Sassy Me in the Mirror with MP3

My baby loves mirrors and “crinkle” stuff so this was a big hit. The bird (is it a bird? Whatever the blue thing is in the upper corner) is crinkly and the sun turns and has a squeaker in it (although my baby isn’t old enough to squeak it yet).

I thought I was going to love the MP3 attachment…but honestly it kinda sucked.

1) The attached cable is EXTREMELY short. I know it can’t be long since it’s a toy for a baby, but it is SO short that it’s difficult to get the ipod hooked up.

2) It doesn’t hook up to my iPhone.

3) Contrary to the other review, the sound does NOT come through the sun–at least as far as I can tell. It can definitely be heard coming out the REAR of the mirror, though…which leads to #4.

4) It can’t take much of an an increase in volume–since the sound comes out the back, when the mirror was front-facing (as it would be if the baby was playing with it), we had to turn it up to even hear it–and at full volume the speakers were cutting out.

I didn’t buy this mirror SPECIFICALLY for the MP3 aspect, but I am docking it one star for the fact that it is PROMOTED in the product name–so I would expect that it would work better than it does.

The other thing I don’t really like–and the reason I knocked it down another star–is that it doesn’t really stand up well for belly-time use. The front and back pieces come apart (with velcro) to form an A-type stand (as you can see in the product photo), but there’s no bracing of any kind to support it, so one light touch from the baby and over it goes. If you were to use this in a crib (velcroed to the rails) then it wouldn’t be an issue, but we use it mostly for belly time so it’s a bit of a nuisance to keep upright.

So, overall, if you’re buying this for a generic mirror-type activity, then it’s fine, and I would give it 5 stars. But if you want the generic activity PLUS you plan on using it for belly time, it gets 4 stars. And if you want the mirror PLUS using it for belly time PLUS you really want the MP3 player part of it…well then, it gets 3 stars.
3 stars

Overall I think Jennifer’s review hits the nail on the head- but I’m not as critical so I’ll give it 4 stars. For under […], let’s face it, you’re not getting a bose. BUT there’s definitely a pracical matter. The speaker DOESN’T come out of the sun. It is attached to the back, facing back. And over that speaker is a little pouch which serves double duty to hold the ipod and to attach it to a crib (but not a packnplay). Unfortuantely, put that ipod in there, and it covers the speaker. When turned up ALL THE WAY, the ipod is hearable from about 2 feet. But that’s about it. Maybe it’s a safety issue for baby’s ears but I think it needs to be a bit more robust…

Still, I’d buy it again.
4 stars