Baby's favorite -- but will it be yours?
Written: Aug 17 '03 (Updated Aug 17 '03)
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Pros: Relaxing music, great colors, intriguing motion.
Cons: Mechanical problems, frequent battery changes, repetitive music, tends to over-stimulate
The Bottom Line: There are many other mobiles out there that are educational yet avoid some of the pitfalls of this particular mobile. Shop around!
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| dryad's Full Review: Tiny Love Symphony Animal Mobile |
Cute colorful creatures and educational too. Sounds great, doesn't it? And the classical music is icing on the cake.
My 5 month old little girl received the Tiny Love mobile as a gift while she was in the hospital for a few weeks for some minor surgery. It couldn't have been given with better timing, and our baby was instantly taken with the colors, motion, and music.
The Music
How can you go wrong with classical music? Theory goes, classical music aids mental development. And as parents, we all want to do the right thing for our babies. So its hard to turn down a toy that's supposed to boost our kid's IQ.
But is this music all that its advertised to be? Don't expect to have CD quality sound here, or even tape quality. This is without-a-doubt computer generated sound, with a tinny, synthesizer quality to it. Does your computer make sounds when you run programs or receive e-mail? Think of that, then imagine that same sort of speaker playing Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart.
That said, though, my little one doesn't seem to be picky. She definitely relaxes when the music is played, and at the low volume, she'll eventually drift off to sleep.
The Motion
Our little one is enraptured when she watches the mobile spin. It's almost hypnotic. The 4 directions of motion are meant to stimulate and educate. They definitely stimulate! With the mobile turning, our little one will watch and watch until (eventually) she becomes over-stimulated. Thank goodness the mobile arm can be unplugged from the music base -- I'm able to let her watch the mobile for a while, then switch to music-only when it's time for her to go to sleep.
But more about the motion in a moment... read on!
Losing My Sanity?
Ok, I've gone over the good stuff -- now for the bad. As I mentioned, our baby got the mobile as a gift while in the hospital. Which meant that I was here within 3 feet of the crib all of the time the mobile played. And while the mobile is fascinating for the baby, it is absolutely mind-numbing for an adult!
First the music: it's too loud, and it's too repetitive. The too-loud part is easy to fix -- like most of the other sound-producing baby toys we own, this one has several pieces of tape permanently affixed over the speaker. Simply vary the number of pieces of tape over the speaker to control the sound level. The too-repetitive nature of the music is impossible to fix. The saving grace, though, is that the music plays for only 15 minutes -- and usually by the time the music plays out, the baby is asleep.
Then the motion: this mobile doesn't move quietly, it makes clacking sounds. As the mobile turns, small pieces fall along spokes that radiate out from the hub. The pieces are fabric covered, so you'd think they'd be fairly quiet. Not so! Their centers are made of plastic, and as these pieces (9 in all) fall into place, they make a steady clackety-clack sound. Endlessly! This drives me nuts if I happen to be around it for long, and it definitely is noisy enough to keep baby awake.
"The Day The Motion Stopped"
Our mobile was a bit of a lemon, and I don't know how common this problem is with the Tiny Love mobiles. After 3 days of moderate use, the mobile motion completely stopped working. Nothing is obviously broken, and we've tried changing the batteries. We suspect that the gears are stripped inside the closed motor compartment. We're now about to start testing out the company's warranty service, and I expect they'll provide us with a working mobile soon.
Funny thing is, we're actually happier with the mobile broken than we were when it worked! We still have the cute and colorful mobile hanging over the bed where our little one can look at it, and I can play music for her at the touch of a button. She doesn't mind that the mobile doesn't turn on its own anymore, and she no longer gets over-stimulated by the spinning, twirling motion. Best of all, the clackety-clack noise is gone. Not many toys are better broken than working, and this one is the exception.
Just because our mobile broke doesn't mean yours will -- it sounds like many folks are very happy with how their mobile has held up. But if you're concerned about the durability of the motor-driven style of mobile, you may want to look for one of the more old-fashioned crank-style mobiles.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 40
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
dryad
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Location: College Station, TX, USA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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