Product Spotlight: Pack and Plays

sammierose464

I forgot to start one this week after I asked (it's been an insane week).

Let's talk Pack and Plays!

tinattt23

My advice on this one: Don’t over think it (unless you plan on traveling a ton or using is as baby’s main sleeping space). We literally never used any of the extra features. Never even set it up until he was mobile and then only used the basic pen part as containment. My mom used the napper and diaper changing part a handful of times on hers. But they outgrow those accessories so fast, I don’t think it’s worth spending much extra money on them. We may use the little top shelf insert thingy this time just to have a safe place to put baby out of reach of toddler. 

mommy2ane

We have Graco pnp that has a sleeper/changer thing. We used it for both kids while they were in our room (it was E’s bed for a year) and it’ll be Squish’s bed until he/she moves into a room. They both loved the sleeper, but once they outgrew it, it’s a pain to store. The pnp itself is in my living room as a safe place to put E in when absolutely needed but that’s it. 

sammierose464

@tinattt23 that's actually really  helpful. I keep looking at ones that have a higher shelf or a detachable seat/bouncer and a changing section. Realizing that I've already got a bouncer from a friend, a small rocker thing etc. I probably don't need those extra features when my house only has a few rooms!

hellopartyof5

So I have a graco and it's fine. The Napper/sleeper works when they're itty bitty, and then can store easily under my bed (which fit almost nothing under it). If I were to do it over again I would get either the lotus or baby Bjorn. The regular pnps are flipping heavy man!!!! The 2 I mentioned are lighter, so easier for travel. They are expensive though. Some of the pnps are expensive because they're super easy to setup. I don't think mine is hard enough to setup that I would pay triple for something easier. Even my husbands grandparents can setup the graco and they're in their 70s. 

Lisa3379

We also have the Graco with the sleeper and changer. We had it in our room but DS ended up sleeping in his crib in his own room from basically day 1 so we didn’t need the sleeper. Actually, the sleeper kinda weirded me out. He’d end up with his face right against the side of it, and while I’m sure it was fine, it just didn’t look right to me. 

kiwi2628

FTM here, but I was thinking about getting the lotus and bassinet attachment. My mom and ILs plan on seeing this kid/taking him to their house a lot, so I imagine having a travel PnP will be super useful. Plus its certified low VOC and greenguard

KFrob

I'm with @tinattt23, we have never once used any of the extra's that I was excited to have  

sliztee

This is the one we got! We feel it's practical, as we didn't feel the need to buy a separate bassinet (especially because we're not even sure he'll be sleeping in the same room as us).

pumpkinpancake

@kiwi2628 we have the lotus and bassinet conversion kit, and we absolutely love it. The bassinet was great for when he was little and we had him in our room, and now we have it converted to a regular travel crib and he still sleeps in it during the day when he’s at my SIL’s house. We’ve traveled with it by car and by plane many times, and it’s super easy to pack up and not heavy at all. Also love that it’s made with good materials that I don’t need to worry about. I’d definitely recommend it to everyone. 

Laumb11

@sliztee
Thats the one we have at my IL's. It great.
We had one with the changing table and napper for DS. I hated the changing table and agree with @Lisa3379 that the napper kinda freaked me out. 

krzyriver

Our house is small but it's a bungalow, so we bought a PNP when Z outgrew his bassinet so he could stay upstairs with us. He was already over the weight limit for the built-in bassinet but not for shelf bassinet... thing... so he slept high up in the PNP until he was too heavy and then we moved him down to the bottom of the PNP. I only bought one with attachments because I thought the changing table would be helpful, but it was honestly easier to just change him on our bed.

My mother's house is HUGE so she *did* need one with the changing table built in so she didn't have to run across the house to change diapers.

The house we're moving into next month has zero need for a PNP, so I'll give it to my mother to use as a crib for #3 since Z still sleeps in the crib she has.

This is the one we have:

https://www.toysrus.com/product?productId=68420756

DunkinDecaf

We have a graco and it’s fine. We use it rarely, but it’s perfectly fine.

nasalot188

We have a Graco too. I seem to be in the minority but I loved the changer/sleeper attachment. We kept the PnP in the living room and it was just so convenient, DS napped in the sleeper all the time until he outgrew it. And the change was nice to not run upstairs to his bedroom where his change pad and diapers and all that were. And we use PnP all the time when going out. Staying at a friends, sleepovers with grandparents, cottage trips etc. 

I love ours. It can be heavy tho, yes.

purplegoldfish2

sliztee said:

This is the one we got! We feel it's practical, as we didn't feel the need to buy a separate bassinet (especially because we're not even sure he'll be sleeping in the same room as us).

I agree with @tinattt23 and we have 2 of the one @sliztee has. I never understood the sleeper accessory when the top part of this serves basically the same purpose.  

A lot of moms say the pack n play was wasted money for them, so consider how you will use it before you decide if you need one.  I never felt that way - we used ours in various ways throughout the first year. At first it was a great place to put the boys in the livingroom (despite being in an 800 sq ft apartment).  We also used them in our bedroom that one night that we thought having them in our room would be easier.  They came with us on trips and served as travel cribs (before we found out many hotels have cribs you can request or at hotels that wouldn’t guarantee cribs for us).  They were great for containing the kids once they could crawl and eventually became a barrier to keep them from getting into the tv stand. My in-laws also have 2 of the same model that they used in place of cribs while they were babysitting for us or when we were over for visits or the boys were spending the night.  They used them until they were 3 years old at my in-law’s house.

ashin121

I got three as gifts for when I was pregnant with my DS. I put the simple Graco one at my in laws house so he can sleep in when we stayed over. 

We kept the ingenuity one at our house. We kept it downstairs to use the changing station. We used it a ton! He also napped in there when I was downstairs. I was recommended the ingenuity brand because it's the only brand you can completely zip every fabric off and throw it in the washer. There were so many times he had blow outs. The others, you have to wipe down. This was a recommendation from other mom friends . So glad we got the ingenuity brand. 

tinattt23

@ashin121 True about the cleaning. Our Graco PNP mat has blood stains on it that I’ve tried everything to get out with no luck. There’s just no good way to clean that thing. 

Lisa3379

To add, I’m happy we have one (we actually have two - one was a random hand me down) but we really only ever used it at my parents’ house for him to sleep in. 

momoflogan20

Pack and play with the changing table and sleeping cradle style bed we used a ton. We still use the changing table but DS out grew the bed part. He slept in it as a newborn until about 4 months. We haven't used it with the bottom all the way down because he is not mobile but I think I will use it a lot and put toys in the bottom so I can do some chores or leave the room to pee or something. 

sliztee

Re: Cleaning a Pack-n-Play - I found this on Pinterest a few weeks ago. Anyone tried something similar?

purplegoldfish2

@sliztee I have not as ours are still pretty clean, but I know somebody that did.  She said if you do the mattress to make sure it is on a flat surface to dry because the cardboard backing gets warped.  I guess the rest of it came out pretty clean.

BabyRobbinsAdventure

I love our lotus travel crib. Probably one of the best investments that we have made since we take it with us wherever we travel.

Inlaws live on the east coast and much of my family is in the Northwest, so it’s nice to have one we can bring with us and use as we bounce around different houses. I love that it fits as a carry on for the airplane and is worn as a backpack, makes life easy. 

We also have used it at every hotel we have stayed at so we don’t have to rely on the hotel to provide one (some of them are nasty!)

Also, we plan on using it in our tent when we camp this summer. 

I say lotus travel crib is amazing if you plan to travel when your babe is little.

sparklingwhit

I have a Graco that is a hand me down from my dad and his GF. Doesn’t have any of the bells and whistles. Just a basic PNP. DS hung out in it all the time in the living room. He loved being in it and pulling himself up in there and just having that tiny space to himself. Plus it was great when we visited family in CA. I would say don’t spend all the money to get the fancy ones, but I really don’t know because I never had one. I loved the basic one. 

estellegetty

We have a super expensive one (Guava I think?) my mom has a basic Graco one and H’s Mom has a Cosco one. I honestly love the Graco and Cosco ones. Easy to set up and Hannah sleeps great in both of them. The Cosco one is smaller which is nice for his moms storage situation, but Hannah will probably grow out of it quicker. My advice: the basic cheaper ones are the way to go! 

jenchoo

Anyone have the Nuna Sena? We went to a fancy baby store and my husband fell in love with it. I was originally planning on using the UPPAbaby bassinet for travel to grandma and grandpa but it’s actually a lot heavier than I thought and obviously wouldn’t be good for very long. My plan is to keep it downstairs for daytime naps and use it for travel. Cheaper options seem like such a hassle to fold and I don’t think we need all the extra bells and whistles that they come with. 

bel194

We have the Chicco Lullaby with the sleeper and changing station and it was great the 5 times we used it. I think we will use it more this time around, but honestly, if we didn't already have it we would probably just skip the pack and play altogether or buy a cheap one later if we ever found that we needed one.  

hellopartyof5

Unless you're going to be unpacking and packing up the pack and play a ton, I vote cheap. 

nmadjeski

I agree with @hellopartyof5 we got one from Walmart for like $75 for DS. It's still in great shape and I plan on using it with this baby. 

cdepperschmidt

Our Pack n Play came with a whole rack of stuff. If I could do it over I would just go basic. I never use that shit and it’s a bitch to pack and unpack.

sammierose464

So the pack and play we registered for is now discontinued/out of stock online. (Darn BBB). 

Has anyone else found ones they love?

cjx95

@sammierose464 what qualities about the bbb pnp did you love and what would you be ok not having in one? 

acciocoffee

@sammierose464 It's been a few years, but ours is a Graco one and it was fine. This is the newer version:

https://www.target.com/p/graco-reversible-napper-changer-lx-playard/-/A-52318921?preselect=52210298#lnk=sametab

It was easy to fold up and take with us. My only regret about choosing that one was that I never felt like the "napper" was safe for DD to sleep in (I'm pretty sure it says it's not safe for sleeping), so we literally never used it. The mobile thing was pretty pointless as well since it just got in the way. Those things just ended up wasting space in storage. The main thing that I liked about it was that it has that upper level for the baby to sleep on. DD slept there in our room for the first five weeks then we basically never used it again. 

If I were to buy one again, I would just do this one:

https://www.target.com/p/graco-174-pack-n-play-playard-on-the-go/-/A-15294179?preselect=18822702#lnk=sametab

dellusion

@acciocoffee, that's exactly the one we just bought! (2nd graco link you posted).  We had some super fancy one for our first two that had the changer and mobile and music and lights, etc., but sold it in a garage sale after we thought we were done having kids.  This one was SO much cheaper, smaller, easier to store and fits the bill just perfectly for what we need!

sammierose464

Originally I thought I needed/wanted all of these fancy add-ons. I liked that this one had a bassinet that easily removes and the changing spot. Now talking with DH, we probably won't use it until he's a bit older and we need more of a containment area. We have a swing, a bouncer, and a rock and play (which will be his bed for the first few months).

This is what we originally chose: https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/baby-trend-reg-muv-custom-grow-nursery-center/5019904?skuId=63553048&registryId=545785917&sopt=

acciocoffee

@sammierose464 I would definitely just go with a simple one then. You can do a really basic one for like $50. Plus, someone is probably more likely to buy it off your registry if it's a cheaper one. The only reason I would do one with that top level is if you think you might ever want LO to sleep in it for those first few months. It's rough having to lower a newborn all the way to the bottom level of those things. 

cjx95

@sammierose464 sort of a similar one I found on Amazon! 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005OLEZ06/ref=mp_s_a_1_16_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1533831361&sr=8-16&keywords=pack+and+play

beccajean71

Right now, I don't want one, but my husband's cousin told us she's getting us one whether we like it our not because she thinks it's the greatest thing ever

sammierose464

I think I've decided on this one. It's simple. 

https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/graco-reg-pack-n-play-reg-playard-nimble-nook-in-sapphire/1043979196?skuId=43979196&registryId=545785917&sopt=

hellopartyof5

@beccajean71 then put one in your registry so you can return and use the $ towards something else

lolo_0924

I got this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JSC05F0/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_eCkBBbZ5KJNR3 on Prime Day for about $80 less than it’s listed now... I recommend watching YouTube bc the instructions are worthless... I think after seeing all the attachments I don’t need another swing / bouncer too.

sammierose464

Ohh I like that one!