Customer Reviews

Graco Sweet Peace Soother Swing, Cuddly Bear

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have owned and used the Sweetpeace for a little over three months now, waiting to write a review until I got to know it well.

I have a ten-year-old son. When I entered the market for baby products once again in 2008, I was amazed at how much more complicated things were. When a simple, battery powered open-top swing was the best you could get in 1998, a "Soothing Center" that promised everything next to changing the baby's diaper was on the market now! I was cynical about it all, but must admit that many of the features on this product claimed to make improvements to issues that I remembered learning by trial and error with baby #1 could use improvement. I decided to try it out as the one big nicety of my baby gear shopping.

First of all, the pros:

~ To address other reviews, I hear no difference between the motor noise on this and what I remember my battery powered Graco open-top swing sounding like. If it uses electricity, it will make some type of sound. Perhaps varying factors could affect this, I don't know, but mine is almost silent.

~ I find the music/white noise sounds to be wonderful; rich in sound with decent variation in selection. Someone mentioned as a con to this product that "Flight of the Bumblebee" (one of the song choices) was not a soothing song. It isn't supposed to be; despite the name of the product, not everything on it is there to lull a baby. There are two music buttons. One has slow, soothing music. The other plays upbeat, fun songs which one would use at a non-sleeping time (unless your kid can sleep through anything, like mine thus far).

~ Some have mentioned the volume being only a choice between loud and louder. I disagree! The lowest setting is hard for me to hear it on (and yes, even when my ten-year-old is away at school)! The loud is LOUD, though. Probably too loud for baby when IN the seat. But I've played baby's music for her while we play, and MY music through it while I clean. The sound is clear and rich...almost Bose worthy.

~ The white noise button has fantastic detail. For example, the mother's heartbeat choice not only has a heartbeat, but also the 'swishing' noise of the liquid activity the baby would have probably heard in the womb, as well. I own a few things that mimic my heartbeat for baby, but that is a first.

~ On a last note regarding sound, you are not limited to an I-pod if you want to plug-in to play your own MP3s, either; anything that uses a 3.5mm plug works. I've used my Rio MP3 player an even my laptop. Nice touch in a world where it's getting all too rare to find a product that gives more than a designated I-Pod docking station.

~ The control pad, by the way, is great. Intuitive buttons, backlit with a non-intrusive blue light. When you turn the swing/sounds off, it remembers your setting next time (i.e., if you had the speed set on four, four will be what it defaults to when you press the on button next time).

~ As others have stated, the Sweetpeace plugs in to the wall. That right there sold me, as batteries for my old open-top swing practically sent me to the poor house ten years ago. Unfortunately, the vibration on the seat still uses a D battery. However, that is necessary as the seat comes off to use other places and allow for a Graco Infant Carrier to be placed for use on the swing.

~ Being able to make the seat face backward, foward, right or left as well as in three different recline positions brings MUCH variety for baby. Just when mine seems to get sick of one view/movement, a new position of the chair makes it like a whole new swing. Sanity saver.

Now, though few, I count these as cons:

~ Some of the selling points for this product are gimmicky, in my opinion. Their idea of you sleeping with the swaddling blanket to give it your smell for baby is a sweet one. But my smell is already on much stuff she's near often, namely ME. The swaddle blanket was too cumbersome and small for use with my baby, anyhow...and she is small-ish as babies go...in the 30th percentile in baby size for her age (seven pounds at birth). The teddy bear looking head support (though adorable) was too big for my newborn's head and kind of got in the way. We took it out and used two tightly rolled security blankets on each side of her body to support her instead. I recently gave the head support another chance now that she's bigger. Now it places her neck/head in an uncomfortabe position.

~ It isn't easy to move around the room like I did with the old swing. I have a small living room with lots of furniture to maneuver around, so that tends to be an issue for me. If you are tight on space and need to move the swing to another location in the room in order to store/use it, take that into consideration. It feels very sturdy though, which puts one's mind at ease.

~ The other bother is the lame attempt at activity toys for baby. Mine is only three months old and is already bored. The toy bar consists of a mirror with a rattle that can't be held, and a teether that can't be chilled and will probably still be way too fat for my baby's mouth in six months. Oh, and a third spot that looks like it should have a toy, but which actually has/does nothing. I usually just remove the toy bar all together (maybe that will change when she is older). However, when you remember that this is not an Exersaucer--it's a swing--that drawback is a small one.

This swing is not perfect, but comes very close to it. I was hesitant to buy it, but am very glad I took a chance.

We went to the store looking for a baby swing and happened upon this instead. My husband didn't want to purchase it because of the price (it is a little expensive). I was able to talk him into it and he later apologized because it is so great! It was very easy to assemble, it has a cord so it doesn't burn through lots of batteries (it will operate on batteries if you are not near an outlet), and the seat is cute, comfy and functional. I think the best feature is that you can remove the seat it comes with and use your Graco SnugRide car seat instead. (it also accepts the Graco Infant SafeSeat) My daughter is actually sleeping in her car seat in the sweetpeace right now! It is a lifesaver when you get home and baby is sleeping in the car and wakes when you stop moving. This keeps her sleeping or lulls her back to sleep without having to take her out of the carrier.
It does make a rhythmic sound as it swings, like a swing would. I think this actually helps keep baby sleeping. The ipod hook-up is cool, not sure how much we'll use it, and the parental lock button is handy with a helpful 2 year old around.
Highly recommended!!

3 months in now and I have some observations. The reviews here are reasonably accurate. It is a bit overpriced. But it is well made.

Yes, the motor makes some noise. But it's a rhythmic noise and doesn't bother us or, more importantly, the baby. It's a 'get used to it' sort of thing. The mechanism seems smartly designed as it allows the seat to get stopped while the motor is still running. That is, you want to move the baby around but forgot to turn it off. It doesn't get bound up or break when you stop it swing.

So far I can't imagine using any of the faster speeds. Geez, it's practically be an amusement park ride at anything faster than the 2 speed. Unless you're training a tiny astronaut (or WANT the kid to upchuck) I can't see using the faster settings.

The lap bar is boring, there's "not enough" for the kid to do with it to bother with it. The bar does work and contrary to another reviewer, I have found it stays up when only one side is released. It's easy to remove it entirely.

The hood is a nice feature, we use it. But the single dangling toy is lame. For this much money it ought to be better.

The swaddle blanket thingy is likewise lame, skip it entirely. So are the seat belt straps. I'm sure some lawyer said they have to be there but they're useless and end up being uncomfortable underneath the baby.

It would be nice for a newborn if it could recline a bit further. We had to rig up a towel or two to get our baby positioned properly. Otherwise he tended to curl over. The padded head rest wasn't effective since the seat position was too upright (and this was on the lowest position).

The music selections are not soothing. Not at all. Our boy HATES all of them. Turn on any of them and he immediately reacts with displeasure. The only sound he'll put up with out of it is the Womb Sounds option. He likes other music from other devices (and a zune mp3 player we use with it). He just does not like the ones built-into the sweet peace.

The seat vibrate option is nice and our baby likes it. But the position of the switch for it could be better. It's right on the front edge of the seat. The position makes it too easy to accidentally turn it on when you walk by it. As in, you've got your hands full dealing with the baby, and you're trying to leave and accidentally hit the switch. You come home hours later only to find the seat has been running the whole time and now needs YET ANOTHER battery. It would help if they moved this switch to the side a bit.

My biggest complaint is the power connector. It's a cheap barrel connector placed TOO LOW to the floor. Low enough that when you try to move the unit the power connector gets broken. The socket snaps off and disappears inside the unit. Fortunately I'm handy and could crack it open (THAT was a pain in the butt). I chose to connect the power cord permanently inside the unit. Now at least the power connector won't snap off again. The current design stinks and needs improvement.

What do we like? Well, the seat is removable. This is a big plus. The seat itself has a curved base so it can double as a seat on the floor. We take the seat out, put it on the floor next to us in the morning and can rock it gently with our feet. Likewise we can put our Britax infant car carrier in the base. This is nice for when we've driven somewhere and want to let him sleep just a little longer.

So, would we buy it again knowing all this? Probably yes. I'd feel better if it was around the $100 mark and they improved the power connector and vibrate switch. But all in all it's been a decent purchase.

The person who reviewed the Sweatpeace and said that it's too loud must have supersonic hearing or absolutely no experience being around infants and all the noises you get used to as a parent. Our Sweatpeace isn't any louder than any other baby swing I've heard. When there is any background noise at all you will not notice the motor noise, such as when you use the audio features of the Sweatpeace..

Anyway, this was the best $100-something bucks we have spent since our daughter was born. During the day she likes the wide-swinging position, at night the opposite where her head doesn't swing at much. Along with the multiple white noise options the swing position options are key.

Get the Sweatpeace if you want the best baby swing out there. Everyone else will be jealous, even the adults without kids.

This swing really does all that it offers. You'll save on buying a bouncer since this is included. As for the noise, it does make a slight sound, but not as loud as the previous reviews made it out to be. I tried the other swings before ordering this one since I heard about the noise, and they all either make some type of clicking/moving sound due to the movement. If your sweet peace is really that loud, then you may consider returning it. On the down side, it is a bit expensive for a swing, but then there are those other extra options you pay for.

I read many reviews on every site I could find before ordering this swing and overall I am happy with it. My son is 7 weeks old and we have been using it since the day we brought him home. First of all it is very easy to assemble even when you are 9 months pregnant. Colors are neutral and go well with almost everything. The soft plush cover sits directly on the hard plastic seat so I felt it was lacking padding. I am paranoid about my child having a flat head so I added some foam from a craft store. I love that it plugs into an outlet so no need for batteries. I did notice that when I first tried my swing before my son was born that it stalled when set on 2 and the motor croaked and seemed loud for what I expected. I had read about this online and called Graco. The woman I spoke to was very nice and ordered a new motor for me free of charge. She informed me that the next shipment they had would be in 6 weeks. It took about 2 months to get the new motor and it is whisper quiet compared to the original motor. We used the swing with the original croaking motor until the new one arrived and it worked fine on any setting higher than 2. My son loves the swing and it takes up less space than the old swing we had. I also like that we can put our carseat on the swing base and when not using our carseat it fits under the swing perfectly. I gave it 4 stars for lack of padding and the fact that we had to get a new motor.

This is an amazing product! It does all that it describes and more. the noise that others have whined about it pretty normal for an electronic item. They should have used a wind-up swing back in my day. I couldn't wait to get this for my granddaughter. It is soothing and comfortable for her. The music and other sounds is high quality. the seat is plush and large...easy to remove and adjust. Every detail has been so carefully thought out to give the baby a peaceful experience. I wish they made one large enough for ole granny. Thanks Graco!!

We just received our SweetPeace yesterday. We were very excited to receive it because we have had it on pre-order for several months now. Last night we read the reviews on it to see what others thought. After reading the first two reviews, we worried about ours and decided to assemble the unit.

We turned it on and tried out the many functions and were absolutely delighted. It does everything that we anticipated. I am amazed at how the unit replicates the various swaying motions and sounds that we used with our daughter three years ago. We can even plug in a MP3 player with our own music selection.

The motor does make a soft soothing rhythmic sound. We anticipate that this will be the perfect soft white noise needed to soothe baby. It is no louder than the other motorized swings that we have used.

The Sweetpeace will serve us well and be worth every penny. Can't wait to put the baby in it; but will have to wait. The baby is still in utero. I can review it again after the baby is here.

12 weeks Later:

I am back after using the Sweetpeace for about 12 weeks. (I am updating my original post, as I said I would do). I still love it and would keep my original 5 stars. We have found the settings that my son finds most soothing. Forward facing at about a speed of four. I love being able to connect my MP3 player with lullabies. It is also wonderful to have the wide variety of other music that we can listen to including the womb and nature sounds. He has grown out of the swaddler now and hasn't quiet grown into the activity bar. He occasionally likes to see the mirror. The toys and teether will become more useful with time. This has been one of the best purchases that we have made for our children.

Graco Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center

We purchased our swing after returning the Fisher Price Papasan Cradle swing. The Graco swing was an instant success with our 1 month old daughter. The swing has one main feature that is better than any other swing out there: the variations in speed. I found with the other swings that even though there is a knob for different speed settings, the speed was always the same no matter how high you turned it. The Graco Sweetpeace has 6 different speed settings and you can actually see the difference in each setting. My daughter actually prefers a very fast setting.

Another great feature is that it plugs into an electrical outlet. Most other swings run on batteries and you have to change "D" batteries frequently.

Also, I read a review where one couple heard "croaking noises" when they put the swing together and also heard the noise at the store on a floor model. When you put the baby in the swing, there is no noise coming from the swing. The weight of the baby balances out the swing. I do not think the swing makes any more noise than other swings nor is it any louder than other swings. My Fisher Price swing "whistled" as it moved from side to side.

I used the popular Fisher Price model for a few weeks and then I tried this Graco model. I fully recommend the Graco Sweetpeace swing over any Fisher Price or other brand swing.

We started off with a Papasan swing, but have now switched over to the Sweetpeace. We're thrilled with it.

What's great about this system:
* Smaller footprint (height and width), but you have less maneuvering to get the child in and out of the seat. Also you're less likely to trip over the circular foot.
* Attached an old iPod shuffle into the system and we had instant parent-approved music coming from a completely acceptable speaker. (This is good because the tinny stuff that comes with is just as bad as every other swing we've ever seen/heard.) We were actually impressed!
* Canopy for sunny afternoon naps. We sometimes have to put another layer over the top when the sun hits it directly, but the stable roof is already there, hurray.
* They haven't limited you to one direction for swinging (the seat can be placed in any direction) -- you can choose any that fits your room environment and your baby's preference. Nice, especially when you have limited space.
* Baby spends lots of time looking at herself in the mirror, wrapping her hands around the teething ring & string, and staring at the flying bear. It's pretty interactive.
* Do you know of another swing with two speeds of vibrating? Our daughter seems to like the lighter vibration option -- it seems to send her right off to napland.

...and did I mention that the motor noise is almost NONEXISTENT??? Love that...