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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Another squeaker/shrieker BUT YOU CAN FIX IT!, September 18, 2007
Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars
Please see the added edited ending of this review! I originally gave this a one star rating and said 'Don't waste your money', but I have changed my mind! Amazon won't let me change the stars, but I'd give it 4, only because I had to fix it myself with no help from V-Tech...
We already have a battery operated soother on all three of our kid's bed-rails and yet, when I saw this on sale, I grabbed it up as well, thinking I would replace one of the older models (in particular, a Leapfrog star-shaped soother called the 'Dreamscapes Soother' which is just kind of boring and a real battery eater).
Anyhow, my 19 month old son just loves this new one, and clearly prefered it to the Leapfrog one, but the thing quickly began to emit these awful squeaks that grow louder and louder each day and cause my boy to go from sort-of sleepy to wild-eyed in under a minute! At least the boring-non-squeaking-or-shrieking Leapfrog actually soothed him to sleep!
I called V-tech, and after much inquiry and time spent on the phone I was finally told they no longer make this (obviously problematic) version and so would be getting a completely different replacement if I paid to send mine in to them. Good deal? Not really, plus all of the 'help' from Vtech on the phone were so nonchalant and uninformed (three different people) that I actually don't think I want another Vtech product! And the reviews here all confirm my worst suspicions; that this is a cute but worthless piece of junk. (old opinion. Check out my new opinion at the end of this)
However, Do buy the older (4 yrs old? and still going strong!) Fisher Price Aquarium Soother (the one with actual water in it, that has a 'mama fishy and baby fishy' that 'swim' around - maybe try eBay?). This one keeps my daughter well 'soothed' every night, with no piercing squeak/shrieks and no creepy voice and pleasant music(!) and also the still available Fisher Price Flutterby Dreams Soother (with sweet Mama and baby blue birds and the cutest overhead light show) is my eldest son's favorite one of all.
NEW OPINION: Added Nov. 8th, 2007: If you take all the screws out of the back, including one hidden inside of the battery compartment, you can open this thing, carefully keeping wires intact! Then, pretending you are a bank-robber/safe-breaker, turn the machine on (re-insert batteries for this, obviously) and LISTEN for exactly where the squeak/shriek comes from...I actually used a paper towel tube to 'listen' through to better isolate the noise...and FOUND that it was coming from an over-tightened screw that holds a tiny piece of plastic against the revolving light disk. I simply loosened the screw and IT WORKS GREAT NOW! So, sorry about the stars, Amazon won't let me change those, but we use this soother every single nap time and bedtime and Really appreciate the way it turns itself on if our baby starts to cry loudly enough....it does actually soothe now, now that it has stopped shrieking! YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!
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