Customer Reviews

Fisher-Price Power-Plus Plug-In Swing - Best Friends

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

We received this swing as a gift for our twins and two years later it's still in great condition and the best swing I've encountered. I was a bit surprised by the complaints in the other reviews - as far as the speeds go, it's not any different than the other dozens of swings I've had experience with (Day care, church nurseries). If you drape a blanket over a swing, it's probably going to slow down! I have the model before this, but I've loved it.

1. I liked the "blah" colors - ours is the "jungle" theme - tan and burgundy. It blended with our other living room colors instead of the obnoxiously loud typical baby colors.

2. Love, love that it plugs in. The songs are a nice variety from "Simple Gifts/Lord of the Dance" to "Twinkle, twinkle".

3. Fabric has held up to multiple yucky accidents and washings - hasn't faded, no pillage at all. The mesh pockets on the side are nice for holding toys.

4. The tray I didn't use for the first 6 months, just buckled them in but it was very handy afterwards for their snacks, cup, etc. I used a head support pillow (average ones you buy at the store) for the first few months and that worked excellently.

5. One of the things I love the most about it is that it's taller than most swings sold nowadays. My twins at 33 inches still fit comfortably in it without their feet dragging!

All in all, I've loved this swing and it's in great condition (despite the typical toddler boy abuse) for the next baby 3 years later. My kids have loved it, but I've also babysat infants who didn't like it- babies have preferences! Other types of swings have their benefits (cradle types, portables, etc) but this is a great swing that can grow with baby over the first year - or longer.

I bought this because of the plug-in feature. I have the Graco Lovin Hug Easy Entry Open Top/Curved Frame Swing that I like much better. This Fisher Price swing is very slow even on the highest setting and if a blanket falls and touches the ground, it stops the swing completely! It also has a post between the baby's legs and it doesn't recline very far, so it isn't great for having the baby nap in. The seat itself is not very large - my two month old's legs are already sticking off of it. It was only $80 here, so I didn't waste my money, but if Graco made a plug-in swing, I would surely get that instead. I have an older Fisher Price swing with similar styling and I like the Graco much better than both of them!

Unlike some of the other reviewers, we haven't had any problems with this swing at all; in fact, it has worked very well. I love that it plugs in, and I actually chose it for the "drab" colors, as ours sits in the living room and not the nursery. It's a bit classier looking than its garish primary-colored cousins. One reviewer mentioned that the tray gets in the way, but it snaps off and on very easily. The mobile swings back out of the way, as well, so it's very easy to get baby in and out.

There are two things I would probably change about this swing, but neither is a major concern for us. First, there isn't a noticeable difference among the six speeds, at least not on ours. The one speed it has, though, is perfect for calming our baby, so I really can't complain. Secondly, the music really grates on my nerves. The sound of it is cheap and cheesey, and even on the lower volume setting it seems much too loud for being as close to the baby's head as it is. But the music can be turned off, so again, this doesn't prevent us from enjoying the swing.

All in all, I would recommend this product, especially if you prefer simple and understated baby gear. Our 2-month-old loves it.

My daughter is 2 mo old and I've been putting her in this swing for about a month now, I put a rolled up blanket on one side of her head to keep her from rolling her head. She loves this swing. The music continuously plays on a soft or louder setting. She likes the louder of the two and she stares at the music box. Now that she is looking at more things she likes looking at the mobile and of course the lights in the room. I like this swing because it keeps her occupied and I'm able to pick up around the house. I also like the fact that this is a swing that is electric (no more huge battery supply) or battery operated (when your somewhere w/out electricity). I look forward to Fisher Price putting out another electric swing, this time it would be nice if they did it in a cradle swing version. I recommend this swing to anyone!

I also bought this swing for the plug in feature, which was helpful, but not much. My son did not like his swing at all and once I used my sister's papasan swing, he would go right to sleep a lot of the time. The seat is hard plastic with little padding, so maybe a blanket would help, but my son didn't fall for that either. I didn't have a problem with the swing stopping if a blanket fell out or it being too slow (how fast do you need it to go?), so my only real issue was the hardness of the swing. You may also want to add your own mobile interests as the ones on the swing aren't very captivating!

We were so excited to find a swing that actually plugs in so that we could save a lot of money not buying batteries. It was super cute, and my son LOVED swinging in it. However, the first disappointment was that even though there were supposed to be 6 different speeds, there was very little difference in each one. I have read the reviews that some found the high speed way too fast, but we found that even on high, the swing didn't move that much. The second disappointment was that after only a couple of months, the swing just stopped altogether. Fisher Price sent us 2 different motors (all free of charge--kudos to their customer service), but we had the same problem every time. The swing would just get slower and slower until it would completely stop. At this point, my son weighed 14 pounds, and it seemed that he was just too heavy for the swing to move him. However, the weight limit on the swing said 25 pounds, so it should have worked just fine. We ended up sending the swing back to Fisher Price and they sent us a full refund. I hope they can improve on these flaws by the time we have our next baby, because a plug-in swing is such an ideal invention.

Having the option to plug in the AC power cord is a great option. So many devices take batteries, it's expensive and bad for the environment. The AC also charges an internal rechargeable battery so you have the option of running the unit on DC if not near a power source. Lacks the option to recline seat and no head support for wobbly new born heads. Rolling up blankets and placing on each side of the head aids in support and having the child sit on a blanket keeps him higher so that his head stays back and his chin does not end up in his chest. Improvement needed here from Fisher. Nice option that mobile animals swing out of the way when entering and exiting the child, would be nice if mobile would go a little lower, small children are oblivious that it's there.

We purchased this in Aug 08 and it has held up well over the last three months.

First read the directions prior to assembly.

What we love:

Plug-in operation! This has saved so much in batteries it's not even funny.

Fabric durability! Had a few accidents on the way and washed it few times, stitching holds up well and no shrinking.

Motor durability! We run this about an hour a day on average, however when our child was sick we plugged it in next to the bed and ran it all night twice without issue.

What could be done better:

Although this swing is not any bigger than others we have had in the past, a simple design modification at the joints could allow this swing to fold up and store better. Our home is rather small and every bit of space counts.

Recline could use some work.

Edit 12-26-2009:
Our son is now way to big for this (24 lbs) so we have placed it in the basement a while back. It worked as well as I expected though and the plug in option saved so much in battery costs. I did notice after constant use the motor did appear to loose some strength. This was either due to my son growing up and gaining weight or wear and tear. We had to give him a harder push to the swing going, if something like a blanket got between the support bars and the swing it would stop.
The "What could be done better" I posted before still stands! It is a pain to store out of the way unless you have a spare room. The recline feature appears like a cheap afterthought.

Overall we liked this product and would buy it again if the need presented itself.

i bought this because it was a good price on amazon and also because it uses an adaptor and i wanted to save on batteries. plus it is supposed to be used with babies up to 30 pounds. the fact that it had a plug was number one. well i am disapointed because it has six speeds and it hardly moves. it swings back and forth very little and somewhat fast rather than like a wonderful battery powered swing i had years ago that had six speeds and and you could see the difference in each speed, even with heavier babies. its like it swung slower but higher like a real swing. this swing has no power in the swing, its a weak little back and forth like motion...
six speeds? what a joke.
and it doesnt recline enough for a newborn or young baby. also the colors of the little animals hanging overhead is quite boring. however looking at a lot of the swings...most of them have very little strength in the swing. meaning its just a little sad back and forth movement that is on the fast side....not a slow controlled back forth movement with a good sized distace from back and forth position.

big disapointment. they need to work on this one and then they will have a winner.

I just recieved this swing a couple of days ago for my 3mo. old daughter, we had been using the fisher price papsan cradle swing but were having to put new batteries in it every week. I loved the whole plug in concept and it turned out great my daughter LOVES to swing if she is unhappy it pretty much instanely makes her happy so it only seemed fitting buy this plug in swing, I would definitley recommend it.