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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Major Disappointment
By BH
My disappointment with this product prompted me to write to the manufacturer. Below is my correspondence:I'm writing you this e-mail to express my deep dissatisfaction with a recently purchased Graco product.My wife and I are new parents and as expected the Graco brand was quite heavily represented on many items that expectant parent's need.Among other things, we purchased a Graco car seat, extra seat base, and a Pack and Play.At this point (our daughter is only a week old), the car seat has seen limited use, but the Pack and Play has already been put through some paces and it is this product that I am writing to you about.The model we purchased was the Pack n Play Dempsey. The main reasons we chose this model were the design/color and the fact that it had a changing table. The additional storage seemed to be a nice feature, thought not something that we will probably use at this point and, as it disappears when not used as a bassinet, it has limited usefulness.I have quite a few reasons to be dissatisfied with this product, but by far the biggest disappointment is the changing table:The design flaws with the changing table are glaring. It is supported only on one side leaving the other side to hang across the bassinet/playard with nothing to brace it. Our daughter who is just barely 8 pounds places enough weight on the table that it dips down on the unbraced side causing her to roll over on the side. Even if placing her as far as possible over to the braced side, even a few pounds of weight over the center of the table will cause it to slant and thus cause a baby to roll over to their side. As you can imagine, trying to change a baby on a device like this is akin to placing them on a slide or ramp - it is not conducive. Furthermore, I don't believe it to be safe as newborns do not have full control or strength in their necks and this table causes their bodies to slant underneath them - causing them to contort in uncomfortable and possibly dangerous ways.Your website states that this changing table is to be used by babies up to 25 lbs. I can't possibly imagine how a child that large wouldn't cause the table to dip at even more dangerous angles. Reviewers at Babies 'R Us (which unfortunately I didn't consult until after this product was purchased and assembled) state that children as small as 5 lbs experience these same issues. In fact out of 43 reviews at the Babies R' Us site almost every other one speaks of issues that people have found with this table. The overall review (as of this writing) is 3.3 out of 5 stars, which equates to 67%. I wouldn't expect my daughter to bring home grades like that once she enters school - and you should find such ratings for your products absolutely unacceptable!What is even more disappointing is that this could have easily been averted had the table been given a similar design on both sides. A couple inches of plastic leg support on the floating side of the table could have braced it against the frame and completely avoided this issue. How could something like this even have made it past your design and quality control divisions?While the changing table situation is enough to sour me on this product I must also mention briefly some other problems with the product:The small sound machine that comes with this model plays at such a low volume that you can legitimately not hear here it in all but the quietest room. Standing 3 feet from the crib the sound couldn't be heard over a lower than normal conversational tone. While I understand there could be safety issues from glaring sounds, this device errs way to far on the side of caution to be unusable. We have plenty of other noise making baby toys which don't suffer from these issues. If the baby is quiet enough to be able to hear these sounds, they are most likely already asleep in a quiet room and don't need to be soothed.I was also very surprised that the mobile was not electric. While your site does not specifically state, the Babies R' Us site (which I have no doubt Graco writes and/or approves the copy) states as a feature "Electronics module and mobile." This misleading combination of the two features infers that the mobile is indeed electronic, and therefore would move of its own power. Not only does the mobile not move on its own, its design is such that spinning it by hand causes it to move around maybe on 3-4 revolutions (2-3 seconds) before the friction of its design causes it to stop. It is also placed at such a level that it would never be reachable at all by a child to play with or spin on its own (perhaps, from a safety issue that is best...). So, instead of a functional mobile, what the child gets is the opportunity to stare at the feet of a few stationary turtles.While not incredible difficult to assemble, the included instructions are poorly designed at best, and misleading of incorrect at worst. I probably could have assembled the device in shorter order without referring to the instructions. For example, why instruct the installation of the mattress in the bottom of the unit and then go back to instruct that it must be removed in order to configure the bassinet? Won't most people be assembling and using this as a bassinet first, until their child grows into the playard???I also find the advertising of these products as portable "pack" and plays a little absurd. While you can certainly collapse them to a smaller size, the ability to fit them back into their original carriers is not an easy affair. Forget about trying to disassemble the accessories - snapping apart the mobile, or attempting to remove the metal frame from the changing table fabric would certainly cause damage to these parts after several times. Additionally, while my wife certainly is getting better muscle tone carting around a new child, your prevalent advertisements with the mother toting the collapsed playard in one hand as if it were an empty picnic basket is patently absurd.Unfortunately these last few complaints about the model seem to be inherent in most all of your Pack n Play models and as such I don't believe that returning this Dempsey model for another Graco playard would really make much of a difference. I suppose I could trade it for a cheaper model with no storage or changing table, but the time and effort involved isn't worth the $60-75 that would be saved. To be honest, I am surprised based on the quality of this product that Graco has established such a reputation and large market share in the playard department.I certainly won't be recommending these products in the future. Additionally I will be placing this review on both Amazon and the Babies R' Us website. I invite you to answer these concerns at least in those forums should you choose not to respond to them here.Thank you for your time, but no thank you for the product!Sincerely,A Disappointed Customer
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Great Storage
By KsMama
This playard is easy to put together and take apart. The best part about it is that it has the storage feature underneath in the playard area while the bassinet is being used. However, the shelves only go halfway into the playard...wished it went all the way so that I could utilize all that extra space down there. While there are many other features that come with this playard, they each have their own flaws.-Bassinet- After only using it for 2 days the bassinet came apart, but was able to call customer service and get a replacement. The replacement has been working okay for 3 months now. Why only okay? For some reason, it sinks in the middle and has always been so since we first started to use it. I've tried adjusting the mattress and it still dips in the middle. It is still functional, but for something that the baby is sleeping on I wish it was sturdier. My 4 month old gets really frustrated when she tries rolling over and the dip makes it difficult...still possible, but difficult.-Changing Table- This thing can barely hold baby's weight. It's only supported on one side so it inevitably tilts towards the other. This is not only frustrating for you when trying to change the diaper, but kind of dangerous. I've tried using it a few times when LO was about 9 lbs, but in the end it was just too much hassle and very uncomfortable for the her.-Mobile- Comes with three cute little turtles, but it does not move. LO loves staring up at them, but when she is crying I have to turn them by hand to calm her down. Would really love it if it spins on its own.-Module- Not very loud, but it has 5 nature sounds and 5 different classical music. There is also a light on the top and side.Overall, this is an okay product. It works, but can definitely use some improvements.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Son is allergic to something on this Pack n Play
By nealesa
We chose this Dempsey pattern well before the birth of my son last year. We received the pack n play, the swing/bouncy seat combo, and the highchair. We didn't end up using the pack n play until he was able to sit up on his own so we did not use the changing table, or the bassinet so I can not speak to those pieces, though the changing table looks shoddy. We primarily used the pack n play as a place for him to nap and play in the mornings while I got ready for work. After a while we noticed that when we would pick him up his exposed skin would be covered in huge red welts: the welts were huge and he would cry if we touched them. We live in a drafty home and his pack n play was sitting right next to a window, so we assumed it was mosquitoes. We moved the pack n play but he was still getting these welts after being in the pack n play for a few minutes. We had pest control out to treat the whole house for insects, but what finally helped us figure out the problem was taking our son to the Dr who said they were hives. I immediately contacted Graco, and let them know about my son's reaction and asked them what chemicals the pack n play was treated with. They offered to send out a replacement mattress, but did not answer any of my questions. I wanted to put this online to let people know of this potential problem. I pressure washed the heck out of the pack n play multiple times over the course of a hot weekend and let it dry in the sun. I sponge washed the mattress (didn't want to break the plywood backing) and decided to put him in one more time to see if I got rid of the issue. I never put him in there without a couple of blankets wrapped around the mattress (the only thing I couldn't thoroughly clean) and we don't let him sleep in it anymore. SO far the hives have not returned. I wish this product was more useful. I am upset that for the price we paid that we can not use it for one of its intended uses. I would like to add that we have had this problem with none of the other Graco products we purchased (thank God).
See all 5 customer reviews...
Great crib for the price!
Beautiful and Solid, but...
