Using a pack and play for sleeping for newborn twins?

TsengAkera

So I have twin boys due in Feb (though most likely January ) and these also my first children. Because of how our house is set up and how small the rooms are I was wondering if it was considered okay to put new borns in a pack and play so that I can keep them in the room with me and my husband for the first month until we can move on base and get a bigger home. I'm having a C section done so it will be mainly my husband grabbing them so I want them in the same room with me. 

We were given a pack and play by my SIL but it's just the pack and play, no bassinets. I planned on getting a mattress to go into the bottom just like my SIL did with her little boy. 

smscartozzi

If you can find one with the bassinet feature at a consignment sale I would try to. Bending down to pick up a baby in the bottom of a PNP is such a pain in the butt when they can't sit up on their own to help! But as far as sleeping goes its a good option, no different than a cosleeper really.

TsengAkera

DH will most likely be the one grabbing them most of the time, I've heard from most women that have had a C section that moving around is going to be extremely tough. Do you know if they sell the bassinets separate? 

bumpuser924057

My twins are still sharing the pack and play in our room at almost 12 weeks - I'm planning to do the transition to cribs next week.  You will definitely want the bassinet so no one has to bend all the way down to get the babies - even if your husband is the only one who does it, it still sucks!  They may sell the replacement parts for the one you have, but I bet it would be cheaper to just buy one on Craigslist or at a local consignment shop.  

Hell, you can get a new one on Amazon for $68, and if you have Prime and are an Amazon Mom member there's a 20% off code that will bring it to $54.  This one:  https://www.amazon.com/Graco-Pack-Playard-Bassinet-Pasadena/dp/B004Y9AKZI/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&srs=7322973011&ie=UTF8&qid=1378800861&sr=1-2

Lil Kate

You would need the bassinet feature... Don't want to bend that far but also they probably will have a hard time staying asleep when u try and put them that far down.... Mine startle just going into the crib.

smscartozzi

Also if they will be napping in the PNP you will be getting them in and out if DH isn't home. Keep that in mind!

lunatwo

We used PNP's without bassinets for the first couple of months. The ones we have can be adjusted so that the mattress is raised for newborns and then lowered when they are mobile.  I think most of them do that.

PurpleIris30

Can I ask a follow-up question regarding pack-n-plays?  We're planning to get a pack-n-play with bassinet feature for our room for at first.  Over the long term (as they got older), did you need two pack-n-plays for travel, etc., or did you only need the one?

smscartozzi

PurpleIris30 said:

Can I ask a follow-up question regarding pack-n-plays?  We're planning to get a pack-n-play with bassinet feature for our room for at first.  Over the long term (as they got older), did you need two pack-n-plays for travel, etc., or did you only need the one?

I can't speak from experience but I do know they have a weight limit. I would assume at some point two toddlers would be too heavy for the PNP. Plus, by like 18mo my son was pretty much filling a PNP and would not have been able to share for sleeping!

kgs0505

I got a cheap pnp for like $69 from BRU with nothing except the ability to raise the bottom of the pnp to a more reasonable height. You could probably get a 20% coupon somewhere and save more $$.  My girls slept in that one for 2 months together.  After that they were too big and I put them in the one crib together.  Now that T is rolling, we have one in a crib and one in the pnp.  We are refinishing the second crib.  Hopefully it'll be done soon.

I do have a second pnp, but we use it primarliy for the changing table feature downstairs. 

TsengAkera

I'll have to check Lejeune yard sales, you can get stuff there cheaper than you can get even off Amazon. Only good thing about living in a big military town there are always huge amounts of babies and parents wanting to get rid of things cheap and fast. 

Looks like it's a safety 1st play yard.. So I need to see about finding parts for that. 

I'm hoping that DH can get the days off he is owed, but considering they are heading for Deployment (even though he was transferred to headquarters and may not go) they may only give him the ten day. 

bumpuser924057

lunatwo said:

We used PNP's without bassinets for the first couple of months. The ones we have can be adjusted so that the mattress is raised for newborns and then lowered when they are mobile.  I think most of them do that.

I thought when the mattress was in the raised position it's considered a "bassinet," and I assumed the OP didn't have the pieces necessary to have it in that configuration.  If what everyone is talking about is those little newborn nappers that fit inside the PnP, then no, you don't need those.  

AmyJoy728

thecheshirekat said:

lunatwo said:

We used PNP's without bassinets for the first couple of months. The ones we have can be adjusted so that the mattress is raised for newborns and then lowered when they are mobile.  I think most of them do that.

I thought when the mattress was in the raised position it's considered a "bassinet," and I assumed the OP didn't have the pieces necessary to have it in that configuration.  If what everyone is talking about is those little newborn nappers that fit inside the PnP, then no, you don't need those.  

The netting to raise and lower the mattress is the bassinet. The newborn nappers are the piece that sits on top with the changer. Our PNP didn't come with a newborn napper, which we didn't want anyways. We had a Safety 1st. The boys slept in there until 4mo when we transitioned to their cribs in their room. 

megs2011

PurpleIris30 said:

Can I ask a follow-up question regarding pack-n-plays?  We're planning to get a pack-n-play with bassinet feature for our room for at first.  Over the long term (as they got older), did you need two pack-n-plays for travel, etc., or did you only need the one?

One in the beginning would be fine. I found that as soon as they start moving around, 1 wouldn't work. That's when we moved them to their own cribs. Mine like to crawl on each other so I could see someone getting hurt if they were in the same one.