Customer Reviews

Bright Starts Comfort and Harmony Bouncer, Biscotti Baby

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We have twins, a boy and girl, and so have purchased both the pink and the neutral Comfort & Harmony bouncer. As these are my 4th and 5th children, I can testify to having tried many different kinds of bouncers. Before finding the Comfort & Harmony, I have never been perfectly happy with any of the ones I've used.

The best features of this bouncer seat:
-Toy bar that does not pop off every time you move the seat to a different location, and it EASILY slides back out of baby's face when you want to pick him/her up.
-Two positions - works for newborns who need to lie almost flat and for older babies who want to look around. Most basic bouncers do not have this feature.
-"Bounce mechanism" is different than most seats - it bounces from the back instead of having a seat attached to two bars that bounce from the bottom of the front bar. This means the baby bounces up and down gently (good for newborn) instead of back and forth (NOT good for newborn's head and neck position).
-Removable cuddly, soft cushions and head support. The cushions literally surround the newborn's body, making them feel safe and secure while they rest.
-Music and sounds that are not EXTREMELY annoying; vibrations that don't shake the baby until he/she vomits!

My twins spend much of their days in these bouncers, and I am SO happy with this purchase. Other than their cradle swings, these are very comforting and sleep-friendly!

This bouncy seat is fantastic! We've been using it now for three months. Obviously the colors and animals are adorable, subtle, and easy to look at. The seat itself is sturdy (my 22 month old has climbed into it and it held!), yet very soft and comfortable for baby. As a preemie my son suffered from reflux and this seat helped elevate him just right. I would place the seat at the highest incline just after he ate, then could easily recline the seat more once he fell asleep. My son slept in this seat exlusively for the first 6 weeks of his life before I felt comfortable allowing him to lay flat in his crib. The newborn insert is a huge plus as well since it snuggles the baby on both sides giving him a secure sensation. I despise musical boxes on baby gear, so I can't tell you about the tunes; but the vibrator was a tremendous help in soothing baby to sleep during those early weeks. Now we're 3 months old, have outgrown the newborn insert, and still love bouncy seat time! Baby still naps in it frequently. Both the newborn insert and the seat cover itself are machine washable. Huge plus!!! The only drawback is that it's a bit bulky. Despite its size, it isn't obtrusive. The first bouncy seat that I borrowed from a friend was the basic fisher-price version and I was always tripping over the base of the frame.

I can't say it enough: this bouncy seat was a lifesaver during those first few weeks and we will continue using it until we have outgrown it. Love, love, love it!

I purchased this bouncer for my newborn and he seems to be pretty happy with it. My one and only complaint is that it seems to really chew thru batteries. It's a great bouncer but it becomes useless when the batteries are dead and I get sick of replacing them constantly.

Customer Service: One of the legs did not fit into the frame of the seat properly. I called customer service and explained my dilemma and they were friendly and promptly shipped me out the replacement parts.

Pros:
- Very soft and plush
- Sturdy toy bar that can be moved back easily to pull baby out
- Machine washable cover (toy bar is spot clean)
- Decent amount of vibration
- Pretty simple to put together
- Easily bounces with your foot so its not tiring
- Good customer serivce
- Recline position for newborns
- Very simple mechanism to switch between reclined and sitting up

Cons:
- Goes thru batteries pretty quickly

** Edited 10/28/10 **
After using this bouncer for several months I found that the batteries will last over a month if you do not use the music option. If you use the music the batteries will drain very quickly. So if you do not plan on using the music very much this bouncer would be really good. If you do want to use the music, be prepared to fork out a lot of money for batteries.

This bouncer serves it's purpose, but I don't really think it's better than most other bouncers on the market. I like that it's soft and plush and has a removable infant insert, and my son seems very comfortable in it and likes the toy bar. My two complaints are that 1.) the vibration box has started to crap out after only 3 months of use, and 2.) you have to be VERY, VERY careful when you put this together so that you don't assemble the support bars upside down! Unfortunately, they are nearly impossible to get out once they are inserted into the plastic side brackets. READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!!! My husband did not, and so the lower support bar (the one at my son's feet) is upside down, and my son keeps kicking a metal bracket that sticks up (it's supposed to stick downwards for the attachment of the vibration/music box). We tried for over an hour to get the thing disassembled, but couldn't do it. Even worse, we gave one of these to my in-laws, since they're caring for my son while I'm at work, and they put the TOP bracket in upside down, and now the toy bar is constantly in the way! Somehow, the way the thing was assembled, the toy bar rotates forward, instead of backward and out of the way, so every time they use the bouncer, they have to take the toy bar off to get my son in and out of it!

I bought this bouncer because of all the raving reviews, and I wish I'd paid a little extra for something better. The toy bar popped off every time my two months old pulled on it, so finally I just stopped using it; now at 4 months my baby has completely outgrown this bouncer. The straps come undone every time she wiggles; the sounds are annoying and, in my experience, the vibration mode is useless. Maybe it is OK for a newborn, but I would not recommend this product.

I have now been through 3 of these bouncers--all of them defective, out of the box. On the first one, the screws on the back of the battery panel were stripped and you could not remove the cover. I took it back. On the second one, the arm would not "lock" in to place--the little "bead" would not pop up and into the hole to lock. I took it back. I just finished assembling the third one and it has the EXACT same problem as the second one. It seems there was some defect in manufacturing to get two with the exact problem in the exact same location. Additionally, it should be known that it does not disassemble well--it seems to be a once-together only item. The pieces will not lock/fit well a second time, so if you plan to keep this for multiple children and want to be able to break it down in between uses, this is not the one for you.

I purchased this for my daughter that was born in July. She is now 4 months old and weighs 13 lbs.

Assembly: The item was easy for me to assemble and took approximately 10-15 minutes (including time to find a screwdriver for the battery cover).

Construction: The base and the structure are very solid. There are non-skid pads on the bottom of the base - but you should NEVER put one of these on a table with a child in it. So I don't know if they work well because we use it on the floor. The mobile - my mom keeps thinking it's a handle and it pops off if you try to pick the unit up by it - I am assuming to prevent breakage, however now that it has been removed so many times it pops off really easily. The fabric is good quality and the harness is good quality construction.

Actual Use:
This was great for my daughter when she was first born - it was nice to be able to place her in it while I was doing dishes, etc.

The padded interior insert can be removed, so minor diaper leaks you only have to wash that part; which is nice, however we have never had a minor diaper leak that resulted in not washing the harness that goes between the legs - which is attached not to the insert; so you end up having to wash the whole thing anyway.

The music has 2 settings and it turns off after paying once. I have never had a problem with that. The vibration however seems to run for quite a while longer - but will turn off on it's own if you forget. The unit takes two 2 "C" batteries - we haven't replaced them yet - but I don't use the vibration/music very often.

The mobile - glad it's removable - because the way it comes up the hanging toys are nearly in my daughters face & she doesn't really play with them at all. We don't use this at all anymore.

2 recline settings - this is great because now that she is older we can set ii more upright so she can see around more.

This has been doing the job for our newborn son for almost 2 weeks now.
Pros:
-Simple to assemble
-Stable base (quite wide though -- a negative for some, depending on your space)
-Toy bar with adjustable position
-Good vibrate feature -- pleases our son, inaudible from a few feet away in a normal active room, shuts itself off after awhile to preserve batteries (haven't timed it yet, but it goes for a good long time first)
-Tolerable music, though our newborn is unaffected by it so far
-Easily bounces gently with minimal movement from a newborn

Cons:
-Straps for the harness always end up lying right where you're going to put the baby, so you have to dig them out from under him/her just as you're hoping he/she might stay sound asleep. It would be nice if there were a pocket or something on each side to tuck them into to keep them up along the sides of the seat, instead of right under baby.
-Quite wide -- only a problem if you have limited space in which to put it
-Wish it were a little easier to move around the house or had a folding feature, but this is not a deal breaker and I'll sacrifice portability for stability at the moment.

This seat is very comfortable and cozy. I love the look and feel of the material. Another plus are the two positions that you can adjust it to. But the major problem with this bouncer is the vibration times out after 15 minutes usually causing my baby to wake from her nap. Also the toy bar is boring and it is too close to the baby's head and you can't hook other toys to it to liven it up. Not bad but it could be better....

My son loved this thing! If I had to make his bottles, use the bathroom, etc. He would be put in here with no fuss. crafted well, comfortable soft fabric, and love the music and vibration. He would fall asleep on his own in there. Love the straps because now he is learning to sit, so the angle setting helps him do that. I must say, I dont think he EVER played with the overhang toys, they were ALWAYS too close to his face, then as he got bigger, they would sit on his head. so I took the entire bar off.