Thursday, September 9, 2010 Bright Starts Comfort & Harmony Portable Swing Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am a mom of two and have owned several baby swings. My kids needed the swings to get them to sleep when they were infants - if you have a bad back and can't rock your child, then a swing is what you need! If you are looking for portability then this is a great swing, but keep in mind that NO travel swing will be as powerful as a full-size model. We have the full size Fisher Price papasan and the ocean wonders swings, and they were amazing and plenty powerful - colicky babies prefer vigorous swinging to soft rocking. Yes, they eat through batteries, but who cares when your child will sleep 4 hours in the swing as opposed to 1 hour in the crib! But I digress...As for this travel swing:
Pros:
Much more portable than a full size swing
More portable than the fisher price travel swing (I had the ocean wonders model)
Folds pretty flat for travel
No noise at all (the full-size models always click when swinging)
Decent battery life for a swing
Easy to assemble
Has a recline option
Decent music if you want it
Timer if you want it, or just leave the swing on constantly
Cute to look at for you and baby
Easy to clean

Cons:
"Speed" settings are really all 1 speed - why bother with a speed dial? This seems to be typical of all swings though, both travel and full-sized.
Will never move as vigorously as a full-sized swing - top speed is barely moving in comparison to a full-sized swing. If your child is used to a full-sized swing, this swing might not move vigorously enough to rock him/her to sleep. However, if they are not used to a full-sized model than this one might be fine.

A tip for all swings: Use good batteries (Duracell only) to get the most vigorous swinging out of your swing. The cheap ones, even Energizers, will barely move your swing!

Update: 1 BIG CON for this swing that I discovered last night - it automatically shuts off after 1 hour, even without using the timer feature. I wanted it to run continuously like the full-size swing would, but it won't. Why include a timer for 15 minute increments if the swing shuts off in 1 hour anyway? My babies wake up when the swing stops, which is exactly what happened. Argh! This makes the swing fairly useless to me if I want my baby to sleep in the swing during the night, because she will wake every hour when the swing automatically shuts off!

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Product Description:
Bright Starts Comfort & Harmony Portable Swing Comfort & Harmony boasts all the elements that keep baby supremely soothed and happy at every touch point. Featuring TrueSpeed Technology, our Portable Swing automatically recognizes the baby's weight and adjusts the swing's motion to maintain consistent, soothing swing speed even as baby grows. Plush, oversized seat with cushioned foot pillow and removable head support in the softest fabricsComfort Recline offers 2 full-body recline positions for baby's ultimate comfortWhisper Quiet operation6 swing speeds and swing timer with 3 settings: 15, 30, and 45 minutes6 calming melodies with volume control and auto shut offRemovable toy bar pivots back for easy access to baby2 engaging toys: plush Lion and plush GiraffeEasily folds for storage and travel5 point safety HarnessSeat pad is machine washableProduct Measures 22.5x28.5x23 Recommended Ages: 0 months & up