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4Moms MamaRoo Baby Swing – My Full Review

Many of you may have seen this pricey Mamaroo baby swing on display in baby stores or big chain stores. You know, the one with the brightly colored four balls side-by-side with different colored options and the slightly cheaper RockaRoo. Before you fork over the cash to try it out yourself, read on to hear what my experience was and if I thought it was worth it.

The standard price for the MamaRoo is $249.99 USD for the plush seat, and $219.99 for the classic seat. We purchased the classic seat because the material was more threaded and seemed like it would be more durable and last longer than the plush seat, which was more velvety and seemed like it would fray over time. I will say the cover easily zips off (far easier than the other swing we own) for cleaning. If you are an expecting FTM that might not seem like a big deal to you, but I promise you that if your baby likes swings, they will poop in it as some point. If it’s a poo-nami, as we affectionally call them, you will love the easy clean up.

MamaRoo Description & Features:

Unlike a classic “swing” the MamaRoo baby seat does not actually swing back and forth, but instead moves up and down and side to side in 5 different motion patterns that you can choose from: car ride, kangaroo, tree swing, rock-a-bye, and wave. The idea is that these movement patterns more closely mimic the actual bouncing/swinging from a parent than other bouncers/swings on the market.

The MamaRoos are also marketed as being used in neonatal care units to soothe premies and even babies born with drug-addition issues. Parker loved the car ride and the tree swing settings a lot, and she tolerated this seat up through an older age (her traditional swing, which we had upstairs in our house, she only liked when she was an itty bitty newborn). This was perfect for me to place her in so that I could quickly do some dishes or laundry, and she would be perfectly content. The seat can be used until the baby reaches 25 pounds or sits up (which becomes a tipping concern).

Additionally for each of the movement patterns, there are 5 speed settings that you can choose from. We almost always opted for one of the lower speeds as it was more soothing to our daughter than the high speeds, which seemed to agitate her a bit.

There are 4 built in sounds that you can play (running water, crickets, ocean waves or 2 different white noise settings), or you can hook up any MP3 device, like your phone and play anything you choose. We did use the ocean waves and the rain sounds and liked them quite a bit.

For entertainment there are four balls attached to the MamaRoo that hang over the top above the baby and act as a mobile; they have a high-contrast black and white side and another side with bright colors. I have to say that they initially seemed a bit boring to me given that our other swing had lights and spinning stuffed bears and a mirror, but my daughter really preferred these. Even when she got too big to use the swing, she would walk by where it was and pull the balls out to play with them.

MamaRoo Setup & Design:

The setup was very simple, and the seat is super easy to use. It has a sleek design that is much more aesthetically pleasing than a lot of the other swings and bouncers I have seen. I wouldn’t say that the seat is compact enough to be easily portable. We did move it from room to room, but it is a bit bulky and awkward to carry, although not super heavy. I’ve seen others say it does not take up a lot of space…which is true relative to some of the bigger swings out there, but you still need a decent amount of space for it.

Pros:

• Multiple movement and speed settings designed to mimic natural movements
• Easy to zip off cover
• Hooks up to any MP3 device
• Sleek design
• Quick set-up
• Easy to Operate
• Smaller and more compact than many other baby swing options

Cons:

• Expensive
• Can make strange noises when operating
• No vibration feature
• No attention grabbing lights, mirrors or rotating mobile

My Final Verdict on the MamaRoo:

Overall, we really ended up loving the 4moms MamaRoo seat and felt it was worth the money for the use we got out of it. Parker loved it for quite some time and found it very soothing. It’s obviously not an equal substitute for rocking and cuddling from mama, but it did help plenty of times to keep her content so that I could quickly get something done. My son also really liked the MamaRoo swing, so that’s 2 for 2 in my house. Everyone we know who has one said their baby liked it, so it seems like it has a pretty good batting average.

One thing I will call out is that initially when we got the seat, it was super quiet in motion; however, about a week in it started making a noise (like a gear cranking) whenever in motion. It still worked just fine, but the sound was a bit annoying and made us feel like it might stop working at any moment. Turns out it continued to work just fine, but it still makes that noise.

If you have an experience with the MamaRoo, let me know what you thought in the comments below. Also let me know what you would like for me to review next! I would love to hear from you!

If you are interested in more reviews, check out my last product review on the Keekaroo Peanut Changer here.

-Katie