The Graco Everyway Soother is the Swing New Moms Deserve

“Baby Girl, why do you hate sleep?”

That’s how the conversation starts, every day around 10:00 am when the twins first nap should be taking place.  This question is usually followed by. “Sleep is sooooo good for you.  When you’re older you will LOVE sleep.  Mommy loves to sleep. Mommy wishes she was sleeping right now.”  Now, I use the word “conversation” loosely as my daughter is 6 months old, and, as we all know, no amount of bargaining or reasoning will win over an infant.

Doesn’t mean I don’t try every single day.

The Good ‘Ol Days //

Remember when your newborn would sleep all day, anywhere? Hate to be the one to break it to you, but that changes in a hurry. Days like this make me long for the time when the babies were fresh and sleeping 3-4 hours at a time, without any effort required by me or my husband.  In fact, they slept so well and so long that we often had to wake them up for feedings (because they were preemies and feeding was an issue).   But yes, you read that right. We woke them up from naps.  I want to go back in time and shake that version of myself for not milking every sweet sleeping second out of those teeny babes. What I would do now with 4 hours of uninterrupted time, sigh… a girl can dream. (Sidenote: Look how littttllleee my babies were. Eeeeeee.)

Team No Nap //

It seemed like overnight my sleep-obsessed kiddos turned into straight-up nap-haters. And a no-nap infant is basically a little fire demon, waiting to explode baby rage all over you.

Overall, Little Man is a much better sleeper than Baby Girl, but he sure knows how to throw a nuclear level tantrum when he’s going down. He is slowly getting used to napping in the crib, but before we let him sleep wherever he crashed: stroller bassinet, grandma’s arms, or our Graco Everyway Soother before he grew out of it.

When she was little, Baby Girl would really only sleep when she was being held or swaddled up like a burrito. She was not a fan of traditional swings or rockers, so what worked for Hunter did not work for her.  (I mean, why would it? That would be too easy.)

When Space is an Issue //

A surprising fact to no one, four humans living in an 800 sq foot condo means that sleep space is always an issue. So, as much as I would have liked to bring in all different types of baby apparatuses and toys to try and coax these rambunctious babes into dreamland, it was just not doable.

Neither is having two of everything. I mean, I barely have room for all my own crap, nevermind having double the baby gear strewn all around the place for me to inevitably trip over.

It’s a Swing Thing //

But it seemed like every parent out there has their go-to swing. The way that my mom friends talk about their preferred swing makes these it seem like a rocker/ swing solved all their baby problems, their life problems, and put their kid through college.

We tried a few of those recommended ones, and, shocker, none of them worked for us.  The babies just did not take to them.  So, when we got the chance to try the Graco Everyway Soother, I have to say, I was a little apprehensive at first.

It was one more thing to try to fit in our already cluttered condo.  It was just another swing/rocker thingy; why would this work any better than what we had already tried? Where would it go?? What if the kids hate it???

Spoiler Alert: The babies, in fact, did NOT hate it.

Two Babies, Two Uses //

THEY FREAKING LOVED IT. However, not at the same age/time.

Hunter was the first to take to the Everyway Soother.  I remember he was doing his usual pterodactyl impersonation (hitting 45 minutes) when we got the Everyway Soother assembled. And by we, I mean my husband and father-in-law. We plopped him straight in it and pressed one of the wordless hieroglyphic-esque buttons.

The craziest thing happened: he stopped screaming. He looked up at the mobile and fixated on the bear (fondly but not creatively called Mr. Bear in our house). He stared at this bear for what seemed like an hour. (It was 15 minutes.) He was totally transfixed. Then, he fell asleep.

We did what could only be described as a delirious new-parent happy dance complete with pantomime high-fives, and promptly started attacking our overly ambitious new-parent to-do list. You know the one. It has 20+ items on it that you have anywhere from 30-120 minutes to do. We got nearly an hour of uninterrupted time, which felt like an eternity.

We quickly disposed of all other swing things taking up valuable Soother space.

Later, we tried Hayden in hoping for the same magical effect. Sadly, no dice. She was entertained by Mr. Bear for about 5 minutes then wasn’t having it. No big deal; if it worked for one twin that was good enough for me. Or, the swing was batting .500 as one person put it, and that’s pretttty darn good.

The Graco Everyway Soother became Hunter’s go-to happy place when he needed some calm-time or if I needed a break juggling both babies. But, when Hunter started rolling over, the Soother lost its appeal to him. He was constantly trying to break free of the safety harness so we agreed it had run its course for him.

So, we tried Hayden in it again, and by some kind of twin witchcraft, she loved it! She never slept or napped in it, but she was quiet, peaceful and content for at least an hour at a time. This allowed me to give some one-on-one attention to the little man, or if I was really lucky and Hunter was napping elsewhere, I could actually accomplish something…. like write this blog post.  😀

The Details //

• The Graco Everyway Soother has 16 different motions. Each of our babies had their own favourites.
• The top part detaches into a rocker.  I personally have not used this feature only because we didn’t really have the need to use that way in our space, but it’s very cool to have a multi-purpose use.
• There are different music, speed, and vibration options. Babies are tiny divas and are super particular about these things, so it’s always nice to have options.
• You can find them pretty much anywhere: Wal-Mart, Amazon, Babies R Us etc.
• It is one of the more compact swing/rocker devices out there.
• Listed at $225 CDN on Amazon.ca, it is not the cheapest option out there.  However, it is one of the more versatile products with motion options and the multi-use described above. So more bang for your buck, in my opinion.
• It’s not very portable. It’s sturdy and heavy and would be best suited for staying in one place minus the removable rocker. I mean, I think that’s the main purpose, but just a heads up in case you were hoping to lug it from room to room.

Final Thoughts //

This swing helped us out a ton, allowing us some peace and quiet or time to give individual attention to each baby.  (Or, if I’m being totally honest…scroll Instagram for an hour.)

The Everyway Soother also produced some of the first and biggest smiles we had the pleasure to see.  That alone was worth the addition to our home.

If you know a new mom or expecting mom, this would make a wonderful shower gift from a few friends looking to go in on a present.

Want your very own Graco Everyway Soother? Enter here for your chance to win one. You can enter every day until June 30th.

Thanks for reading! (Bonus points if you caught my Dark Knight Returns reference in the title. #nerdalert)

Did you use a swing or rocker with your little ones? Share with me in the comments!