Graco Sweetpeace – Really Lives Up to the Name

Q: You are about to be stranded on a desert island and can only bring one piece of baby paraphenalia with you. What do you bring?
A: The Graco Sweetpeace (and a whole lot of batteries if there are no plugs!)
No question about it, if there is one piece of baby gear that I don’t think I could live without at the moment, it is the Sweetpeace by Graco ($169.99). If you’d asked me this question a few years ago when my older kids were infants, I might have hesitated, and said a swing. But there is no hesitation now. The Sweetpeace is so much more than a swing. It is a whole baby (and parent… trust me!) soothing “system”. It has motion in common with a swing, but from there on out, comparing it to an old school swing is like comparing your new mac laptop to a calulator.
The Sweetpeace was designed to mimic the swaying motion that your baby enjoys in the womb, or when cradled/rocked in your arms. Multiple positions allow you to tailor the motion to your babies’ preference – side to side or back to front, head facing in or out. Multiple speeds also allow you choose how fast or slow, baby sways. You can also adjust the angle at which baby sits, from reclined to more upright. Check out this video product tour for a look at the way the Sweetpeace moves to soothe your baby.
In addition to the motion, the Sweetpeace offers a variety of soothing sounds. Our baby boy likes the heartbeat and swooshing sounds that mimic the sounds of the womb. When he is older, we will put the included music to the test.
But if he’s not a fan of the included tunes, no worries. We can simply plug in our ipod to the Sweetpeace’s ipod outlet and suddenly this seat gets a little sweeter. Even when baby’s not sitting in it, it plays our music and I have to say, the sound quality is not half bad!
Perhaps taking this seat with me to a desert island seems a little frivolous but not when you factor in the many uses. Our baby can sleep in the Sweetpeace, be entertained in the Sweetpeace, and when he is a little older, he could even be fed in the Sweetpeace. It’s practically the perfect place to put him down. And let’s face it, as much as we love and adore our babies, we do eventually have to put them down. If you’ve ever dealt with a colicky baby, you will especially appreciate the magical soothing properties this device has. Right after you manage to catch a few hours of precious shut eye. When combined with the included swaddling blanket and pacifier, it’s almost foolproof. I credit every single four hr stretch of sleep I have had in the last month (and my ability to string together a sentence) to Graco.
Additional reasons to love the Sweetpeace? It’s got a smaller footprint than most swings, the colors are neutral and the fabrics very soft and plush, and as long as you are able to place it near an outlet, you won’t have to buy batteries at the big box store. Hurray for the AC plug.
Finally, the Graco Sweetpeace Soothing System offers parents excellent baby soothing advice and instruction on their site. This education and support material can be invaluable to the sleep deprived parent of a colicky baby. By bringing in baby soothing experts and providing this material, Graco shows a level of commitment that is unmatched by other companies.
I’d recommend this item to any and every new parent out there. It’s truly #1 on my must have list. Click through for links of where to purchase the Graco Sweetpeace.