I have hit a wormhole in the all encompassing baby retail industry - mobiles.
Why is it so hard to find baby mobiles that are both stylish AND functional? There seems to be 2 differing schools of thought on the role of a mobile in the crib.
1. to create a visually stimulating focal point for Baby's sensory (ie. visual) development
2. to entertain Baby both visually and audibly in the form of spinning, blinking and music
...and apparently never the two shall meet. At least not anywhere that is visually pleasing to me! I always just assumed a mobile should spin and play music. This seems to have the highest likelihood of keeping my baby happy. But sadly it, it looks like I have to choose between a plastic (and yes, gawdy) contraption that can entertain Baby with its whirls and spins and colors or else go with a more aesthetically pleasing, yet boring to Baby variety.
I started here - the Baby Safari mobile from baby Gap as seen below and in the overall design board for the nursery.
Sadly, by the time I went to order it, it was sold out! But after reading more about it, I found it shares the same pros & cons with the other cute mobiles I was about to discover:
Pros: a cute, "hand knit" look, vibrant colors and none of that plastic-y craziness I hate.
Cons: minimal or no movement and/or music to entertain Baby (and let me go do something crazy...like shower). This particular mobile only plays for 2 minutes. The consensus among reviewers on the baby Gap site was that 2 minutes is no where near long enough to lull Baby to sleep and you have to sit there and keep winding it up. Ugh.
Off I went in search of other mobiles that fit the cute/hand-made + functional formula. My first stop was Etsy of course where I was not disappointed.
Problem - totally stationary and plays no music. Sadness.
Next up, the laser cute bamboo jungle safari mobile by Petit Collage. I love the simplicity and the natural bamboo tones. But once again, totally stationary and plays no music.
Then I stopped for a brief foray into sports themed mobiles all of which I know hubby would not be cool with (we're not exactly on the same side for a lot of sports shall we say).
and of course...
This last one is the only 1 of the bunch I would seriously consider getting (indoctrination has to start early) but it would go over like a lead balloon at the house so...the search continues.
Really love this Grand Jungle Animals mobile from Blabla. It's the priciest of the bunch, no doubt a result of each little circus animal being hand-knit by Peruvian artists
Once again, it's stationary and plays no music!!!
Now we get into the far less appealing but highly reviewed by existing parents models.
At this point I started to think...is all that spinning and music OVER stimulation for Baby? Perhaps a stationary mobile accompanied by the sounds from the adorable Sleep Sheep is enough?
On the other end of the spectrum is the very highly reviewed Tiny Love Sweet Dreams mobile.
This bad boy is honestly my worst nightmare. All that spinning plastic makes me mental. BUT, parents swear it keeps their baby quiet and entertained for precious minutes. The music and motion continues for as long as 20 minutes and it even comes with a remote to allow parents to turn it off from afar after Baby has fallen asleep (or on from afar if you need to buy yourself some time?) As a sleep deprived, first time parent, I can see how all of that would be very appealing. Maybe even appealing enough for me to look past how much I don't like the way it looks...
So here I am - confused by all the options, forcing myself to remember the mobile is for BABY and not for ME and that no degree of cuteness will even remotely matter if I have a screaming child to deal with.
Stationary mobile + other form of music to lull Baby to sleep or that crazy plastic Cadillac of mobiles that does everything but change Baby's diaper (because then it would be a done deal).
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