In a parent's quest to find products and toys that will last longer than the average 6 month period that seems to be the norm with children's stuff I happened upon the Hedstrom 2 in 1 swing. At the time my 9 month old son loved swings and would squeal with delight as soon as he was sat in one and we decided to get one for our garden. I was taken by the idea of this swing as it combines a baby swing with a grown up swing allowing you to change both the seat and the height of the swing to adapt as your child grows. Priced no differently from the standard swings that I could see at the time I thought that this would be a better investment than purchasing a standard swing and then having to find a baby seat. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The Baby Swing
The baby swing is, in effect, a 1/3rd of the height of a full swing and comprises what will eventually be the top third of the full height swing down as far as the cross-support. The baby seat is a fully moulded plastic seat with a fairly high back and fixed tray. There is a three-point harness that goes from shoulders to crotch. When we looked at the available baby seats the Hedstrom version looked far superior. It looked more sturdy and had a higher back which I liked as I have a (possibly irrational) fear that a young child could
fall backwards from a swing with a low back. In retrospect almost everything about the swing is wrong for any child bigger than about a year (although up to that point the problems are not too severe).
There's a basic issue in the height of the swing. I thought that a low swing would be perfectly adequate, after all, your average year-old isn't going to want to swing to the stars. How wrong was I?! The short rope lengths that attach the swing to the frame mean that the swing arc is extremely limited and my son bored of the swing very very quickly. He still enjoyed the swings at the park because the went higher and faster. Also, the heavier the child the harder it was to achieve a swing arc at all.
This issue could be fixed if you were to build the frame to full height and then get some more rope to attach the baby seat to. I'd imagine that this would be quite fiddly as the way that the rope is attached to the seat means that you'd have to be pretty accurate to get the swing to balance (basically the rope attachment also forms the support for the sides of the swing meaning that it would be absolutely essential that you got both sides the same length as top adjustments wouldn't be possible). However, there's another, more pressing reason why it just wouldn't be worth it.
The baby seat has a major flaw - you just can't get a larger toddler into it! It's big enough to accommodate a child probably up to the age of about three but physically impossible to get them into it! The tray at the front that forms the front safety bar is fixed and will not move at all. Due to the height of the back and the restricted space between the back and the front bar (imagine a highchair with the tray in place for eating) this means that when you try to lift a child into the seat the seat simply tips forward at an angle of about 45 degrees. If the baby seat had a fixed crotch bar this wouldn't be an issue as you could let go of baby and then secure the straps. However, there is no crotch bar and all that seems to happen is that baby (or toddler) simply keeps travelling and ends up coming out of the bottom of the swing. No matter how I've tried to do this, putting my son in from the front or back, the same seems to happen. If you strike lucky and manage to get your child's bottom onto the seat then doing the straps up is extremely fiddly as there's not much room to get down to the fastening near the crotch and you're forever frightened that, with one wriggle, the child will fall out of the bottom again!
The lack of a crotch strap also means that you MUST use the straps. Not an issue for a baby but I've soon learned that a toddler just doesn't understand why they should be restrained (particularly as this doesn't happen at the park). Tears ensue.
The Big Swing
The grown up seat is fairly standard. It's moulded plastic again and fixes with nylon rope to the frame. It's not particularly wide and, as such will not take a sized 10 adult bottom!
Fixing the Swing
It's recommended that you concrete the swing into the ground although most, I suspect will not want to do this on a grassed area. Again there are a few issues. My son is not big but even at this stage the swing tips with just gentle swinging (it's almost as though the geometry of the swing is off) and so I have to hold the swing all the time. On the low swing there's nothing that you could concrete in (the bottom of the legs have the support bar that will be a third of the way from the top of the full height swing running between them), and, even if it were to have a way of fixing it at this height how would you un-concrete it to build it up to full height?
The swing came flat packed and was fairly easy to assemble. Thankfully the rope on both swing parts was pre-fixed and all that was required was that the swing was hung from the fixings at the top. Rehanging the swing as our son has grown has been OK - not the easiest of tasks but one that can be accomplished (preferrably with 2 people).
Wear and Tear
We've had the swing just under two years and, naturally it's been kept outside. The frame is still in reasonable condition although the decals have come off. I was disappointed to see that after just unedr 1 year the nuts and bolts that hold the frame together had rust spots on them. Over the following year these have rusted further but are not too bad. Given a child's propensity to climb I'm not happy with this as I'd expect modern toys designed for outdoor use to remain rust-free for longer than we have had the swing.
In conclusion, what I thought was a bargain buy has turned out to be a waste of money (and space as it's received little use). I'd have been better buying a normal swing and then getting a separate baby seat. On reflection the Little Tikes seat looks good and doesn't suffer the issues that we have. I'm disappointed too with the build quality.
Not recommended.
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2 in 1 Swing Highly versatile, the 2 in 1 Swing converts from a nursery swing to a single ... more
swing to suit the needs and age of the child. Features: Nursery swing with high-back moulded seat and ground pegs for added security Frame extends with attachments; seat can be exchanged for a contour swing seat with adjustable rope All ropes hard wearing and weather resistant Assembled size: Nursery Swing: H107 x W126.5 x D94.5 cm Single Swing: H188 x W145 x D155.5 cm Age: 18 months 10 years Colour may vary
Highly versatile 2-in-1 swing easily converts from toddler swing into junior swing to suit ... more
the growing child. Features: high back, chunky blow-moulded seat with 5-point safety harness for children age 6 - 36 months, rounded junior seat with adjustable ropes for children age 3 - 10 years, robust coated and extendable steel frame, high-tensile allen key fittings and ground pegs included. Assembled size: 180H x 180W x 150Dcm. Box dimensions: 98L x 49W x 12.5Dcm. Weight: 11.2kg. Licensed by MV Sports. Suitable for children from the age of 6 months - 10 years
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
Highly versatile 2-in-1 swing easily converts from toddler swing into junior swing to suit ... more
the growing child. Features: high back, chunky blow-moulded seat with 5-point safety harness for children age 6 - 36 months, rounded junior seat with adjustable ropes for children age 3 - 10 years, robust coated and extendable steel frame, high-tensile allen key fittings and ground pegs included. Assembled size: 180H x 180W x 150Dcm. Box dimensions: 98L x 49W x 12.5Dcm. Weight: 11.2kg. Licensed by MV Sports. Suitable for children from the age of 6 months - 10 years
Postage & Packaging:£4.99 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
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