Customer Reviews

EvenFlo SmartSteps Exersaucer Entertainer

5 star:		(159)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I bought this exersaucer when my daughter was 3 months old and had enough head control for an upright toy. We already had a jumperoo that I had received as a gift, and since she really enjoyed playing in that, I thought an exersaucer (with so many more toys than the jumperoo) would be even more fun. I also felt that the exersaucer would be a bit easier for her to use at first since at its lowest setting it's lower than the jumperoo and therefore better for slightly smaller children.

At first, the sheer number of toys was extremely overwhelming to my daughter. She would only stay in the exersaucer for a minute or two before she started to cry. We kept putting her in for a minute or two every day, and she quickly worked up to sitting in it for five minutes or more.

At this age, she's still not doing much deliberate playing with the toys. However, the design of the exersaucer and its toys allows her to make a lot of things happen even without really trying. By facing her towards the interactive book, she manages to trigger the lights and sounds just with her random batting at what's in front of her. By facing her in the opposite direction, towards the hanging toys, she can easily spin the "kaleidoscope" wheel by herself, and with a little help she can pull the hanging toys to trigger lights and music. As she continues to grow and develop more dexterity, she will be able to use each of the toys even more fully.

One of my favorite features of this exersaucer, though, is the ability to swap in and out different toys in addition to those that originally came with the SmartSteps. Three of the included toys (the cell phone, teddy bear and turtle) have interchangeable bases that work with a number of replacement toys. Each replacement toy (purchased separately) is marked with what kind of educational development it's supposed to encourage, and they cost a very reasonable $3-$8 (approx.) each. So, for a few dollars extra, you can buy some additional toys to focus on different developmental goals as your child grows and give your child even more to do on this exersaucer.

As for assembly and storage, the exersaucer has a slightly smaller footprint than the jumperoo or the aquarium cradle swing, and I've found it much easier to move from room to room than either the jumperoo or cradle swing. It also easily collapses into a relatively flat circle, which makes it good to pop in the car and take along as a portable entertainer. Assembly was easy except for installing the lower (green) legs into the yellow base. The instructions say to snap all three green tabs into the yellow base. What the instructions don't say is that if you don't do it in the right order, it's virtually impossible. When you look at the tabs, you'll see that two are identical to one another and the third looks slightly different. Snap the different-looking tab in first, and then snap the other two in - it makes the whole process go much more smoothly.

Overall, I highly recommend this exersaucer. Yes, it costs a few dollars more than the next most expensive brand, but for the tremendous amount of stuff included in it, it really is a bargain.

I highly recommend this exersaucer. My daughter is 6 months old and she loved it the minute we put her inside. We bought this model because it looked like it would provide many stimulating activities for the baby to do; much more than the other brands and models. I was a bit hesitant to buy it at first because it is a little pricey, but I have learned the hard way not to cheap-out and this toy is definitely worth a little extra money (priced at $99, it only costs $20-40 more than other models that are not nearly as nice). I was very pleased that all of the tray toys are of high quality. The thick cloth seat seems comfortable for my daughter, and it is removeable for laundering. The toys are removable and can be moved around to different places on the tray to give baby a change of scenery. There are butterflies on the leg tops that spin when my daughter shifts her weight...she loves to grab at them. This toy has been a hit with her, and we have not even installed batteries yet to use the musical/educational activities!!!
I have not looked around, but I am hoping that there are interchangeable parts available for this toy so that I can change the activities every week or so. So if you are a designer for this toy, PLEASE listen and make more tray toys! They will definitely sell!
My daughter will be using this play station for a long time...there are several height adjustments and she is using the lowest setting at 6 months (she's 25-26 inches tall).
I have not tried to collapse this toy yet, but apparently you can fold it up for storage or travel.

I wanted to get the best exersaucer for my son, so I researched them for a week---- I spent hours on the computer trying to find one that was educational, fun and safe. I thought that this was it. Unfortunately, it had great reviews, and it was one of the most expensive which I mistook to mean "quality." First of all, it was a pain to put together. But once it was done, I thought it was worth it. Then, there are butterflies that attach to the springs, which of course a child is going to grab and play with. So the butterflies bent, and then the springs got stuck and the exersaucer could no longer bounce. So my husband had to break the butterflies off-- and even then, we thought "it's minor" and I still wasn't too upset. But then this morning, my son was playing in it, and I noticed he had something all over his cheeks. I went to look closer, and realized the stickers that are on the "book" had shredded from getting wet from him putting it in his mouth. I was outraged. I mean, why would they put stickers on things when they know that babies put everything in their mouth? Hopefully the glue that was on the stickers wasn't toxic! But even so, you don't want your child ingesting paper!! And as other people have said, the cell phone holder is very dangerous, as were the butterflies before we took them off-- all have potential to poke your child in the eye. I am very disappointed with Evenflo-- they did not have a child's best interest in mind when they made this, it seems they are just looking to make money at our children's expense. I tried to go to the evenflo webpage, but it hasn't connected for the past 2 hours. Hopefully I can get some kind of refund on this, otherwise I just threw away $100. Definitely do not buy this product!

*UPDATE* After talking to Evenflo, they will only give me "replacement" parts for up to 90 days.... which really isn't what I wanted. The new parts are going to be the same as the old parts, which aren't safe. It's a shame-- I will not be buying any more products from Evenflo, and I will make sure all of my friends and family spread the word as well.

I usually don't write any review but want to warn any parent or gift giver to think about twice before getting this exersaucer. I got this saucer for my son when he was 5 months old. We bought it from the babiesrus store. We looked at all the exersaucers and walkers they carried in the store, and decided to get this one because we thought that it has a lot of activities to entertain the baby despite it's the most expensive model. It was a great saucer in the beginning until one day we found that there was purple dye all over my baby's clothes, hands and mouth! You know how babies put everything they found into their mouths. My son put the rattling flower which is one of the attached toys into his mouth and the purple dye came from the purple and blue cloth petals around the rattle! I immediately tried to remove the rattle from the saucer but found that it's attached to the eletronic book. If I have to remove the rattle, I have to remove the eletronic book at the same time which is my son's favorite! So I cut the cloth string that attached to the rattle. I would return this saucer if I could at that point, but there were too many toys to be taken apart which all came in plastic wrappers before it was assembled. I thought that we could sacrifice one toy since there are many other activities on it. My son soon grew out of interest within 3 months. He refused and cried when we put him in it. It has been sitting in our living room unused for another 3 months when I finally decided to put it away. Although it features that it can be folded for easy carrying, I found out that the 3 butterfly springs can't be taken apart after they got snapped into the saucer. Now the saucer can't fit into the original box with the 3 butterflies sticking out. I put the saucer on the side in a standing position after it's being folded While I was trying to get a big trash bag to put it in for storage. The saucer fell and broke one of the butterflies off and leaving a stick with sharp edge. I had seen my son poked the back of his head by the butterflies when he bent back his body. Now it is even more hazardous to let any baby sit in it with a sharp edge on the stick. What was the manufacturer thinking when they designed this? If the butterflies can't be taken apart and the saucer won't fit in the original box after assembled, you'll have to put it flat on the floor when storage, since it could fall and break the butterflies off easily! Unfortunately, it's too bulky to put it flat in our house. I'm very surprise of all the good reviews it received. I would never get it if I knew about it. This saucer has very poor design and safety issues to be addressed. So think twice before getting it because you can't return it after it's assembled unless the store will take it back without the original box!!!!!

The Good
1. My 5 1/2 month son loves it. He just moves around to each toy.
2. You can add new toys in place of toys that have lost their appeal.
3. It is height adjustable
4. You can fold it up when taking it places.
5. It has tons of sounds, and music.
6. One of very few that has an arch that hangs over babies head that has toys hanging down. Our son loves swatting at them, and each toy when pulled on makes a different sound or plays a different song.
7. There are different modes you can select from so that baby doesn't get board with the toys or functions. Such as music when buttons are pushed, or you can change it to sounds.
8. Has tons of learning everywhere. Letters, numbers, words, colors, sounds, and teaches babies consequences (such as you push a button and a toy pops out).
9. Great colors.
10. Easy to clean seat and toys. The learning pad can be removed to clean underneath and can be removed and attached other places like the tray of a stroller.
11. Our son, his four month old cousin, and 12 month old cousin love it. All three are in it daily and there are no complaints from them, although the year old is learning to walk and he is starting to complain when he is confined whether it is in the saucer or in a lap.

The Bad
1. A pain to put together. I am mechanically inclined and I had a hard time getting this one together.
2. There are two toys attached to the learning pad that cannot be removed to clean, I use a damp warm rag to clean them when they are dirty.

As far as dyes coming off I have not had that problem. My son chews on everything, and there is not a toy that has not been sucked on repeatedly for long periods of time.

OK, yes the batteries run low quickly, giving you some funky sounds, but get used to that--when your baby gets older you will wish you had bought stock in Duracell!

I was skeptical about spending this much money, but he really does play for long periods of time with just about everything on this entertainer. I can get laundry done sitting next to him now!

The toy bar has three shapes and when pulled, names the shape, color, and some words of praise. (To the pp, it goes, "Circle, yellow, Yippee!") The apple makes cute noises and says "peekaboo!" My son loves the butterflies, turtle, puppy and flower to chew on.

The only part he really does not use is the cell phone, which often falls out of his reach. I am excited about being able to buy more toys to trade off with the ones on the saucer, and also folding it up to bring to grandma's house.

Yes, it is worth it for the 20-30 minutes of hands-free time I get at a stretch during the day. Plus he seems to really enjoy his play time and newfound independence.

Purchased this Exersaucer for 4 days, it was really entertaining for my 6 monthes old son and he loves it. But we found all his clothes that he wore spending time in the saucer has some pink stains around the same area. I have a baby that puts everything in his mouth. By testing the toys on the excersaucer with a wet paper towel, we found out there was this flower with purple and blue petals that makes my paper towel all pink with its purple petal. I will contact evenflo tomorrow since it might be a health hazard for the baby.

I was excited to buy an exersaucer for our very active 3 1/2 month old son. We thought we'd give it a try even though it is for 4+ months. He needs a blanket around him so he's not too tippy but other than that it's perfect for him. He loves the freedom he has to kick his legs which just touch the bottom on the lowest setting. All the toys are within his reach and he's learning to grasp them and bring them to his mouth. He loves how the little critters on the arch dance when he wiggles the saucer.
My husband had the ExerSaucer put together in no time, said it was easy to assemble. All the toys are in securely, but it is easy to pop them out when I am playing with my boy in my lap, or to clean them off. This toy folds and has a handle to carry it so it's easy to store, or take along to Grandma's.
There are just the right amount of toys on it; not too many, or too few like I have seen on other saucers. Our son is even entertained with the shapes and letters on the seat material. It's worth the money, and hopefully we will be using it for a long time since it "grows" with the baby with the different height levels.

My almost 4 month old was quickly bored with stuffed animals and rattles. She has very strong legs and always wants to stand with support. She can almost sit on her own, but still falls over occasionally. With this in mind, it was difficult to find things to keep her entertained. She was over the play gym thing. We went looking for a stationary entertainer and knew we just had to get her this one. It was the most expensive on the shelf, but she will only be little once. The benefits are worth far more than the cost. We could stick her in it for hours (NOT THAT WE WOULD LOL!), and she would be happy. The first 5 minutes she is in it, she just stares at everything there is to do in amazement. Then she goes crazy! It gives her the option to touch her feet down, but still gives her the support to sit up on her own. We are usually fans of Graco or Fisher Price, but Evenflo definitely has the upper hand when it comes to entertainers. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!

I was so excited about this toy, and my son really loves it. He has been enjoying it since he was 3 months old and is now 7 months old. It continues to entertain him, and helps me to have him contained for a short while. I think this one has a lot more toys to play with on it than some of the others, and the toys all bring something different to the table... but, here is my complaint: not only do the wings on the bug bleed (the dye comes off), but the entire bar does and some of it's toys. I have been talking to Evenflo for 4 months. They have sent me replacements, but they have the same problem. Now, when I call, they give me the same stock answer, "we are having our engineers look into it". It's a real disappointment to spend any amount of money, let alone $100, and not be able to utilize all of the toys. Needless to say, I've lost hope that they will ever do anything about it. I'm still puzzled how something as basic as the dye bleeding gets past them -don't they have quality control?