Fisher Price Rock 'n Play

When our Pickle was a baby 5.5 years ago, I was against the Fisher Price Rock 'n Play for absolutely no reason.  I didn't have any reason to hate on it, but I was so worried about it being a crutch, and we had a Nap Nanny we loved.

(I'm going to go off on a tangent here for a moment that may be unpopular.  We had a baby who passed away just before birth, so I would never make light of the death of a child.  That said, I find it frustrating when perfectly good products are pulled off of the shelves because people either can't take the time to read directions, or wildly disregard them.  The Nap Nappy was a little foam seat thing that was great for babies with reflux or bad sleepers.  It said clearly in the directions to only put it on the floor when the baby was in it, and to strap them in.  People disregarded this and put it in their babies' cribs - babies rolled out, and they got stuck between the Nap Nanny and crib and suffocated.  Nap Nanny responded by improving the seatbelts and putting giant warnings on the seats to never be used anywhere but the floor while attended.  People again disregarded this, and a few more babies were suffocated.  Due to this, the entire product was pulled off of the shelves altogether.  The Bumbo appears to be headed the same direction because people keep putting the freaking things up on counters and leaving their children there unattended.  I am 100% certain that whole grapes have killed large numbers more children than any of these items, but they're still on the shelves.  I am all for protecting babies, like discontinuing drop-side cribs - but this was due to blatant misuse.  Anyway.)

So, when Peanut was born, we needed a new bouncy seat.  My parents offered to get us one, and instead came home with the Fisher Price Rock 'n Play.  They brought home this one (LINK):

It was about $60, more than I had expected to spend.  I didn't want to be ungrateful, so we accepted it with thanks, and I expected to not use it.  I had found some articles saying not to use it overnight due to SIDS concerns, so I figured it would be a last resort during maternity leave during naps.

...Until one day when Peanut was sleeping and I super had to pee.  I strapped him into it (we called it "the Monkey") and turned on the vibration unit... and it was magic.  It was the longest he'd ever slept other than being in my arms and rocked.  

I tried it again the next day, and it again worked like a charm.  So, I started bribing my husband to putting Peanut in the Monkey at night while I went upstairs to nap, and it again kept the little guy asleep for hours.  The vibration unit was gentle and silent, and lasted for months.  The monkey pad was super-soft.  

While we've never used this overnight due to those few SIDS concerns, this was our go-to nap solution for almost a year.  I would never leave a baby unattended in it, and it may not be the most solid solution if you have a baby who really likes to roll in his sleep (Peanut was a log until about a year), but it goes to 25 pounds.  It was a lifesaver!