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Worth its weight in gold

Worth its weight in gold

One of the Most Valuable Players in baby goods while our daughter was little was the Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium swing. She was the kind of baby that could not sleep unless she was held. (Is there any other kind? I heard a rumor that there are angel sleepers out there but none in our household!)

The only way we could eat a meal without one of us holding her on one shoulder or cradling her in our arms, hoping not to drop a piece of food on her head, was to put her in the swing. She laughed at our attempts to soothe her in the bouncy seat, but the swing was MAGIC. The side-to-side cradle action would instantly calm her and send her to the land of breastmilk dreams. Honestly, we attribute the saving of our sanity very much to that swing. We didn't abuse it either, but being able to put her down for a half hour here or there was a total gift.

Enter our newborn, JL, who I was sure would be an easy sleeper since nature had already given us one challenging one. Isn't this the way karma works? I pictured him falling asleep with a snap of the fingers. We were due for a low-maintenance baby!

Yet, alas, he, like his sister, falls asleep great when you are holding him...but when left to his own devices, cannot settle for anything. What are the odds? So, we brought up the Aquarium swing from storage and - amazing- he took to it like a fish to water. We only need to use the cradle function for 5-10 minutes and he's fast asleep. We can then turn it off and he stays asleep, on his own, for LONG PERIODS OF TIME.

The swing is golden.

Our favorite sound option is the ocean sounds one - hypnotizing and soothing.

Can you tell I love this swing?

Anyway, Fisher-Price totally has it going on, since the other MVP of baby goods from our point of view is their namesake Aquarium crib toy. We have the older version that looks more rectangular, but this toy is completely responsible for our daughter being able to fall asleep and put herself back to sleep from the time she could reach up and activate it. While we joke that she'll be taking it with her to her college dorm, she really is that attached to it.

D batteries. Lots and lots of D batteries.