Really Neat Mobile But be SURE it Fits your Nursery

I have really liked most all of the ocean wonders products and I had a friend with the ocean wonders aquarium, when I saw the mobile with the remote I knew I wanted to try it too. I was really surprised by the size of it, its really quite large but pretty easy to put together, it has really cute stuffed fish that are angled down to look at the baby and they move around in a circle between the fish are pretty, sheer, fabric seaweed pieces. The top is really what caught my attention, it has a projection of fish and water swirls and stars that also rotate around on the ceiling and walls of your babies room. There are also a number of songs that can be set to play and different volume levels or you can choose only the light projection or just to move the fish with or without music.

My first problem with the mobile was fitting it to the crib. Our crib is a convertible with a pretty thick top rail and almost solid ends, I hadn't even thought of it not fitting and almost had to return it, I figured it would just latch on to the slats and be fine but it actually has a grove on the back that is probably 5 or 6 inches designed to sit on top and below the top rail with a big plastic screw is in the middle and a big plastic wing nut that anchors between the slats at the back of your crib. Well, because my crib has the larger top rail it almost didn't fit, I was determined enough that I chiseled some plastic off of the base between that 5-6" space to make enough room for it to fit on our crib rail * be VERY careful about this if you buy one, obviously you can't return it if you damage it, especially if you do it on purpose, and there is no way to see how it attaches inside the packaging in the store.

Once fitted onto the crib I really do like it even thought as I said it really is HUGE, it gets a little annoying that I bump my head on the stuffed fish when I'm putting my son into and out of the crib, when he's on the side that the mobile is hanging over. Which I'm sure would happen less if I could have attached it to the side rather than on the back / headboard area.

What I like about the product is that it is a soothing and not too bright nightlight when you need to see in the middle of the light and don't want to turn a lamp on. My husband and I still have the crib in our room - my son is only 3 months, so when I need to check on him or get him out for feeding or changing at night, I actually flip on the mobile so I can see, and it's not so bright that it wakes up my husband. This mobile also has a button setting for a light that shines into the crib which again is good for checking the baby, it's not too bright but depending on how asleep your child is it could wake them up; so use it with care if you're still trying to get them to sleep thru the night like we are. I do keep it on the ceiling projection light only setting, since because the crib is in our room, my husband says he cannot sleep with the music on, the volume is too loud for his taste ( even though that is on an auto timer too I think 10 mins ) and it only offers set volume levels not a dial where it can be lowered as quiet as you want.

I love the projections of fish and swirls and stars but : here's another thing I didn't think about a head of time, I have a log home and our ceilings are tongue and groove wood with a big beam running thru the middle as well as being slanted on scissor trusses, plus our crib is near a wall cut out with a closet on the opposite side of the wall, SO ... the projections on my ceiling/ wall are not AS nice as they COULD BE, because of the slant and the wall corner, and the Beam, not so much the wood ceiling it projects pretty nice on that, but it does have to be pitch black in the room to really see the shapes well, if you have lots of light from lots of windows or a street light shining thru at night you might be disappointed as well. My husband and I work shifts and have blackout curtains so we have it really dark in our room and although distorted it is still pretty neat.

The remote is a really nice feature, since the mobile is set on a timer ( about 10 mins ) and I usually need it to be on longer than it's set for, for instance if I'm in bed feeding my son and I need to see I keep the remote by me and can click the light back on when it turns off. the remote has an attached hanger designed to be hung on the door knob of the nursery, I don't recommend this as the base of the remote has a curved bottom and if anything moves the door it will swing and bang into the door and makes a pretty loud noise, that could wake your baby up. I keep mine on the table near my bed or on a table near the door.

One of the best features that I'm still excited to try is that once your baby has outgrown a mobile, this product can be detached from the crib, the stuffed fish removed and used as separate toys, the arm of the mobile has a middle hinge and it will become a table top lamp with the option of the pretty projections and the music. So if your child really becomes attached to the music and pictures he or she can take it with them into toddler-hood and who know maybe even off to college as a bedside lamp.

I Almost forgot there is another fish for your child to play with on the lowest part of the base inside the crib, ( which is still pretty high since it has to be attached to the top rail ) it's not that spectacular, its a fish inside a plastic " window " that your child can touch and squish around, although the plastic window isn't filled with very much liquid so it doesn't move very much and is more practical for looking at.

All in all some of the features didn't work out as well as they could have for me, but I still really like the mobile and would recommend this as long as you check on your crib attachments, and ceiling / wall projection capabilities. I have the ocean wonders aquarium as well, the original style without the remote which I also love but the two together are a little over kill especially if you have a smaller nursery. They are both really neat products but they both kind of serve the same purpose so I'd recommend either one or the other.