Experience with the bassinet function of pack and plays?

pinkysun

DH and I are considering forgoing a traditional bassinet and getting a pack & play or "Play Yard" and using the bassinet function.  We really like the Chicco Lullaby XL. 

In general, the bassinet function on Chicco and Graco play yards gets good ratings in the Baby Bargains book.  However, I have read a few Mom reviews that complain of instability (especially with Graco), crooked and thin mattresses, and the mattress caving in or sinking down in the middle when using the bassinet function.

What is your experience???

Thanks!

*KC*luvs*RJ*

We love it!  DS wouldn't always sleep in the bassinet for the first few days, but now he loves sleeping there.  I think it's just as comfy for him as a traditional bassinet.  It was totally worth it.

ShawnaDanielle

We have a Graco and love it.  We've had none of the problems that you described.  Sure, it's not as comfy as a crib mattress, but it gets the job done. 

grinsandgiggles

We loved it.  DS didn't seem to mind it and slept in it until last night.  The only thing I've noticed with ours is that the mattress has bowed in the middle in the last couple weeks.  That doesn't affect it's stability or safety, just doesn't look nice.  The mattress is placed inside the actual bassinet part. 

I would highly recommend it over a regular bassinet though because it can be used later for LO when you need to do something real quick....or if you go to a picnic or a family/friend's house.

houndbaby

We use the Graco PNP and used the bassinet feature till ds reached the weight limit. I never had the mattress sink down with ours cause it had metal bars that held it up inside the netting. The one my parents have just has a net the mattress laid on and it always seemed to tilt the mattress to one side.  My only complaint with our PNP is that our mattress has never laid completely flat, it has a slight ridge in the middle that sticks up some.

katlizabeth

We loved ours and ds used it until he was about 8 weeks old!

CMDR513

DS slept in the bassinet part from 2 weeks-10 weeks before moving to his crib. He has also slept in the bottom part about a dozen times.

choltbaby

Love, love, love it!

grinsandgiggles

houndbaby:

My only complaint with our PNP is that our mattress has never laid completely flat, it has a slight ridge in the middle that sticks up some.

That's how mine started...same thing too, held by bars too.  Still bowed.

BarnStar

DD still sleeps in the bassinet of the PNP. It does seem like it sinks a little in the middle, but that could be because she's almost 12lbs!

grace&ricky

DD is still in the bassinet of the pnp, and we love it.  We're going to switch her to the crib when she reaches max weight (15lb).

Jennilynn

We have the Graco and it works just fine. But the mattress has a kink in it on one side where you fold it up. DS doesn't seem to care though...

erika_sue

houndbaby:

We use the Graco PNP and used the bassinet feature till ds reached the weight limit. I never had the mattress sink down with ours cause it had metal bars that held it up inside the netting. The one my parents have just has a net the mattress laid on and it always seemed to tilt the mattress to one side.  My only complaint with our PNP is that our mattress has never laid completely flat, it has a slight ridge in the middle that sticks up some.

This. DD naps in hers and still sleeps there at night.

tiffany41108

we love it.  we have a graco pnp.  we've had no issues with instability.  the mattress itself has a little bit of cushion in it, but you can buy sheets that have a little bit of fluff built in.  this is what we did.  DD sleeps very well in hers.

krusin2gether

We have both the traditional and the pack n' play, and we have loved both. The pack n' play is great with the changing table feature too.

poopteen

Jennilynn:

We have the Graco and it works just fine. But the mattress has a kink in it on one side where you fold it up. DS doesn't seem to care though...

This. 

We've never tried to have DD sleep for very long in it though, so I can't really say much to that end. We have ours in the living room, so it's more of a convenience item so that I can cook or whatever and still have her nearby without big wet dog noses waking her up. 

baylorflamingo

We have and used both a bassinet and the Chicco Lullaby. We used this bassinet right when we brought him home from the hospital until he was 6 weeks old. It was great because we could roll it from room to room while he slept, it could go right next to our bed (on either side of the bed, too!), and it had great nature sounds to use as white noise.

At 6 weeks though, DS was starting to get too long for it, so we switched him to the bassinet of the Pnp. We never had problems with the mattress moving or being unstable. The only problem we had was that it wouldn't move from room to room (too wide for door frames), so we had to start using the baby monitor while he napped. He slept in the pnp in our room until he was 4 months and we moved him to his crib.

happy_wife

We have a Graco and really like it. It was great until we actually took it someplace and when we went to put it up again, that is when the mattress started to sag. It doesn't seem to bug DS, so we don't care. He loves the vibrating/music feature, but our doesn't have a mobile, which I wish it did. I will also say once we had to replace the batteries, it seems they die about every other day....why the first ones lasted so long I have no idea. They were the same brand and everything...

bparkhur

We had a great experience with our Graco. No problems at all! DS slept in it for the first month of his life.