Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(UPDATE: Please read the comments to this review to learn what brand I purchased to replace this mat. Thank you.) I purchased this mat 5 months ago when my daughter was almost 6 months old and we needed to pad our hard-wood living room floor. I just threw this mat away and replaced it with a different brand. I wanted to do that almost immediately after we got it but my husband wouldn't let me. Here's my summary: Pros It's cute. I purchased it mainly because it fit the color scheme in our living room, and I liked the letters and numbers on it. In hindsight, that's silly because it's best used for babies 5 or 6 months old to about a year or so, once they start walking (once they're older than that, there's no way they're going to stay on a mat this small anyway). They're not learning their alphabet this early, so the alphabet design on the mat is pointless. It's soft and cushy. Cons: It is all but impossible to clean. First, the surface is this waffle-like texture that traps dirt and hair, and the only way to clean it is to scrub each tile with a wipe or paper towel individually. And, since there are so many grooves and cut-out parts, even that is not an easy task. It can't be machine washed or go in the dishwasher, so if you don't want to spend an hour a day on your hands and knees cleaning it, this mat is not for you. It's so thin and lightweight that it can't be vacuumed, either. My vacuum lets me turn the brush off, and even if I do that and set the vacuum on the highest carpet setting, the mat still gets sucked into the vacuum and leaves truly horrible scars all over it. It's flimsy. My daughter immediately figured out she could tear it apart and proceeded to do so, every time she was on it. Also, within 2 weeks, it became loose and all the numbers and letters and the edges started popping off on their own. If I could have all the hours I've spent fishing the edges and letters out from under the couch and putting this blasted mat back together, I would be a very happy momma. As others mention, the blocks are randomly colored, not like they are in the photo - it's not every other, every other. Not sure why that is. It's not a big deal, just weird. I would say that this mat is OK if it's going in a playroom where there will be absolutely no foot traffic at all, no food or drink of any kind, and no pets. If it's going anywhere else, it will get filthy quickly and be almost impossible to clean. Also, only get this mat if you have lots of spare time and want to spend that precious time putting this mat back together. The replacement mat we just got is even thicker (5/8 inches) and has NO cutouts or edges that can be removed. It's also flat and smooth and I can run my steam cleaner over it. We're in love!