4Moms MamaRoo: The Baby Swing to End All Baby Swings

4moms, a small company based in Pittsburgh, is combining technology and baby products in the most amazing ways. One of these tech-babies mash-up items  is the mamaRoo.

The mamaRoo is so much more than a swing or a bouncer. 4moms describes it as “moving like you do” and it comes pretty darn close. It has five different settings and to each setting, different speeds. There are also pre-loaded nature sounds that you can play as loudly or as softly as you want while your baby is moved around in whichever motion you choose. You can also connect any device with a headphone jack directly to the mamaRoo to personalize your baby’s listening experience.

I received a mamaRoo Plush to review and the first thing I can say is what a breeze it was to set up. Really, the instructions were only pictures and I still set the thing up in minutes. In fact, I disassembled it to take it on a trip and my two-year-old daughter tried to reassemble it (so her brother could go night-night in his “car” as she calls it) and she definitely had the gist of it.
My son is 7 months old and he’s pretty big  (27.5 inches long and 17 lbs) but he fit nicely into the seat. I was a little concerned about how he was tipping over the sides to reach for the little balls that he would snatch off the toy bar and drop on the floor. Then I remembered I could recline it. After that, no more tipping. Speaking of the toy bar, I know 4moms intentionally made it so the balls could be removed easily for the baby to play with but it just bugs me. I know one of my children will lose one of the balls and then it just won’t look as pretty. But, as their dad said, “It’s not meant to look pretty. It’s meant to soothe the baby.” Even so, it does look nice. I have the green plush cover on it and it’s probably the prettiest thing in my apartment. It’s impressive looking in any setting, really. As I mentioned before, I took it on a trip and everyone kept going on about how eye-catching it was.

Beyond being visually appealing, it’s functional. The five motion settings include Car Ride, Kangaroo, Tree Swing, Rock-a-bye, and Ocean. My son mainly likes the Car Ride setting. He has yet to actually fall asleep in the mamaRoo but it definitely quiets him down when he’s having a fit. One unexpected benefit was how easy it is to turn on with your feet. Weird? Not really; with our hands constantly full I’m sure most moms wish many things were easier to turn on with your feet. In my case, it just so happens my husband recently broke his right hand, and using his feet to turn the mamaRoo on or off has been so awesome for him.

All in all, the mamaRoo and 4moms as a whole get a big fat A+ from me.

You can see more awesome stuff from 4moms, including their power-folding stroller, the Origami, here.

I received this product for review