Graco DuetSoothe Swing And Rocker

This is a great swing and the seat or baby holder has a soothing vibration that relaxes my grandson. Has a gentle swinging motion and is east to assemble and LOVE that it has a plug in that comes with the swing just incase the batteries die lol, would recommend this to all.

Must have for your little one

We would not have survived our first 3 months of parenthood without this swing! For his first 3 months our son took almost every nap in the swing, and even slept in it at night sometimes. Here are the pros:

1) It plugs in and runs off of batteries. Surprisingly, not many swings on the market plug in. If we had a battery-powered swing we would have burned through so many batteries.
2) It is not down on the ground. Many swings are on short frames that swing really close to the floor. I would find this problematic because you have to bend down so far to put baby in the swing and take him out. I’m 5’3″ and this swing hits at about my hip or a little lower. Regardless, I don’t have to bend down a ton. Also we have a pretty big dog (100 lbs lab). If the swing was close to the ground the dog could come put his face right in baby’s face. With this swing, if it is not moving, the dog can look into the swing, but would have to stretch a bit to lick baby’s face. At this point, the dog stays away because he has been hit by the moving swing a few times.
3) It swings in three different directions. It can swing back and forth with baby facing either side, or side-to-side with baby facing front. Sometimes our baby liked the back and forth motion, and sometimes he preferred the side-to-side. I could also change his vantage point depending on the light, how much stimulation I wanted him to have, etc.
4) The frame is very sturdy. I don’t have to worry about the dog or anything else knocking the swing over or moving it.
5) The basket comes off the frame to become a rocker with the option of a vibrating seat. We didn’t really use the vibrating feature very much. When I was on maternity leave, my husband would get up with the baby at 4:30 or 5 am. He would take him downstairs, feed him, play a little, and then put him back to sleep in the swing. When he left for work, he would just carry the rocker up to our bedroom and put it on the floor next to the bed with the sleeping baby. This allowed me to sleep until 7 or 8 when baby woke up again. We would also take the rocker down to our basement and put baby in it while we watched TV or were hanging out in the basement. The rocker sits pretty low to the ground so the dog can stick his face in there, but it is still very substantial and I don’t have to worry about the dog tipping it over at all. The fact that it is so substantial makes it a bit heavy and awkward to carry. I didn’t really like carrying it down the stairs with the baby in it, or while holding the baby. My 6′ tall husband had a much easier time carrying it. I guess this is technically a con, but I would rather it be more substantial and harder to carry than cheap and flimsy.
6) It has an insert for newborns so baby’s head and body isn’t rolling back and forth with the swing. We took the insert out at about 2.5 months when baby could support his head pretty well and the insert seemed to create an awkward fit. Once we took the insert out, I could tell baby became much more comfortable than he had been in recent weeks.
7) Has 6 speeds. When baby was a newborn we used speeds 1 or 2, and as he got older moved up to 3 and 4. We haven’t really used the 5 and 6 speeds.
8) Other features: music and white noise. These are nice to use on occasion, but I wouldn’t really miss them if they weren’t there.
9) Mobile: the mobile just three white bears. It doesn’t turn or anything. I think a more interesting mobile would be nice. But my son seems to like the bears. Sometimes he will wake up and just stare at them or “talk” to them (it is super cute).

Cons:
1) It is pretty big and takes up quite bit of space. If you live in small house or apartment with more limited space this might not work very well.
2) Akin to the size, it is not portable. You can’t move the entire swing easily between rooms or easily fold it up when not in use. Again, if you are tight on space this could pose an issue. We used the swing so much that I don’t think we would have ever put it away even if we could.
3) I would like a way to hang stuff from the swing. For instance, sometimes we will hang Freddy the Firefly from the swing for my son to look at or play with while in the swing. We have to use a huge Mommy hook which makes noise when it swings back and forth.
4) Some have complained about the sound the motor makes. It is very rhythmic ticking as the swing moves back and forth. I can see how this could bother some people. I think it is purposeful. The rhythmic sound is like a metronome, and I think it help lull baby to sleep.

A must have for busy parents….my 9 days old daughter sleep for hours in it…The best baby gear I have ever bougt.

My first criteria in choosing a swing was that it have a plug in adapter instead of running solely on batteries. And I chose this specific swing because I liked the multi-functionality of it, with two swing directions, a rocker, and a vibrating feature. Overall, the swing is what I hoped for. While my baby is still getting used to it, she has enjoyed both swing directions, and I like the comfortable and secure recline if the seat. It looks quite padded and comfy as well, and the design and color is tasteful. The sound selections are varied and quite nice, and run for quite some time (perhaps and hour). Although my husband has said he wished the sound would keep running until you turned it off instead of abruptly turning off. As for other drawbacks, the swing is very big and does take up a lot of space. The assembly instructions were rather confusing and it took quite a bit of work. (My brother says he put his back out doing it). The mobile is a little plain and would have been attention-getting if it had more contrast for baby. I wish the volume turned up louder for some of the sound features. And the harness can be very difficult to buckle/unbuckle when you are trying to move a sleeping baby. But my biggest issue is with the rocker feature… I had hoped and expected the vibration feature would cause the seat to rock on its own, but you have to actually sit and rock it with your hand the whole time. Too bad too, because currently my baby enjoys the rocker the most. Also, the weight limit on the rocker is only 18 lbs. Finally, the vibrations are VERY loud if placed on a hard floor (think lawn mower or garbage disposal loud), and the batteries don’t seem to last long for vibrating. On the second use, the vibration was phasing in and out in a very disturbing way as my baby napped in the seat. I’m not convinced the vibration is very strong for the baby when sitting in the seat either. I think the seat cushioning would absorb most of the movement. So, I have to say, I don’t think the rocker feature is worthwhile at all, and I am still going to have to buy a separate rocker/bouncer seat. The swing is fine, but one might as well buy a two-direction swing. Since I bought it on a sale, I am still happy with it as a swing though.