Cost $30-$40

I initially purchased a manual winding mobile for our nursery. I truthfully was not looking forward to paying for batteries and thought a battery-powered musical mobile was a luxury not worth the expense. That opinion changed dramatically. For anyone considering a mobile for their nursery, I highly recommend a battery powered mobile with some kind of remote. We chose The First Years – Dreams in Sight Mobile and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

This one in particular was a little annoying to get set up but was once again worth the effort. The mobile plays for 15 minutes before automatically shutting off and includes a remote for restarting without disturbing your little one or having them see you should they become a little restless.

There are two volume settings in addition to using the mobile with or without the lights going. The lights are great for evenings but are definitely a rapid drain on the battery. I was glad to be able to utilize this during the day without the lights (and sometimes in the evenings too).

The mobile piece is also removable, leaving just the musical portion for older babies who have either outgrown the mobile part or have grown tall enough to tug on it. With the chunky buttons and three different musical tunes and a nature sounds options, this mobile is perfect for the exploring infant. Our little one very quickly learned how to turn the mobile on and begin the soothing sounds for more enjoyment.

I really think the only issue we had with this mobile was the setup. Overall this was a good buy for us. One note I will make is to avoid going with cheap batteries, it will eat them up rather quickly. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of the name-brand batteries. It takes 4 size D batteries if I remember correctly. As with anything, the length of time the batteries last will depend on your usage but ours lasted a good month or so with usage a few times daily. I didn’t feel like I was constantly feeding the things batteries unless of course I used cheap ones.

Cost $75-$85
I purchased the Bright Starts Tropical Fun Around We Go Activity Station on a whim thinking it would make a great baby shower gift for several moms we knew who were expecting. I ended up stashing it away in the closet and forgetting about it until I was cleaning it out one day. My baby just happened to be right about the age for the toy so we set it up. This toy is phenomenal. I was very glad I had not given it away. Not only did my little one love it but I loved having the freedom to set it somewhere and know baby was safe from harm.

The seat itself rotates so baby can spin around in addition to the entire seat structure orbiting around the base. This gives easy access to all of the little activities on the table and works baby’s legs in a fun way. Our little one was racing around in his new toy in no time at all. The new-found freedom was exciting.

Several of the toys snap in and out for use alone or with the toy. Some are great for teething, other just for fun. There is also a snack tray made for little fingers. The tray snaps in and out for easy cleanup and refilling.

One of my favorite features of this activity table is the standalone base. The orbiting seat is easily removable WITHOUT the use of tools. This makes for a great play table when your wee one has graduated to the toddler stage.

One thing to note is the size of this toy. It does take up a lot of space and needs some extra space around it for full motion. If you are looking for something with a small footprint, this is definitely not the right product for you.

Setting the toy up also took a little bit of effort. There are little purple rubber things on the bottom which ended up coming off frequently. We just discarded those. I believe they were to help avoid sliding on non-carpeted or more flat floors. We had ours on thick carpet so it made little difference.

Overall though, this toy was worth both the space it occupied and the challenging set up. It provided hours and hours of entertainment lasting for months.

Cost: $35-$45

I purchased this product to replace another gym (The Ocean Wonders Kick and Crawl Gym). Although the Ocean Wonders Gym was the better choice compared to most of the other choices out there, I was looking for something that would keep my infant entertained for longer than 3 minutes without human interaction, thus freeing me up at least for a little while.

I will feature the Ocean Wonders Gym in another review but will say the biggest difference and deciding factor for me in swapping for the Kickin’ Bobbin’ Gym was the automatic playing of music and lights each time the ball in the back is kicked. This feature gives infants immediate reward for moving and keeps it going for a few minutes to keep them entertained. The ball is relatively easy to kick as well and its large size provides a quick and rewarding target for any infant.

The sound portion has two different volume control settings and plays a giggle right before playing the music.

The neat thing about this gym is the ability to convert to a “sitting” toy for older babies up to toddlers. The bear face flips up and snaps into place to create a “table” of sorts with the bear face and pushing the red nose now being the primary source for music and lights.

In addition to the lights and sounds, this toy features two legs on the side to drop balls through. These balls then drop down in the feet giving some interactive cause and effect play.

The arms dangle down and have brightly colored bugs for infant entertainment: a dial and spinning ball for older baby interaction.

Assembly was relatively simple; a few screws for the legs and bear head, then snapping the toys on with the plastic “links”.

All in all a great toy for infants up to the early toddler.