Customer Reviews

Bright Starts Comfort and Harmony Portable Swing, Biscotti Baby

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Got this for our 2 week old daughter. So far we are very pleased with it. We own alot of Bright Starts items and love the quality. This uses 4 c batteries. Has a timer for 15-30-45 minutes if you want to use this feature. We usually just leave it on without using the timer. Very easy to put together. Does not seem to go through batteries alot. We give this 5/5 stars you will be pleased.

This swing is pretty good so far. My 3 month old, who is pretty big (90th percentile) fits in the swing perfectly. Not sure how much longer it will last though, if she grows any more, her feet will dangle over the edge! I would recommend this swing for newborn - 4 months old. It is super quiet (we used to have a Graco, and that one was LOUD), and the settings are very easy to use. It wasn't bad to assemble either (I did it all by myself...no hubby around!) you just need a screwdriver. I have the Pink Pastel one, and I love the colors and design. It is also very soft and comfy for the baby. My little one also loves the toy bar, and I love that it is so flexible so I can take her in and out of the swing easily. The only reason I didn't give this swing 5 stars is because the recline options don't seem very safe. Every time I put the swing in the upright position, it seems to fall back in the recline position. It scares me, but the baby is always fine, just jolted a little. But other than that, this swing is great for little babies...if you need a small swing to rock your baby to sleep, get this one...don't go for the monster sized Graco one; this one does the job for 1/3 of the price!

I am a mom of two and have owned several baby swings. My kids needed the swings to get them to sleep when they were infants - if you have a bad back and can't rock your child, then a swing is what you need! If you are looking for portability then this is a great swing, but keep in mind that NO travel swing will be as powerful as a full-size model. We have the full size Fisher Price papasan and the ocean wonders swings, and they were amazing and plenty powerful - colicky babies prefer vigorous swinging to soft rocking. Yes, they eat through batteries, but who cares when your child will sleep 4 hours in the swing as opposed to 1 hour in the crib! But I digress...As for this travel swing:
Pros:
Much more portable than a full size swing
More portable than the fisher price travel swing (I had the ocean wonders model)
Folds pretty flat for travel
No noise at all (the full-size models always click when swinging)
Decent battery life for a swing
Easy to assemble
Has a recline option
Decent music if you want it
Timer if you want it, or just leave the swing on constantly
Cute to look at for you and baby
Easy to clean

Cons:
"Speed" settings are really all 1 speed - why bother with a speed dial? This seems to be typical of all swings though, both travel and full-sized.
Will never move as vigorously as a full-sized swing - top speed is barely moving in comparison to a full-sized swing. If your child is used to a full-sized swing, this swing might not move vigorously enough to rock him/her to sleep. However, if they are not used to a full-sized model than this one might be fine.

A tip for all swings: Use good batteries (Duracell only) to get the most vigorous swinging out of your swing. The cheap ones, even Energizers, will barely move your swing!

Update: 1 BIG CON for this swing that I discovered last night - it automatically shuts off after 1 hour, even without using the timer feature. I wanted it to run continuously like the full-size swing would, but it won't. Why include a timer for 15 minute increments if the swing shuts off in 1 hour anyway? My babies wake up when the swing stops, which is exactly what happened. Argh! This makes the swing fairly useless to me if I want my baby to sleep in the swing during the night, because she will wake every hour when the swing automatically shuts off!

Love this swing! Our 5 mon old is average for weight but in the 84th percentile for height and still fits nicely in this swing. I prefer the reclined position as our little one tries to lean forward when it's in the more upright position (unnerving even with a 5 point harness). As others have mentioned, it's a very quiet swing, folds down nicely, has a convenient timer feature and is great on battery usage. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars (I'd have given 4.5 if possible) is because this swing doesn't have a swing lock that keeps the seat stationary when placing baby in or taking baby out...I end up bracing the swing against my leg to keep it still.

Amazon price and shipping was also top-notch.

I did A LOT of research before buying this swing and I feel we made a pretty good choice. We got this for the traveling capabilities, as we have a large swing as well, but we tend to use this one more than the big one! It is light, you cannot hear it operating, and the songs are pretty good (wish there was a bit better selection but it isn't too bad). My son seems to be pretty comfortable in the seat, and it does seem to have a better shape/more cushion than other models we tested out. There are a few cons of this swing: 1-you cannot lock it in place, which makes it a little difficult to put baby in and take baby out. 2-the swing shuts off after 1 hour. Sometimes if my son has fallen asleep in the swing it will wake him up when the swing suddenly stops swinging so we have to time it out to start it up again. 3-it needs handles of sorts at the top to move it with. It is portable and folds up nice, but that would just be more convenient. I actually didn't see these on any portable swing, I just think this is my own personal gripe so I would not rate the swing lower because of this. Overall we are very happy with this purchase.

We bought this swing because our second baby likes to be rocked a lot and we couldn't rock her beyond a point. We chose this one after looking at several swings simply because of its portability and the fact that it was from Bright Starts. I also liked the fact that if the battery did run out and I didn't have replacements, I could swing it with my hands or foot. Pretty useful when you're trying to work on a computer for instance.

Although the swing does what it says, there are a few problems - and you should consider them before buying this swing.

1. When we took out the unassembled piece from the box, there were two crucial screws missing from the assembly materials. We either had the option of boxing it all up, returning it, and waiting for a week or more with a newborn for the new swing, or simply improvising. We chose to improvise and put in our own screws which seemed to fit. Although the swing was fine, it was very annoying that Bright Starts didn't bother to check whether all the assembly materials were in there.

2. As some other reviewers have mentioned, the dials are binary. The music can turn either on or off, no volume button. Similarly, the swinging strength is the same regardless of which level you put it on, especially after the batteries get a few days old (although the batteries are nowhere near over).

3. The TOY BAR! Amazingly, my worst experience with this swing is the toy bar! For starters, it is extremely heavy and has a metal frame. It's dangerous for the baby because it can come out quite easily if it doesn't sit in the grooves properly. I am very scared of even putting the toy bar in once my daughter is in the swing because if it slips from my hands, it can hit her on the head! Secondly, the toy bar has two rather dull looking toys, which is fine for a newborn. But at 4 months, my daughter is bored with these dull toys, and yet, there is no way to add/tie any toys to the toy bar. It's such an odd shaped bar that no standard dangling toys fit. I've tried to improvise with a few things, but they come undone, posing a hazard for the baby lest they destabilize the toybar and it falls on her.

Overall - I'd say that it's a product that gets the job done, but is very basic and has two major flaws - the toy bar and the controls. Frankly, I wouldn't buy this again if I had to, and I wouldn't gift it to a friend either.

When this swing swings forward it is practically upside down! My baby kicked herself out when it swung forward! She was about two months old when she did this. The clip did not hold her in!

DO NOT WALK OUT OF THE ROOM FOR EVEN A SECOND WHEN YOUR BABY IS IN THIS SWING! YOUR baby might break their neck!

Also the upright position is sooo upright (straight up and down) that my baby falls forward. She can't sit up on her own so I don't know what the makers of Bright Starts were thinking (this position is unusable)! If she could sit up it looks extremely uncomfortable.

I DO NOT recommend this swing!

I agree with some of the poor reviews on this swing.
Yes, it's compact, BUT:
*it's too low to the ground
*the music is too loud or too soft
*there is absolutely no support - the baby scrunches forward
*the pillow provided for head support is absolutely useless
*it shuts off after an hour - baby wakes up
*worst of all, the upright position is a huge safety hazard - the straps can't keep the baby in and babies are FALLING OUT OF THIS SWING with the straps buckled.
I expect to see a recall.

My son was born 7 weeks early the day after my baby shower. As a shower gift I was given a full size baby swing and I couldn't wait to use it once the baby was big enough. I of course did now know that I was going to have my son the next night and that he was going to be 4lbs 3 oz. So of course when we bought him home 3 weeks later at a little over 5 lbs we needed a swing that he could fit in so I did my research and read great reviews about this swing. I purchased it and I am so glad I did. We had to purchase a head/body support insert for it just because he was so small but with that in the swing he looks so nice and cozy and falls asleep within minutes of turning the swing on and he loves the music. The speed settings are good - we usually keep it on 2 or 3 right now (and he is 3 months old now almost 11 lbs) it does have a timer for the swing but we rarely use it and just let it go until it turns off on its own. Th attached toy bar with the plush animals is very cute and the color is neutral for boy or girl.
I would recommend this swing. It closes up easily making it compact and easy to travel with as well.
2 things to keep in mind:
The music turns off rather quickly and we have to keep going back and turning it back on every time.
And it does have a recline position and you can sit it upright but be sure to strap baby in every time since it does sit so upright baby can squirm and slide right out.
Overall it is a great swing.

When the swing is in the reclined position, my newborn son slept peacefully and safely. Once he was about 2 months old however, this position ceased to be amusing. So I put the swing in the upright position, and the baby hangs so far forward against the straps it is ridiculous. Any further and he would be completely upside down looking at the floor. In my view, there is only one position that this swing can be in and it is fully back. Spend the money and get a swing that will last through more stages.