Slusy's Full Review: Munchkin iCrib Sound System - May Vary
As we prepared for the birth of our first daughter, I was quickly whisked into the sometimes frightening and often confusing world of baby gear. I was quickly introduced to the wide world of contraptions and gadgets like pack and plays, swings, bouncers, and travel systems. In this whirlwind of occasionally cheap plastic, confusing instructions, and some assembly required, my geek instincts asserted themselves when, on a trip to BJ's, I stumbled upon the iCrib, which could simply be described as baby's first MP3 speaker system. Given that the price was right ($10), it was an easy decision, and I justified it by saying that even though we probably didn't need it, I needed one piece of crazy baby gear that I could be excited about. Several months later, while the iCrib is far from the perfect piece of equipment, it was, for a period of time, the best $10 we ever spent.
One important caveat that is important to clear up right off the bat: The iCrib is an MP3 speaker system, not an MP3 player. That means that you must supply your own music player, and the iCrib simply plays it through external speakers. The nice thing about the iCrib, despite the lower case "i" that would imply that it is an iPod specific device, is that it will accept nearly any MP3 player, thanks to a 1/8" plug that plugs into a standard headphone jack. (You could probably even use an old Walkman if you wanted to.) The unit also comes with a set of plastic inserts that help fit several models of iPod, which would also likely help accommodate other similarly sized players. The downside to this, of course, is that the iCrib doesn't keep your iPod charged, so you'll need to remember to take it out of the unit and charge it every couple of nights, which isn't a problem unless you realize right when you're putting your little one to sleep that your iPod is in need of a charge.
Operating the unit is fairly simple. There are two switches on the front: One turns on the unit and optionally activates the colored lights on the front of the device, and the other allows you to set a timer for 15, 30, or 60 minutes. The lights, in particular, are a nice touch, and the iCrib has actually served as a substitute night light on a couple of trips. The iCrib also claims that it includes a volume limiter, but I've found that it actually goes fairly loud, more so than I would expect a volume limited speaker to go. Of course, there is no actual volume switch on the iCrib itself; volume is controlled via the MP3 player itself.
The iCrib attaches to the crib via two Velcro straps that come out of the back of the unit. The straps are short for safety reasons; obviously, if the straps were too long, a curious baby could accidentally choke himself with it. In our case, though, the straps proved to be too short and would not wrap all the way around the top of the crib. We were able to balance the unit on top of the crib wall for a while (the unit resembles an upside down U, so it can sit on top of the crib without falling off or into the crib), but eventually our daughter reached a stage where she would wake up and throw everything in sight out of the crib, including the iCrib, so that was the end of that. Until that point, though, the shortness of the Velcro straps was more of a minor inconvenience than a major flaw.
The iCrib takes four AA batteries, which generally lasted about a month with the unit set with a 60 minute timer and the lights on. The complaint I have about the batteries isn't so much related to life or to the ease of changing (fairly easy, presuming you have a Philips head screwdriver handy), but rather the way that the unit lets you know that the batteries are low. Specifically, it emits an extremely loud groaning noise that almost sounds like radio static but worse. Amazingly, this sound never once woke up our daughter, but it did send me running up to her room in a panic several times when I heard it over the baby monitor. I'm not sure if this is a flaw in my unit specifically, or a really big oversight on the designers' part, but if you have a light sleeper, you might want to invest in some rechargeable batteries with the iCrib and change them more often than you think you need to.
Overall, given the price, you really can't go too wrong with the iCrib. It certainly was a lifesaver when we realized that our daughter needed music to help soothe her to sleep and that the mobiles that we had set up in her crib just weren't cutting it. It's got some flaws, but if you've got an extra music player lying around and your child needs music to fall asleep, this is an excellent way to solve your problem without spending a lot of money. Heck, you'll save more than $20 on coffee alone!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 10 Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
Choose The Music That Soothes Your Baby. Allows You To Play Your Mp3 Player Ipod, Iriver And Rio On Babies Crib. Free Music Downloads. manufacturer Su...More at Target
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