Customer Reviews

Graco Baby Einstein Discover and Play Entertainer

5 star:		(236)
4 star:		(71)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

We decided that for the holidays we'd make a big toy purchase for our new son, something he could enjoy for a while. It had to educational, fun, safe and worth the money. The Baby Einstein Caterpillar Entertainer is all that. At first we were looking at the ExerSaucer - Ultra and ExerSaucer - Delux, but after much research found that the toys had server major problems including being too high for babies legs, shape toys that could hurt baby, sound toys that could barely be heard and with no replaceable batteries and too many toys/ toys that over stimulated baby. With the Caterpillar, it seems like the developers looked at every problem the Exersaucer had and made sure it wasn't the case with their product. The toys are all baby friendly, the electronic portion comes with an off, hi and low sound option and the batteries are replaceable, there is a puppet connected so older siblings or adults can play along with baby and there isn't so many toys that the baby gets over stimulated or confused. Not to mention the toy doesn't rely on electronics to entertain your child but instead also offers 8 other activities in bright friendly colors that encourages baby to play and learn. The seat is still a little too high for our son, (about 2 inches) but a phone book beneath his feet does the trick. We were so excited about this toy that we couldn't wait for Christmas to give it to him and were glad because he loves it.

This is a lifesaver. I originally purchased the Leap Frog Learning Station which my son absolutely loves, but he is a big boy. At 30 inches and only 7 1/2 months, he has far outgrown the Leap Frog, so we needed something just as fun and educational that would work with his height. Fortunately, this entertainer grows with your child up to 32 inches which still gives him time to play and learn. All of the other enteratiners have a max height of 30 inches =( I highly recommend this product especially if you have an above average child as we do!

BEWARE THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN RECALLED
My baby choked on the plastic coating of the blocks on this toy. The plastic coating came off and she choked on it. It was very scary and she could not breath for some time. If you look up this recall it is only listed as "Soft Tower Blocks" but it is part of this toy. If you already have it, remove the block tower and call Graco for a new one. Throw it away. My baby almost died and I would not want anyone else's to die. Check out http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07176.html for more information.

This morning our 11 month old granddaughter was in the activity center watching TV with my husband right next to her. He noticed that she was choking. To make a long story short, we did the back blows on her back and kept her tilted on her tummy upside down. Waiting for the paramedics to arrive a piece of cellophane finally came out of her mouth and she was okay. After examining the play activity center we were horrified to discover that the piece of cellophane had come off of the 3 stack toy. The cellophane covers the pictures on the toy and our granddaughter had picked the cellophane off and put it in her mouth. We wanted to warn other users of this choking hazard. This toy should be removed from the activity center immediately. We will be contacting Graco, and everyone else that we can think of to get this problem resolved. It makes us sick to think of what a senseless tradgedy could have occured, due the activity center that she enjoyed so much.

My 5 month old daughter loves this play center! She can easily spend an hour or two playing with the many attached toys. If she gets bored with one, she simply spins herself around to another.

Pros:
- Easy to assemble.
- Has a few height settings so it grows with your child.
- Lots of toys to keep your little one entertained.

Cons:
- Needs batteries.
- The play center rests on 3 legs which aren't very durable, so if a larger child pushes down too hard on the center, the legs collapse and won't stay in place. However, I think you could remove them completely and it wouldn't matter much.
- One of the toys on the activity center (the book to be exact) wouldn't fully snap into place during assembly and bulges in the middle a bit. It is staying put, but it has definitely got a manufacturing defect.
- And lastly... if the child spits up or drools (which happens ALL THE TIME), it's hard to clean up the mess because there are so many little crevasses and tight spots on the surface.

Despite these "cons"... I still recommend this toy. They are not major problems and are pretty easy to deal with.

We've been waiting for this to come out for a couple of months now, and we are so excited that we have it now. My daughter will be five months next week and she absolutely loves this! As soon as I put her in it, she found the buttons to make the animal noises and music. They are so easy to push (not like Baby Einstein's crib mirror) and she just goes crazy with them. I looked at some other products that were similar, and they all seemed like they either didn't have enough toys, or that they had too many and it would overwhelm my daughter. This one is just perfect though. The best part is, that while she can't play with everything yet, it will be something that she will love for a long time. This is a must have! Plus it doesn't take up much room.

We bought this for our daughter who is about to turn 4 months old. We brought it home and it was amazingly easy to put together! Within 30 mins our daughter was ready to go. We put her in it and after taking a quick look around in amazement (because no one was holding her) she started squealing and giggling and grabbing the sunshine. After that she started hitting the little buttons with the animals on them and started "dancing" (as much as a 4 month old can) to the music. I would recommend this product to anyone!

I have twins and we have both the Exersaucer Ultra and the Baby Einstein Entertainer (Christmas presents). The Exersaucer took me almost on hour to assemble, while the Baby EIntein took only about half the time to assemble. ALthough at 6 months, my twins do not give us their opinion per say, they seem to really like the toys much better on the Baby Einstein, although the Exersaucer has many more toys. The quality of the toys on the Baby EInstein is far superior to the Exersaucer. They absolutely LOVE the toy with the buttons that plays music, flashes lights and makes animal sounds. The other toys, too are also played with a lot. They still like the exersaucer, but I know if hey could speak, they would say they like the Baby Einsten Entertainment center better.

Addendum - My twins are now 9 months old, so I wanted to give you all an update now that we have used both entertainment centers for the past 4 months. The twins still love both saucers. Both have held up well over time - no damaged toys under heavy use. The Exersaucer Ultra's seat is much easier to remove to wash (and both seats need frequent washing!). The twins do seem to correlate the toys on the Baby Einstein Center with the Baby Einstin videos. Although the toys on the Baby Eintein Entertainment Center are overall superior, the Exersaucer Ultra the twins have found have one major advantage - the Exersaucer BOUNCES!! Both babies go to town bouncing away - I mean like a pogo stick!! They try to bounce the Baby EInstein Center, but it is not nearly as accomadating. It is nice to be fortunate enough to have two saucers so the twins have the variety and advantage of both. Perhaps the Baby Einstein Company will consider this for next generation Center.

I am a first time mom and loved the baby einstein line. This is a great product - sturdy, good-looking, but there are better products out there. I own this one, but my mom bought one for her house that has so many better features. My daughter got bored with these toys FAST. And lets face it, they get dirty. Evenflo has removable and REPLACABLE toys. You can get new ones. And this Baby Einstein one needs the baby to be pretty tall to start using it. Evenflo starts much lower for shorter babies and it lets them jump a little too - something kids love to do. Good product, but better ones out there for less money

I purchased this item when my son was three months old and, although he was a bit too young to play with the toys, he loved to be able to "stand up" and see his surroundings from a new perspective. Now, at barely six months old, he has learned to play with and enjoy all of the toys and loves being in it!

PROS:
1. It seems like a great assortment of toys, and my son likes all of them. He has "visited" other entertainers at friend's houses, and seems to get bored easily. He likes ours the best.
2. It was very easy to assemble and attach the toys.
3. The adjustable height is a must have for any entertainer, and at six months he is at the second level.
CONS:
1.The worst complaint I have is the textured lines on the bottom of the "saucer" area that the baby's feet stand on. The first time my son was in it, the skin on both of his feet actually rubbed and began to bleed a little!! (It seemed as though the way he was standing must have rubbed edges/ and or center area that is a little rough from the way it is manufactured)I was sitting with him, and he didn't cry, so I wasn't aware of it until I took him out! I can't see or feel anything out of the ordinary except the raised lines that are part of the design and some plastic areas in the exact center from the plastic form/mold. Since then, I always keep a blanket under his feet and have not had any other issues with the saucer area.
2. Until recently, he was unable to reach the two animal sound buttons that are on the outer edge. It seems like it would be a better design if that piece was able to rotate so children could easily push all four buttons.
3. The turquoise and yellow star toy is attached by turning it like a key, and it is supposed to "latch" underneath the tray to stay put, but my six month old easily removes it repeatedly. It's not a big concern, since it is a child safe toy of course, but it is supposed to stay on.

This may seem like a lot of "cons" to still get 4 stars, but overall it is a good product, and except for having to use a blanket, the problems are minor.