Customer Reviews

Graco Sweet Slumber Sound Machine, White

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Well I did a lot of research for white noise machines. The short of it is, I even stopped in to Brookstone to hear the $70 white noise machine. It wasn't near as loud as this one. But a few comments on this Graco.

-The noise can sound extremely loud or sometimes more quiet depending on the surroundings. It's loud enough for us, and when you first turn it on (highest volume) it sounds very loud. But after a short time, it sounds normal, or even like we could stand it louder. But it's been good.

-All the features are great, though we don't use many. Only white noise and night light

-There was some loose cheap parts that were making some rattling noises randomly. It was very noticeable and annoying. I put a rubber band around the unit vertically, and we haven't heard them sense. It was just cheap platics parts rubbing.

For the money, we're content with this product. It has it's pros and cons. The white noise is a little too deep for us. But all things considered, it's a very decent product compared to anything else on the market that I researched.

This seemed like the perfect product for my baby's room, combining an MP3 player with white noise and a night light, so I made the purchase. It is well built; the music that is programmed into it is quite nice; and the nature sounds are better than I have heard on other white noise machines. BUT the main reason I bought this machine was to create white noise in my baby's room. Unfortunately, I have returned it because the white noise is just not loud enough to block out normal household sounds. Graco, you almost got it right.

The Graco Sweet Dream Sound Machine is sturdily built easy to use and has more features than I thought possible at this price point. All of the built in sounds are digitally generated and the sound quality is quite good despite it's small speaker size. The womb sounds are really cool and pretty convincing and there are a few different frequencies of white noise to choose from as well as a volume switch. It has a built in LED night light with an independent switch, and it even comes with a few music selections that are reminiscent of an old wind up music box installed on the device. It's mp3 connection is hidden in the swiveling plastic base that seems a bit flimsy compared to the rest of the unit, but it can house a full size iPod if you wish to slip it inside while it is connected. The unit comes with an A/C power adapter or you can use AA batteries if you wish. The outer housing is plastic but the grill area appears to be enamel coated metal, which was a pleasant surprise and makes the unit feel more substantial and sturdy. All of the switches appear to be high quality sealed micro switches and the overall quality is very nice. I am impressed with this unit, and think that the folks at Graco did a fantastic job designing and building this product. It is yet to bee seen if the baby will like it, but I am duly impressed.

In all my years of buying on Amazon, I think this is the first time the reviews have steered me wrong. The Graco Sweet Slumber Sound machine is the biggest P.O.S. I've ever spent so much money on.

My gripes:
- You can't technically call your product a sound machine when it's highest volume setting is about as loud as a whisper. At it's loudest, this machine does not come close to drowning out noise or creating white noise loud enough to convince a baby that it's safe to sleep.
- If you accidentally turn on the nightlight, you can't then turn off the sound or the light without unplugging the whole unit. This was a huge problem when the machine was set-up across the room and plugged in behind the changing table. Because the machine is so quiet, it is now literally under the baby swing and having to unplug it is just annoying but not really that big a deal...other than I shouldn't have to unplug it! Because I don't remember reading anything about this in the reviews, I don't know if this is unique to the one I got.

I regret having purchased this product. I should have gotten the Homedics SS-3000 Soundspa Lullaby, White like the one my son has. That thing has with stood a beating like only a 2.5 year old can unleash and it is still kicking. But that's just my $0.02.

This works well as a white noise machine. We like the white noise and the womb sounds. Most of the other features are so poorly designed that the machine might as well not have them.

Aside from white noise and womb sounds, the other sounds this machine makes are annoying. For all of the nature sounds, the loops are too short. The underwater sounds, for instance, is one "bloop-bloop" sound followed by one whale sound, repeated over and over. The loops need to be quite a bit longer not to drive an adult crazy.

The lullabies are pretty cheesy synth stuff, much like you'd expect, but with a small set of short lullabies making for a pretty short loop that gets old really fast.

The night light is okay, as far as the glow from the top of the machine, but the bright blue LED light that shines out the little holes in the purple part is WAY too bright, and shines even when the night-light feature is off. I have to hide the machine behind a Kleenex box to keep it from shining super-bright blue light dots on my baby's face.

The MP3-player feature is also poorly designed. When I plug my iPod into the machine, the music comes out really distorted. This is because the machine is doing a really bad job of blending the stereo input from my iPod into the mono output that the machine uses. I've been able to circumvent this by gingerly plugging my iPod only halfway in, but this is really annoying, because if I bump it at all, like by touching any of the buttons on my iPod, I have to fuss with the plug for a minute to get it right again.

So basically, the only feature of this machine which I regularly use is the white noise and the womb sounds, and if that's all I wanted, I could have bought a cheaper machine, or just used a CD instead.

I'll start by saying that we have used this machine for the last 2 years for my first son, who by nature has never been a great sleeper. This machine is not a miracle worker, but I do believe it helps him sleep longer because it drowns out other noises and helps him to calm down. It has a very gentle calming white noise similar to that in a doctor's office to keep privacy. The light is also a great feature and the batteries last a long time when used for occasional travel-we have used it for up to three days on vacation using batteries and they are still going strong.

I tried other sound machines for my second son because I was trying to save money, but nothing compares. We tried Homedics soundspa, but the switch was always on the fritz and the sounds were just not as soothing, we tried the dex sound machine but it had feedback so loud it woke my son up and it was not that loud, we also tried the first years sound machine, but the sounds do not seem to me to soothe my 8 month old as well as the graco. I think this machine is plenty loud, there is 8 volume settings, and we use level 4 (this is enough to drown out a baby crying in a townhouse, just to give some perspective).

Overall great product.

We were told to have white noise when our baby first arrived to help him sleep. Most sleep machines only lasted for 45 min before they turned off, but we wanted one that would last all night long. Great machine with both the option to have it run all night or set a timer to turn off automatically. Also, there is a battery option for when we are traveling.

The other bonus on this machine is that beyond the numerous built-in "white-noise" sounds, there is also an MP3 player jack. You can easily use this to listen to lullabies or kids music during the day.

A must have!

My wife and I thought this look like a great idea for our son to help him sleep. The unit worked great for a few times, then locked up. It just plays whale sounds and the light stays on and will not shut off. DO NOT BUY this. It is a waste of money.

I see what other reviewers mean by "too quiet." This machine probably wouldn't mask really loud noise effectively, although I think that the white noise setting would be pretty good for blocking distractions if you put it on the highest volume and had the unit fairly close to the baby. (There are instructions for placing the unit in the room, and I think they make a difference. Set it on a hard surface, a distance from the wall, etc., and you'll get a much fuller volume. It really fills our room nicely.)
The other sounds are really quite nice. We're using it just to provide ambient sounds for the baby when she's sleeping and as a way to indicate to her that it's time to go bed. I was anxious that I'd be able to find the loop when listening, but so far I haven't been able too. Everything sounds genuine - we've been using the forest rain setting lately and it really sounds like we're out in the woods, we love it.
The songs that are included aren't bad, either, somewhere between a good-quality electronic tune and a music box, maybe. They sound WAY better than the songs on our Fisher-Price swing, for example.

I bought this for my 2 1/2 year old daughter. She has never slept well and this has definately helped. The best thing about it is that it plays all night until I shut it off (you can set the timer if you want). Also has many different sound options. It also has a night light that I really like. It's not to bright but bright enough for my daughter to be satisfied with it and it is easy to turn on and off, just push the top. I'm very happy with this sound machine.