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- The Infantinto Twist and Fold Activity Gym is the best packable baby gym I’ve found. It takes a few seconds to set up and a matter of minutes to fold down.
- Other travel baby gyms are flimsy or have mats that are too small for babies to roll, but this one is sturdy and offers babies a lot of room.
- It lacks extras like crinkle toys and built-in tags, but the removable toys are great for attaching to car seats or placing on the mat for tummy time play.
Big baby gear is both essential and cumbersome, and baby activity gyms are one of the worst offenders.
Large play mats are essential for allowing a baby enough room to reach developmental milestones like rolling. But those same large dimensions mean it takes effort just to get one through a doorway, and traveling with one feels like you actually did pack the kitchen sink.
Infantino sent me the Twist and Fold to test, and after using it for three months, I can say it manages to defy the trend. The compact activity gym allows plenty of room for a baby to roll while the simple but unique foldable locking mechanism makes it easily packable for travel or storage.
In the past, I've used portable play gyms that my oldest managed to pull down on top of himself within just a few weeks after learning how to grasp the toys. The Infantino Twist and Fold is different. The gym has held up even to my now-crawler — and helps keep him entertained. For these reasons, we named it the best baby activity gym for travel and small spaces.
The design and specs for the Infantino Twist and Fold Gym
Out of the box, the toy arches simply clip onto the play mat. Once clipped, the Twist and Fold actually looks like it's ready to go, with the toys dangling from the teepee-shaped structure. But there's one more step that's not quite as self-explanatory: Push down on the plastic center at the top of the arches, and each leg will lock into a rounded arc.
Twist the small lever at the top to unlock the legs to fold it back up. Then the play mat can be tucked away or hung on a hook, with the mat collapsing like an inverted parachute at the bottom. You can also unclip the mat and roll it up even smaller.
Despite its portability, the mat is a nice size unfolded, measuring about 32 inches on each side. Folded, with the mat unclipped and wrapped around the edges, it is a cylinder that's about 32 inches tall and 6.5 inches wide. While portable, it won't fit in a carry-on suitcase because of how long the legs are.
The Twist and Fold tropical-themed gym comes with a spinning musical monkey in the center and four toys that can be moved around the mat or hung on an arch, each of which has two different height hooks for hanging toys. It also includes a mirror and a tummy time pillow.
What it's like to use
The Twist and Fold design is sturdy. My son kicked and pulled at the arches and they bounced right back, and the toys feel well made. With two different height options, I could place the toys above my baby's head or beside it — the latter encouraged my son to roll to his side. Spots easily washed out of the top of the polyester mat, although there were a few that still showed on the backing.
My son played on the mat in our small bathroom while I got ready in the morning. When I was done, I collapsed the whole thing and hung it on a towel hook. Collapsing takes just seconds, and removing and rolling it up takes only takes a few minutes. The collapsible design is good for more than just taking the play gym on the go. Before using the Infantino, I had to haul toys in and out of the bathroom because the room was too small to leave them there.
Besides the versatility of having a play gym that's easy to pack away, the mirror and pillow can also wrap around a car seat handle, with loops to take the hanging toys on the go. Moving toys back and forth is a hassle, but can allow you to pack fewer toys when traveling.
The cons
The Infantino lacks features that are included in a few other non-folding play gyms. Other mats have crinkle sections, built-in toys such as tags, and/or fold-up sides to encourage play and movement while on the tummy. Yes, there's a pillow included with the Twist and Fold, but the baby is limited to the hanging toys, whether you remove and place them on the mat, attach them to he pillow, or hang them from the lowest position on the arch. The toys also aren't as height-adjustable as those on similar gyms.
The lack of tummy time extras and the inability to move the toys around on the arches aren't a deal-breaker, of course. My son still played both on his back and stomach with the Twist and Fold, and for tight spaces, the option to fold it up is irreplaceable.
The bottom line
The Infantino Twist and Fold incorporates everything a baby needs in an activity gym into a highly packable design for travel or easy storage. Its price also makes it a decent budget option. The Tropical design we tested sells for around $50, while older motifs with a similar collapsible design start at $40.
Pros: Collapsible design, easy to set up, large washable mat, removable toys that can be attached to car seat
Cons: Fewer tummy time toys