Jukebox for exercising back and neck muscles

Product name: LeapFrog Learn & Groove Activity Station (http://www.leapfrog.com/en_gb/families/learn___groove/0/learngroovestation.html)

What is it?This is a little jukebox that allows a baby with a relatively stable back and head control to have fun while strengthening his/her back and neck muscles

Why did it catch my attention?I was looking for something that my son could use to practice sitting up – and his legs were to chubby for the Bumbo!!

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was around 3 months old, but seen in retrospect he was too young (to be read as too unstable in his back and neck) to be able to use it unsupervised

What value does it add for us?He has a lot of fun while practicing to keep his back and neck up straight. This is one of the few toys I have come by that plays ‘happy’ music (e.g. not lullabies that make your baby drowsy) and it has a built-in teething toy (the microphone)

What does it replace?In our case it was meant to replace a Bumbo, but any entertainment station with similar items and where the baby is sitting/half-standing fulfills the same objective

How did my baby respond to it?The toys, and in particular the teething-microphone immediately caught his attention, but at the age of 3 months he was so wobbly that he fell forwards and did not really enjoy his time very much. When he started to be able to use it for real at around 4 months the interest had moved on to turning the pages of the ‘music book’ and to pressing the keys of the colourful keypad to play music

How much does it cost?Around £60

Can I see any drawbacks?It is not the kind of activity centre that you can leave your baby to play in on his own (at least not until he/she grows a bit older) and as with all noisy toys the parents’ might get tired of the tunes and noises. It is not especially neat and a bit clumsy to store away