She's a baby gymnast, and I'm less harassed! (Tiny Love's Gymini Deluxe)

Member Name: sersha

Product:	Tiny Love's Gymini Deluxe
Date:	03/04/05 (420 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a safe place, helps your child learn motor and coordination skills, and fun !

Disadvantages: baby may grow out of it by six months, its quite expensive

I was a bit superstitious about buying anything for my baby while before she arrived safely, but I couldn't help smiling when my husband brought home an award-winning activity gym when I got to twenty weeks pregnant. It was the Tiny Love Gymini Deluxe, which consists of a brightly coloured soft squarish playmat (80cm x 88 cm) with two crossing diagonal arches over it, from which hang several toys.

The hanging toys that come with the mat are: a monkey with springy legs that rattles, a parrot with crinkly wings that sits on a perch, a giraffe with beady feet, a jitterpull purple elephant with crinkly ears, and there is also a colourful rattle with beads that move which Leah loves. There are other toys available that you can buy to hang from the arches, and several holes in them so that you can add toys of your own, or move the toys around (or even take them off completely and use them as toys elsewhere like in the car or buggy!) These hanging animals are great for grabbing, bashing and playing with, and help with hand and eye coordination.

The cloth mat itself has bright, vivid pictures of animals: a lion, a black and white zebra (younger babies love black and white!), a giraffe and an elephant. It's not just a plain cloth - there are some interesting touches, like the lion's felt tail, and the elephants crinkly ears, as well as places that squeak. There are three flowers which light up when you play the music (choose from a ten minute Mozart session to relax your baby, or some nursery tunes.)

Sitting upright in one corner of the mat is a large mirror, which provides much amusement for Leah and was her favourite thing when she was too young to be able to hit the toys with her hands or sustain any interest in them. It moves with flexibility when she kicks it as it sits in an elastic pouch. The mat has also helped her with head and neck control when lying on her tummy, and there is so much to see and do that it encourages her to try rolling over.

The light and sound system is well hidden in a corner of the mat. It runs on 3 AA batteries, but little fingers can't get to them as the unit is safely secured. There is a switch to turn on in order to play the music, but baby can also touch the pad to get the same result. My batteries ran out after only 2 months, as the gym has been well used!

The mat is secured to the arches that are suspended above by poppers. It is very easy to detach the arches, remove the sound unit, and pop the rest of the mat into the washing machine (it needs to go through a delicate cycle.) I've washed the mat several times and the colour hasn't faded. To fold it up you simply fold in half by securing two poppers, and then I slide mine under the sofa, and hey presto! Gone! It came in a plastic pocket, so it would be possible to store it, folded, in that. It's easy to store because it folds up flat and would be a suitable toy for taking in the car on a family holiday.

We started putting Leah on the mat aged about 5 weeks (prior to that it didn't interest her.) Gradually we have watched her with fascination as she has become so much more aware of the toys and the mirror, and has now mastered all that she can do with it! It's most suited for a baby from 0-6 months, but most babies would probably lose interest after that point. It claims to be suitable for babies up to 10 months, but it would be a little optomistic to hope they would still get as much use out of it at that point.

It's a good way for baby to get some exercise as well as have fun. Since we have a growing number of obese children in society, it won't do any harm to start young! And with this playmat, exercise is certainly fun.

Although mothers do quickly become adept at doing things with one hand, it also works as a great, safe, place where I can put her down for five minutes to be entertained when I have to go to the loo, answer the phone, or run around rescuing baby rabbits from the cats!

Price (approx) £44.99

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