I recently had the opportunity to check out a new product that Graco calls a "soothing center." I might call the product a "super swing" or an "automatic mother."

The SweetPeace looks a lot like Fisher Price's Baby Papasan swing, but instead of moving just back and forth or side to side, it moves in an arc that the company believes approximates a parent's motions to calm a fussy baby. If you can't picture it, Graco has a video here. By the way, Fisher Price has a product that looks smaller but somewhat similar called the Soothing Motions Glider.

I saw the new product at a party for writers at the Chicago Moms Blog. In the interest of full disclosure, Graco sponsored the party, providing food and cocktails in exchange for the chance to introduce its product to a bunch of mothers who write online. However, I am not being paid by Graco to write this, nor were any of us asked to write about the product.

Seeing the product, I felt the old war start up again inside me, one of the parenting ideal versus the parenting reality.

Let me explain. Before my first child was born, I read Dr. William Sears' and Martha Sears' "The Baby Book" and decided that I would be what he calls an "attached parent." I would wear my baby in a carrier as much as possible, breastfeed on demand, sleep with the baby, and never, ever tote her around in a car seat carrier or use a swing. I didn't register for a swing for my baby shower. "All these products," I told people, "they just come between baby and parent."

Those of you who already have children can take a moment to stop laughing.

Four years later, as my second child is approaching the 1-year mark, I am still an "attached parent." However, my relationship with baby gear has changed markedly.

I went out and bought our first swing when Baby No. 1 was 8 weeks old. I really wish I would have gotten it at least 4 weeks earlier. My baby was not at the torturous end of the fussiness scale, but like most "fourth trimester" infants, she had her fussy stretches, often lasting several hours at a time or on and off all day on certain days.

On some days, I was lucky enough to have friends and family or my husband around to take over when I just had to rest from the constant bouncing she required to stay calm. On the bad days, it was just me and a screaming baby, and an epic struggle to get dinner on the table by the end of the day.

One of the biggest challenges to my theory of 24/7 attachment, it turned out, was making dinner. Stirring a pot of hot food or removing a steaming dish from the microwave with a baby strapped to your chest is a big no-no.

I started to think about how much parenting has changed in recent decades. Is it natural to let a machine do your baby rocking for you? No, but it is also not natural for one person to spend 12 or more hours a day alone with a houseful of children. We used to have relatives around all the time, grandparents, aunts and uncles with arms reaching out to rock those fussy babies.

So, yeah, the swing helped. But I had purchased one of those little travel swings, which only provide so much oomph.

For the second baby, I wanted the most powerful swing I could get, and fortunately my mother located this one at a garage sale. Baby No. 2, who was never as fussy as No. 1 to begin with, nevertheless enjoyed many a nap in the swing while I attended to little details such as taking out a mortgage for the home we were buying and feeding my 3-year-old.

I still wore Baby No. 2 in a carrier and a sling, but I also had no problem with using the swing to give myself a break or to help her nap longer or fall asleep more deeply in the evening (something recommended by "Happiest Baby on the Block" author Dr. Harvey Karp.

So, when I saw this space-age new baby device, part of me said, My God, they've finally created the fully automatic mother! The SweatPeace cradles the baby just the way they like, plays soothing woosh sounds and adjusts its rocking motion to suit each baby's needs. You can even attach a Graco car seat to it so you never need to touch your baby at all! It brought to mind the creepy fake monkey mamas of Dr. Harry Harlow's psychological research.

But underneath that critical voice, another voice in my head was saying, If I had it to do again, I would have registered for that. Baby No. 2, although she was not overly fussy, used to take really long stretches of rocking and nursing to fall asleep, and then had problems staying asleep. I think something like this would have helped me get more rest and even a few dishes done during those difficult six months.

I don't think every family needs a piece of equipment as fancy as the SweetPeace, but if I had a very fussy baby I would definitely try it out -- after checking out online reviews from parents who already have one to see if it delivers on its promises. At $169.99, it's about $50 more than your average full-size swing -- no small investment considering that most families only use an infant swing for the first 6 months of life at most. Fisher Price's soothing glider is $100 less than the SweetPeace but has less options and looks to be more the size of a bouncer than of a swing.

Just please, please, if you get this thing, do not abuse it. Do not make the car seat attachment feature into a daily crutch, putting your baby directly from sleeping in the seat to the car to the stroller system and back again. Babies already spend too much time in car seats.

I mean, you still have to unstrap that baby at some point to change his diaper. It's kind of nice to know there's one service we mothers provide that has not been automated.

Although, come to think of it, why did it have to be that one?