Product Review: Baby Jamz
As a brand new member of Team Mom I recently received two new Baby Jamz products. Baby Jamz is the first ever hip-pop/rhythm-inspired product line for infants and toddlers. It is the creation of father-daughter team, Solange and Matthew Knowles (Beyonce’s sister and father). I received both a Baby Jamz Music Crew and a Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes Volume 1 CD to review.
Baby Jamz Music Crew
Exclusively available at Wal-Mart, $4.88
The Baby Jamz Music Crew is a small plastic toy shaped like a mini boom box. It comes with two plastic figures from the Baby Jamz crew (there are four characters to collect in all - Julez, Jasmine, Carlos and Simon). Each mini boom box plays one 20-second song bite from the Baby Jamz Nursery Rhyme CD. Music is activated by (1) pushing a button on the front or (2) pressing the character’s feet into a shallow indentation on top. The characters are hard to press into place and come off easily. Even my four year old had trouble.
I am not impressed with this toy. From a parent’s perspective there are two important features missing: (1) volume control and (2) an “On/Off” switch. The music is loud and listening to one song over and over again gets old quickly. This toy, in my opinion, doesn’t have much value. I place it in the same novelty category as toys that accompany a fast food children’s meal. My kids enjoyed the boom box for a day or two but they soon lost interest.
Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes Volume 1 CD
Exclusively available at Wal-Mart, $10.47
Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes is a CD featuring 13 nursery rhymes sung by Solange Knowles. Classic songs such as “This Old Man,” “Old MacDonald” and “Skip To My Lou” are re-invented as hip-hop versions. I thought the Nursery Rhymes CD was “feel good” and fun to listen to. It is not a CD that is easy to sit still to. I was amused that some nursery rhyme purists have given Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes a negative review based on lyrics that have been changed to represent the hip-hop culture. (Baby Jamz is marketed as a hip-hop product line.) For example, in “Hush Little Baby,” mama promises to buy some new bling bling instead of a diamond ring. I’m pretty sure this is harmless but I guess it is something a parent would want to know before purchasing (especially since the product labeling only reads “Jammin’ New Nursery Rhymes For Baby”). The case is packaged with a “Try Me” button that plays a sample of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
After listening to Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes I recalled a story from when my daughter was a newborn in Chicago. The night she was born my husband took our daughter to the hospital nursery to give me some uninterrupted sleep. My daughter was fussy (as newborns tend to be) but the nurses had a secret weapon - gospel music. It turns out that babies respond calmly to more than just classical music!
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