Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My baby cried hard for about 18 hours a day in apparent misery. We went to the paediatrician, the lactation consultant, friends, everyone... nothing was physically wrong with her to explain the screaming and crying. I slept 2-3 hours per night, was extremely tired, and didn't know what to do other than vent at my poor husband. I love my baby unconditionally but I was really having a rough time dealing with her mild reflux and extreme mysterious colic. One night, at around 3am, I snapped. The bouncer didn't work, the bassinet didn't work, snuggling didn't work, walking didn't work, shushing/swaddling/swaying/sucking didn't work, singing didn't work, tummy time didn't work, skin-to-skin didn't work, feeding only worked during the feeding, bathing didn't work, baby didn't have a fever, no hair tourniquets, no diaper rash, pooping well, nothing at all to explain it or fix it. I felt horrible for her (it must be hard to be a baby) and was so worn out I couldn't physically get out of bed any more. I was willing to do anything, pay anything, to make it stop. I cracked and bought the Mamaroo with 1-day shipping. I put her into it, and nothing changed. I tried for days - different swaying, different intensities. Nothing. No fix. Pacifier didn't help (she just spits it out ten times in a row), gripe water was unhelpful, cutting dairy out of my diet just made me unhappy and hungry, and I cut out caffeine with horrible results given the sleep deprivation. I didn't want to buy the Fisher Price Rock N Play Sleeper because it didn't match the aesthetic - I'm trying to avoid looking like a day care threw up in my house. It's too pastel, too cutesy, and I just don't love the look. When your kid has bad colic, some things go out the window - and for me, aesthetics became trivial. I also didn't want it because it isn't the safest thing compared to a crib/bassinet for sleep (fabric isn't totally SIDS-proof) and while it's promoted by Fisher Price for sleeping in as a newborn, it isn't exactly touted by the American Academy of Paediatrics. However, I was so tired that I'd routinely fall asleep breastfeeding, only to wake up an hour later with her in my bed, on her side, snuggled against me with the comforter on her, overheated, having fallen asleep attached to the boob (yes, that's 5 SIDS risk factors right there) so I figured the Rock N Play Sleeper was probably a safer bet than continuing to deal with the sleep deprivation, and I was almost dropping the poor kid out of exhaustion. Finally, I prefer not to buy stuff made in China / outsourced without trying other options first. The other options didn't help. I got the Rock N Play when I returned the Mamaroo. I wish I'd gotten it when she was still inside me! I didn't have a magical "she slept 9 hours the first night!" experience like some other reviewers. The first day she had it she started sleeping 2-4 hours at a time in the darned thing, letting me get some sleep. Once she slept four and a half hours, compared to a max of one hour or so before the sleeper. That's a big difference when it comes to mommy sleep. She continues to sleep for 2-4 hours at a time, mostly in the daytime... because (of course) now that she is sleeping better, the poor thing has day/night reversal. With the improved sleep, she's less upset when awake. She still cries some, but much less intensely and actually is playful and cute frequently when awake - a welcome change. She's a little over a month old now and asleep in it as we speak, while I'm less sleep deprived. I napped today. My relationship with my husband is better and I look better. The punchline is that this is under $60, there's a free return policy (keep the boxes) through Amazon and so if you're hurting or sleepless or baby has colic or you just need a bassinet for a baby-on-the-way, there's no downside to giving this a try and you may be like all these other reviewers and end up getting more sleep. I don't know how or why it works - the angle is similar to that of both my Bjorn bouncer and the Mamaroo, the fabric isn't remarkable, the size is like a bassinet, and tipping the bassinet at about 35 degrees like this sleeper somehow didn't accomplish similar results. Nothing else helped. It's a mystery, but one I'm not likely to solve. The sleeper is lower than my mattress but is still elevated enough that I can lift her out of it into bed with me without trouble, I can see her from bed if I get near the edge of the bed, and I can attach one of those play bars to it for daytime so she has something entertaining to swat at (I got the Tiny Love Sunny Stroll and it fits easily - see picture). You can't carry it with baby in it but you can scoot it on the floor without scratching wood. The frame is metal and takes a few minutes to put together but I did it on my own in less than ten minutes. I haven't bothered with the vibrating attachment yet. There is a high quality buckle made of plastic and it seems to keep her from being able to roll over, which is helpful because the puppy component is soft and fuzzy and could probably be a suffocation risk if she was able to flop over onto it, but since she's restrained on her back, she can't suffocate on it no matter how much she tries to crane her head over (has some torticollis to boot) and bury her face in anything nearby. The components are washable and it actually is pretty cute - I don't care if this thing was bird-poop coloured with pink lace though, it worked and that's what matters. I'll buy one of these to bring with to every darned baby shower I go to. UPDATE: After three weeks of very frequent use, the vibration soother unit has broken. It now makes a rattling sound and doesn't vibrate the unit. I plan to use this in the living room and throughout the house until baby can sit up (which is the manufacturer's suggested time of discontinuation) and therefore I'm exchanging it for a new one. I contacted FP as manufacturers tend to prefer to be the ones to make the swap whenever possible, but if I don't hear back right away I'll just go through Amazon.