Description
Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play SleeperSoothe, sleep or play night or day! The Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper is a nighttime sleeper and playtime seat all in one! And it's the only infant seat that meets industry safety standards for bassinets. So besides using it as a perfect place for baby to rock (with a gentle push from you!) and play during the day, you can also use it as a place for baby to sleep at night.
Reviews
Best money ever spent!
I wish I had this for my daughter six years ago. Just like with my daughter, my new son (3 weeks old) doesn't like to be put down and lay flat on his back in his pack and play or crib. This sleeper is PERFECT! He's been sleeping in it for the past two days. I got the dishes done with two hands and I slept so much better last night without him in the bed (and the worry that goes with that).
The sleeper is in the reclined sitting position that you naturally hold a baby in. He doesn't even notice that I'm not holding him anymore. And while he's cozy and snug, there isn't any safety concern with breathing space.
This is easy to put together (I did it by myself) and light weight enough to tote around the house.
I love this product and recommend it to anyone with a newborn that doesn't like to be put down!!
Great at first, but beware
I'm a second time mom and recently bought this for my newborn son. I fell in love with it instantly. It's lightweight, portable, and the baby would fall asleep as soon as I would place him in it. My baby napped and slept at night in this sleeper. It worked like a dream, just like all the other reviewers say. We used this product exclusively for sleeping, and it says right on the box - "approved for sleep".
All was great until my son was about 2 mos old. I started to notice that he tended to slump his head to one particular side, and his neck strength was not progressing as well as it should. He also was starting to develop a flat spot on the right side of his head where the sleeper angles inward. You cannot tell from the picture, but this sleeper has a flat hard support underneath the padding. This hard support angles inward all the way up both sides of the sleeper. Because the sleeper is inclined, these angled hard supports provide a place for a newborn to rest his head, either to the right or to the left. These hard supports also cause a newborn's shoulders to slump inward - not great for baby's quickly developing neck and shoulder muscles.
At my son's 2 month check up, he was diagnosed with mild torticollis on his right side(shortened/tight neck muscles) and the beginnings of plagiocephaly (flat head). He is now 3 months old and in weekly physical therapy. We are hoping we won't have to get a helmet. I only used this product for sleep, but for a newborn, that means 14-18 hours per day.
If you do get this product, I would pay special attention to your infant's shoulder, neck and head positioning. Run your fingers along the back of the padding and feel where it is hard and angles inward on either side. Is it pushing in on your child's shoulders? Does your child's head lean over to one side? Use your best judgement. Perhaps occasional use as a seat would be ok, but no baby should spend all their sleeping hours in this contraption. I'm just upset it took us 2 months to figure that out.
Most of the 5 star reviews were written within the first few days or weeks of having the product. It would be interesting to see how many of those same infants are now having neck and head issues...
This is a relatively new product. I honestly believe that it will be recalled or, at the very least, they will reclassify it as an infant seat rather than a sleeper. Please be careful, don't make the same mistake we did.
**UPDATE - Please see my comment (by A. Oakley) below**
What took them so long?
I've had this product for three nights. Each night, our 7.5 week old son has slept more soundly and for increasing longer periods. Prior to buying this, we were using an Arm's Reach mini-cosleeper and he was waking up every night at 3:30am and 6 am. The first night in this he slept until 4:30am, then 5:30 and last night he slept from 9:30pm until 6am and after eating for 40 mins, went back to sleep until 10am. Woohooo!
Our co-sleeper worked well for our daughter (who was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks) and is another product I would highly recommend. However, our son seems to have more congestion and needs to be elevated to sleep well. We propped him up in the co-sleeper but he still tossed and turned and snorted and coughed, frequently waking himself up. I've always been disappointed with the products on the market for elevating sleeping babies, especially since the most effective options are not approved for sleeping. So, I was very excited to see this on display at Babies R Us. I did't buy it right away. I checked on Amazon and the price was higher and it was not eligible for Prime shipping, so I went back to Babies R' Us.
I should also add that we are still swaddling our son while he sleeps in this. He's such a big and strong baby that the only swaddle blanket that works is the Miracle Blanket (another highly recommended baby product). With this blanket I can leave his legs out and still use the harness. It's not really necessary but it's better than having him sleep on the buckle. Without the swaddle his sudden arm movements disturb him. I expect however, that eventually we'll use this without the swaddle.
The design of this product is very simple but it's perfect for what we needed. I don't know why it took so long to come to market. I can't think of a better recommendation than a sleeping baby.
A few other points:
-it rocks very smoothly and easily
-has mesh on the side to allow for air flow
-seems comfortable, even for my big boy (he's already 12+ lbs)
-is very light
-seems very stable
-is lower that our bed (a normal queen mattress with frame & boxspring) but its easy to look over and check on the baby from bed
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