be designed this way.

The water-filled music box is a nice touch, and I like the fact that it has a motion-sensitive setting. The baby needs to actually shake the arches (by pulling a toy) to activate the box in this mode, and I wish it were a bit more sensitive (it takes quite a bit of motion to set it off).

I really like the pat mat in the floor of the gym. This is basically a thick plastic bag filled with two-dimensional sea creatures and an ocean-looking background. The instructions say to fill it with water and empty after each use, but I don't bother emptying and refilling it and we've had no problems. Be warned, though - at first, it looks like you won't be able to fill it with water because the fill hole looks like one solid piece of plastic with a cover. My husband and I actually thought we needed to poke a hole in the plastic in order to fill it. Don't do this! The fill holes are actually so very small you can't really see them - just put the sink faucet up to the fill hole and run the water in. The mat fills pretty slowly but it does fill, and keeping the holes so tiny probably keeps the mat from leaking all over the place. We haven't had any problems with leakage at all since getting the gym.

I also like the crescent-shaped pillow that's included with the gym. It's great for putting under your baby's head so she can look up at the hanging toys, and of course, it's perfect for "tummy time." The pat mat and liftable flaps on the mat of the gym give baby some interesting things to play with and look at at floor level during tummy time, too.

On a side note, I took a Kick and Play Piano and tied it across the other "short" side of the gym (opposite where the water-filled music box is) and it's worked out wonderfully. This gives my daughter something to kick (she's a big kicker) plus when she does kick it, it moves the arches enough to activate the motion-sensor music box. I can either leave the piano in the "off" mode and use the music box activated by kicking, or I can leave the music box off and let my baby's kicks operate the music of the piano.

The biggest disadvantage of this gym, in my opinion, is the price. It's definitely the most expensive gym I've found, but in lots of cases (the Gymni and the original Baby Einstein, for example), it's only more expensive by about $10. For all the "extras" that this gym provides, I think the added expense is well worth it.

I recieved this play gym as a baby shower gift. We have been through 3 gyms and this one is the nicest. My two year old loves playing with her little sister on this. All the gyms we tried were all Fisher Price play gyms (one we found was an injury hazard after my daughter was injured on one. Fisher price somehow got wind of this and began I don't know if harassing is the right word but continued calling me on 3 occasions. Anyway none of the fisher price play gyms had this many toys. One featured Mcdonalds type toys and stopped working after two uses. It was promply thrown in he garbage where it belongs.

The Baby einstein play gym is easy to fold. Takes no time setting up (a plus for a busy mom like me) and can easy store away (fisher price claims this on the Ocean Wonders Play gym but trust me from experience its not at all)

My little guy has really enjoyed this gym. He was 2 1/2 mos when Santa brought it, and still just loves the music, which is played at a tolerable volumn, the lights are great, the toys lower so that he can reach and touch them. He lays under it for at least 30 minutes or more at a time, which is great! Frees me up to do a few chores around the house. YEAH!!

The Baby Einstein Discovering Water Play Gym was the best gift I received from my shower! Our 3 month old has loved it since he was about 6 weeks old. The yellow blow fish has always attracted his curious stares, and recently he has been becoming more active at swatting at the dangling toys. The musical water box lights up, and he hollers when it turns off on its own after playing through its cycle. We've replaced the batteries on it several times already. The pillow is perfect for tummy time, and our baby likes to look at all the colors on the mat. He even flirts with the cute baby in the star shaped mirror. A great activity center; we love it!

this a must have! the music is soothing and plays at a volume for adults to also have a conversation. We use it for "tummy time" as well. It has great features such as many options where to hang the mobile items which makes it a new experience each time. Also, it is easy to fold and put away and set-up takes under three minutes. This is the only one that we will purchase!

my darling son has been enjoying this mat since he was 4wks old! he is 5 1/2mths now and everytime he sees it, he practically leaps into it. it helped immensely with tummy time and he was rolling over at 12wks. now he crawls and weaves in and out, swatting at toys, chewing them, pulling hard (luckily the mat can hold its own)....kicking all the time and generally having a whale of a time. the price is kind of steep..but luckily, i recieved mine as a gift!

Santa brought this for our 2 1/2 month old and she has loved it since we took it out of the bag. In the beginning she loved just staring in the mirror and seeing the lights. Now that she's 5 1/2 months old she loves batting at/tugging on the toys, talking to the baby in the mirror, and babbling along with the music. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun gym for their little one.

I Love it I Love it I Love it! My son is three and a half months old and quickly becomes bored and needs a new stimulus. This playmat is just the trick, I'm in heaven. When he tires of staring at the wide array of toys that are attached to the playard and playing with them he rolls over and pushes on the aqua part of the mat(his favorite part) then he rolls back over and stares at the lights and dancing fish on the detachable music box and happily laughs and kicks the cloth poles that hold the soft child safe and friendly toys above his head, he loves being able to control the movements of the toys above his head so much... and the cloth covered poles do not scare me as muc as the typical plastic ones, lastly he looks at himself in the mirror as he drifts off to sleep. He loves this mat and has finally given me some free time. The tummy time has doubled voluntarily since we recieved it in the mail. Defenitely worth the higher price! Also the biggest playmat of this type that I've found on the market will defenitely last me until far after we hit that crawling stage and then the detachable toys will still be usable. As will the mat for naptime. Thank you!

My Daughter is only 3 mths old and I was trying to get her to start interacting with toys by focusing and grabbing them and it seemed like she just wasn't ready, until I got her this gym. She started grabbing at the toys from the moment I put her under it and she stays under this toy almost the entire day. She absolutely loves it. She is now 4 mths old and it is still one of her favorite toys to play with. Since I bought this toy I have started to buy all her toys from Baby Einstein. I love the idea of a toy, no matter what age it is for, having some sort of education purpose. I highly recommend this toy for any baby.

When I ordered the gym my baby was 2 months old, she is now 3 months old and it is the best thing since sliced bread!! Every morning she plays under it for one full hour. There is so much for her to do and the accessories are interchangable, so you can add toys lower toys raise toys.It is easy to pack up and take, so we take it when we visit relatives.