Activity Gym Review: Kushies Baby Shangrila vs. Infanitino Vintage Twist and Fold

With our firstborn, we hemorrhaged money as we sought out the “best” and most complicated baby accoutrement available.  Being inexperienced with kids in general, I was totally unaware that, given a choice between a piece of Tupperware and a lights and bells-make-your-baby-brilliant-machine, most babes would happily have the Tupperware any day of the week. 

I’d like to think experience has made me wiser with baby number two, but apparently that’s not entirely true.  Case and point: since discovering that my Gymini mat, used for Boy Wonder No. 1 was lost in our move, I’ve had my eye on the Kushies Baby Shangrila play mat ($125.99).  It’s been described as the Rolls Royce of baby play gyms.  I loved the look of the mat itself and the fact that it’s reversible from one colorful side to a black and white graphic.  Alas, the Shangrila mat was not in production for much of 2009 as the company worked out some design kinks, so I couldn’t get my hands on one (making me want it more, Shangri-La indeed!).  As a stop-gap, I purchased the Infantino Vintage Twist and Fold activity gym ($36.99) and ended up loving it. 

The Infantino is a straight forward play gym, but it doesn’t skimp on the extras.  It comes with a tummy time bolster, cute toys, fun, vintage colors and an absolutely brilliant folding mechanism that allows you to just twist and close the gym like an umbrella, making it infinitely easier to store than other gyms and great for people who really like to put all the toys away at the end of the day.  All this at the rock bottom price of $36.99!  Why would I bother purchasing anything else when all our play gym needs were already being met?  Parental guilt, that’s why.

As a second child myself, I’m hyper sensitive to short-shifting the tiniest man in my house in any way. So, struggling for a Christmas gift for my then 3 month old (who has everything since he’s a second), I received an email update alerting me that the Shangrila was now in stock and ready for purchase.  Perfect!  What delightful and beyond-perfection, already-sleeping-through-the-night infant couldn’t use the Rolls Royce of play gyms?

Well, it’s here.  And I feel dumb dumb dumb for wasting over $100 on a cute play mat that doesn’t even serve its purpose as well as the bargain basement Infantino version already had.  The double-sided mat is really nice, but the arches are too high, and the three (yes, only THREE!) hanging toys are incredibly boring and don't even dangle low enough to be batted at, which is the whole point of a play gym. The toys that attach to the mat are intriguing, but more suited to a 6-9 month old, by which time I’ll have introduced a whole bunch of other toys.  Furthermore, the toy rings are over-engineered and hang on velcro, which makes them adjustable, but due to the high pitch of the gym arches, they don't hang within a baby’s arm’s reach (unless you have a really giant baby with super long arms or you place your baby all the way to one corner of the gym ), and it only comes with two Velcro straps, yet another disappointment for the price tag.  

Guess we’ll have to go for babe number three to make all this mess more cost-effective : )!  I hear my dear hubby in the background: GULP.

M.

 

 

 

Comments

[becky mcbride]

hilarious.

[Jess]

Oh,how I wish I had seen this post before I bought the world's ugliest gym ever (it looks like a Disney/Rainforest barf).

[Baby play mats]

Well, this is awesome. May the best one win.