Watch out baby gear world, because you are about to get rocked. (Get it?) Puns aside, when Ifirst laid eyes on the Mamas and Papas MAGICGlobe Rocker, Ithought, “Wow, that is one good-looking hunka-burnin' contraption.”I am a modern-decor kind of gal, and jumped at the chance to try out this sleek, striped, colorful entertainer.
But let's back up a minute and look at the nitty-gritty details to see if the MAGICGlobe Rocker's beauty is more than skin deep.
The first thing to note about the rocker is that it is big and sturdy. It's no puny bouncer on skinny metal rods. What this means, though, is that you need to have space for it in your house and expect it to stay in that space. With other bouncer/rockers, there is the chance that you might put it in the kitchen while you're cooking and then move it into the living room when you're lounging, etc., but it's really just not practical with the MAGICGlobe Rocker. Ours has worked well as an addition to the kitchen—it's our little guy's main hangout while we cook and eat in the evenings—so we leave it parked next to the table and plop him in as needed.
The material covering the rocker is super soft and stretchy, and they've taken the liberty to cover the buckles with padding so that everything is comfy for little pudgy thighs. The bar across the top is easily adjustable, rotating from the top position (shown in image) and a lowered position for feet kicks. The canopy is also adjustable—you can either cover baby's head with it or leave it down. The canopy is the place where the lights are housed, so if you intend to use that feature, the canopy will have to be extended over baby's head.
Speaking of the lights, let's get to the technical aspects of the rocker. Each MAGICGlobe Rocker comes with “innovative technology stored on a MAGICcard,”which unfortunately is sold separately. In fact, before we read the instructions and were just “kicking the tires,” so to speak, we didn't realize that there was a special card to insert. We thought the slot was for an MP3 player (more on that later). Once we received the MAGICcard, we realized that without it, the rocker would not do any of the interactive bits (the hanging toys correspond with the card and come in the same package as their card—the rocker itself does not have any toys included for hanging on the bar) on its own. This means you must have the card in order to hear any sounds (unless you plug in your MP3 player) or for the lights to work. And yes—you can use an MP3 player—which is pretty cool. You can download a playlist just for your baby (quiet, playful, etc.) and tailor his tunes to the mood of the moment. That part of the rocker is a definite plus for me—no more tinny electronic music to listen to as your baby kicks away. The MAGICcard plays music along with a sound to correspond to each hanging toy (theme choices include Musical Fun, Jingly Jungle, Mini Explorers, and Play, Sleep, Relax), so that, for example, with our Jingly Jungle hanging toys, each animal makes its noise in the wild. (The noises are voiced by people, which Ifind hilarious.) You can adjust the volume, thank goodness, but frustrating to me is the fact that to turn it on and off you insert and remove the card. Ideally there would be a button you could simply push to power the sounds. I do like the lights—they are very soft and gradually change from one color to another in a soothing way.
The seat itself is adjustable, so your baby can sit up fairly straight or lay back according to your preference. Additionally, the seat rotates, so you can rock your baby in two different directions.
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