Lamaze Spin and Explore Garden Gym

This is a very versatile toy with lots of lovely features that my 11 month old son still plays with. I bought it for him when he was two months old as I was looking to find a way of encouraging him to play on his tummy and had read a lot of positive reviews about this product.

===Product Description===
This toy comes in two parts. The first part of the toy is a nice, brightly coloured play mat which is about 70cm in diameter and ...
...Each petal has a different activity; there is a bumble bee attached to the mat by elastic which has a rattle inside, there are two large leaves which have crinkly material inside, there is also a butterfly whose wings have the same crinkly material, there is a flower with a mirror attached to it which can be removed, and there is a nest with some baby birds in it, one of which contains a squeaking toy and which can be tucked inside the nest.
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This is a very versatile toy with lots of lovely features that my 11 month old son still plays with. I bought it for him when he was two months old as I was looking to find a way of encouraging him to play on his tummy and had read a lot of positive reviews about this product.

Product Description

This toy comes in two parts. The first part of the toy is a nice, brightly coloured play mat which is about 70cm in diameter and is in the shape of a flower with 5 petals. Each petal has a different activity; there is a bumble bee attached to the mat by elastic which has a rattle inside, there are two large leaves which have crinkly material inside, there is also a butterfly whose wings have the same crinkly material, there is a flower with a mirror attached to it which can be removed, and there is a nest with some baby birds in it, one of which contains a squeaking toy and which can be tucked inside the nest.

The second part of the toy is the tummy spinner. This is made from sturdy plastic with a padded fabric cover which goes over the top part to cushion it for your baby. This is in a ladybird design. The spinner moves around very smoothly and is around 15cm from the ground which enables your baby to touch the toys on the mat when lying on their tummy.

Age Recommendation

The manufacturers state that this product is suitable for babies from 0 to 6 months however the spinning element of it should be removed once your child is able to sit up at around 5 months.

My Experience

I certainly would not consider putting a newborn baby on the spinning ladybird as they would not have the strength in their neck so would be very uncomfortable with their head hanging down. My son is big and very strong (he was 9lb 6oz when born and could support his head from birth) however the first few times I used it with him he did not like it at all as he was suddenly being forced to use his neck muscles in a way in which he was not used to.

However, once he had got used to having to support his neck in this way he really enjoyed being able to move himself around to get to whichever toy he wanted to play with. I only let him play on it for a few minutes at a time as any longer than that and he got very frustrated and annoyed. I suspect that part of the reason for this is that the top part of the spinner is not very thickly padded so he was getting uncomfortable.

This toy did help to encourage my son to enjoy spending time on his tummy even though it was only for a few minutes at a time. However, I found simply lying my son on the carpet or in his cot with toys all around him was a much more effective way of doing this.

Once my son was too old for the spinning element of this toy I used the play mat all the time especially when my son was learning to sit up as I could sit him on it and he could play with all the toys around him.

Although my son is now 11 months old, he still likes to get this play mat out from his toy box to play with the crinkly fabric, shake the bumble bee rattle and stick and unstick the mirror onto the flower.

Quality and Safety

This is a very well made toy. The stitching on it is very secure so there is no danger of your child pulling off and choking on it.

It is not safe to leave a child unattended on the spinning part of this toy as they may be able to roll off it.

Pricing and Availability

The recommended retail price of this product is £33.99 however I bought it from Amazon for just under £25. It is widely available at other stores such as Tesco Direct and Argos.
 

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