Gym mat

[Cosmogirl]

Hi girls!
Somebodywants to giveus a gym mat. I'd love to have one, but there are SO many out there. I was wondering if you could help me make a decision about this. I saw the:
Gymini delux
Gymini total playground
Baby einstein
Lamaze.
Any one better then the other??
Any web site that rates those toys???
Thanks for your help!

[twinnyme]

We have the Gymini Deluxe (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000067K0L/qid=1126031455/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1460156-9268945?v=glance&s=imaginarium&n=507846) and I like it a lot. So does DD. She spent a TON of time on it when she was younger - and still sometimes uses it while sitting, though that's getting less and less. It has nice music (the "Mozart" setting is just music, no lyrics, and is pretty calm and soothing) - it's also 10 minutes long, which is a good interval to get things done! She could sometimes last 30 minutes on it when she was little. It also has a Nursery Rhymes music setting, I think.

[Traciann]

We also have the gymini deluxe. I ended up putting that one on my registry because I liked the look of it and it had a mirror on it. DD really started to enjoy it around 2 months...and just recently started looking at the mirror at 4 months so the mirror wasn't as key as I thought it would be. I had the tiny love windchimes, but I returned them because I thought they were too big for the mat. Instead I found a single chime by Sassy and DD loves it! A friend has the Einstein one and her son loved it...especially the musical star on it.

HTH!

[kimthebride]

DS loves his Baby Einstein Play Gym
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000936LR.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg
You can turn the music on to be activated by baby's hitting the items hanging from the arches, which he looooves. At the center of the arch is a big star with a smiley face on it, and when the music is on there are lights that flash on each point. Mesmerising. The colorful squeaky and rattling toys that come with are not overwhelming for a young baby.
Anyway, what I love about the gym is that you can hang all sorts of different chimes, rattles and toys from it depending on your baby's activity. DS was a kicker in the very early weeks so I bought a...
Tiny Love Baby's Wind Chimes Kick Toy
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000067PXI.01._PE15_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg
...to hang from it and he kicked up a STORM, amusing himself for long stretches.
The mat itself is great for tummy time too. You can use the soft bean pod to help prop him up and the colorful mat really grabs his attention.
Also there is a soft mirror for him to use to "talk" to his friend when he can see clearly. Too cute.

He's 3 months old now and we still use this every single day. I would give this as a gift to a friend in a heartbeat. I've tried other mats with him at friends' homes and nothing I have found can compare.

[Sophia]

Bumping this up for recs.

1) I'm confused by all the choices.
2) They're expensive! DS & DD had a little gym with Sesame Street toys (circa 1992) that I would put on a separate blanket (they really liked it--alas, I no longer have it), but it wasn't nearly as involved as these.

I guess I'm wondering if the newer ones with all the bells an whistles are really worth the price.

[kiki61872]

we have 2 - one for our house and one for my mom's (she's daycare for us)

the one we have - we got the Flutterbye one and DD is and always has been less than impressed.

my mom has some cheapo one that hardly has anythign on it - but its black, white and red - and she LOVES it.

go figure.

[DianeCourt]

We've got the Gymini Total Playground. It's DD's favorite toy by far, and it's something she could use as soon as we brought her home from the hospital. I like the kick pad on it that makes noise whenever DD boots it. The mirror is also handy for something to look at during tummy time.

[snowzilla]

Bumping this up for recs.

1) I'm confused by all the choices.
2) They're expensive! DS & DD had a little gym with Sesame Street toys (circa 1992) that I would put on a separate blanket (they really liked it--alas, I no longer have it), but it wasn't nearly as involved as these.

I guess I'm wondering if the newer ones with all the bells an whistles are really worth the price.

Hi Sophia - my two older children are 8 and 10, so I had quite a gap between them and DC#3, who is now six months old. Somewhere in between, the choices for baby gear changed drastically, and tripled! I had a very simple Fisher Price gym when they were little - it was plastic and simple and they loved it, so when faced with the new choices for DD, it was overwhelming.

Anyhooooo, we got the Baby Einstein mat as a shower gift, and I must admit, I am really happy with it. If you read kimthebride's description above, DD loves the star with the smiley face, and the music and lights. And being able to switch out the toys on the links is nice (of course, I was able to do that with the FP model too).

I'd say, in comparison, it is worth the extra price - however, take that with a grain of salt. Because other baby gear that I got for her based on great recommendations from other moms turned out to be totally unpopular with finicky little DD. ;) We have an 80 dollar papasan chair that sits, unused, in the laundry room. She hated it. :rolleyes:

[Traciann]

sophia i responded in the thread earlier. honestly i got the gymini because i liked it better. looking back, i bet dd would have been happy with anything, and i would definatly buy a cheaper one if i ever had to buy one again.

and i do know what kind of bar thing you are talking about. I think i have seen those recently at walmart.

[BeachBum]

I am really not being snarky, but I honestly don't think it matters. Just pick one that looks intersting to you :) DS loved his for a couple of months (2,3,4), but then got bored with it. I thought he would find the kicking parts interesting for longer, but he didn't.
I must agree though that the chimes were absolutely his favorite!

[AlisonCO]

I am really not being snarky, but I honestly don't think it matters. Just pick one that looks intersting to you DS loved his for a couple of months (2,3,4), but then got bored with it. I thought he would find the kicking parts interesting for longer, but he didn't.
I must agree though that the chimes were absolutely his favorite!


I agree. We have an older gymini one with animals on the mat part - you can always buy more things to hang on it if you buy a less expensive one. DD now 5 months will not even lay in there long enough for me to pee, so it was put away this weekend. I did hang the chimes in the car in front of her and she likes that.

[Sophia]

Snowzilla: Thanks for your story. It's crazy now, isn't it? DS turned 13 in Sep., and DD will turn 11 in April. Everything is so different now, it occasionally makes me feel like a first-timer (case in point: closing the strollers--I liked the old mechanisms better).

Traciann: If I can't get over being confused, I'll go check out Wal-Mart and see if their bar type gyms are like what we had before. LOL

I do like the look of the Baby Einstein and Tiny Love ones. It's the price tags wigging me out. I think I need to go check them out in the store again. I hate that they're on the bottom shelf and I have to squat. I'm not quite 20 weeks and already having trouble getting up from that position. :rolleyes:

[LeslieR]

I know they are pretty pricey. Are you going to have a baby shower? You could always register for it!

We got the Tiny Love Gymini and it was worth every penny. It was the first time I questioned whether I was paying enough attention to DS because he would play on it for so long without making a fuss. Now that he's rolling over both ways, he's not content on it anymore. I just took it apart so that I can wash the mat before I put it away for the next kiddo.

[Sophia]

As of yet, I haven't been offered a baby shower, but I plan to register for it anyway, just in case. The price still gets to me, though.

[Cali_Katy]

We had the Tiny Love Gymini Deluxe and DS absolutely loved it. It was by far his favorite toy until about six months when he could sit up on his own and play with different sorts of things. Was worth every penny to me because he played with it so much and for awhile, but I bet it's the sort of thing you could find at a garage sale in great condition for $10, because when they're done with it, they're done.

And we bought the add-on chimes, too, and they were a HUGE hit.

[DallasLady]

I'm looking for reccommendations on an activity gym for my DD. Any particular models that your DC loved or hated? What are good features to look for?

[bluhimmy]

We have the Tiny Love Super Deluxe Gymini With Lights And Music

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000067K0L.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS260_V66562840_.jpg

We didn't get much use out of it. DS hated it; acutally he hated everything and only wanted to be held. However, our DD loves it, so we're getting good use out of it finally. And at 3 now, DS is loving it now.

[ShelbyMay]

We also have the superdeluxe gymini. DD is just starting to get interested in it at 3.5 months. She looks in the mirror and kicks the music pad during tummy time, and she likes to lie on her back and bat at the hanging toys and tries to chew on them.

I got ours on ebay for about $30.

[alienhost]

I found a basic Tiny Love Gymini at TJ Maxx - just the mat, soft toys/clips and "bars". It had some crinkly/scrunchie parts on the mat. I think I paid less than $30. I didn't feel a need for the music and other bells and whistles since so many of her toys had "noise".

[J&K2003]

If you search here (http://www.kidsurplus.com) for Gymini, there are have good prices on playmats.

FWIW, we have the Tiny Love Gymini Total Playground Kick & Play and DD loved it for her first 7 months of life. Now she'd rather be crawling around. :p

[Wrighty26]

We have the Baby Einstein Discovery and Play mat and Braeden LOOOOOOVES it. I'm pretty sure that all of the mats are around the right price and you can't go wrong with them. I liked the Baby Einstein mat because of the primary colors and animal theme.

[jbenny75]

We have the Gymini Deluxe Lights and Music. We like it. DS is 4 months old and he's laid in it and watched the animals since he was a couple of weeks old. Once he started doing well with tummy time, he loved to lay on it and look down at the animals. He doesn't seem to care about the music or mirror very much. For some reason, he was totally in love with the monkey for awhile, it was the only thing he would look at.