where baby sleeps when traveling

lelekay

I might be (still working out the details) bringing Henry home to my mom's in Wisconsin next weekend.  But I'm confused about where he'll sleep when there.  I was going to bring our Pack and Play, or possible even buy a basic model of a PNP to keep there.  But, it looks like any PNP I look at says that the "bassinet" part (when the mattress is raised up) is only for babies up to 15 pounds.  Henry is already almost 13 (I know....he's a chunker at only 2 months!)

So, I could bring our PNP we have now (I'd rather not, but can), since he fits the current requirements.  But I'm not going to buy one to keep there if he'll outgrow it in a matter of months.  We only visit maybe 3-4 times a year).  I suppose when he's bigger maybe he could sleep in it just with the mattress on the bottom, like in the play yard setup?

Those of you who travel.....where do your babies sleep when you're on the go?   

vanilla15

we haven't traveled with bambino yet, but i did travel with a friend & her baby.  She had a basic PNP for travel & put her baby in that (no bassinet option), just the PNP.

Hope that helps!

(but 15lbs?...I need to double check our PNP bassinet.  DD is only 8lbs right now, but gaining quickly!  Hopefully she doesn't outgrow it too quickly!)

Married2MrWright

We bedshare at home and on the road...so easy!

inamra

On two of our trips, we didn't have room to bring our PnP, so we just co-slept/bedshared. When we were able to bring it, we used the PnP. Babies tend to grow exponentially especially in the very beginning, but then it becomes more gradual after that. B was gaining 1 lb a week in the beginning, but then around the 12lb mark (2 months old), he slowed down A LOT. Now it's been another 2 months (he's 4 months now) and he's still only 14lbs...but it makes sense considering that when you look at the growth chart curves, they are steep in the beginning and then smooth out more gradually over time, so you may be able to get a bit more use out of the PnP?

MrsZiz

Where in WI will you be? I live in Milwaukee and if you'll be in the area, I could let you borrow ours if it's just a weekend trip or something... let me know. 

We DID bedshare for a long time but since Bella was about 6 months, we started putting her in her crib. So when we travel we use a PnP. It's easier and folds up very nice. I will say that my friend came to visit us and her almost 2 yr old slept in it. The bottom part is VERY useful. We use it when we're working in the yard to keep B in one place and she's napped in it. If you are planning on visiting 3-4 times a year and having more kids, I would look for one on CL to keep at her house. It's easy and you can usually find them for fairly cheap. My mom got a brand new one on clearance at Walmart and paid $30 for it!! She's used it a ton with my nieces and nephews and now with Bella too.  

redshoegirl

I'm glad you posted this...I've been wondering the same thing. We're taking a trip next Easter and I was planning on buying two PnPs.

lelekay

MrsZiz:

Where in WI will you be? I live in Milwaukee and if you'll be in the area, I could let you borrow ours if it's just a weekend trip or something... let me know. 

Thanks for the offer, but we'll be in just north of Wausau, so pretty far!  Actually, I probably live closer to you (in the north 'burbs of Chicago) than this trip would be!  :P 

 I thought about just bedsharing it, but I've decided not to.  We do bedshare in the mornings, when MH leaves for work, and I'm just dozing, but I'm not comfortable doing it all night, when I sleep much more deeply.  I think it's great that others do....it's just not something I'm personally comfortable with full time. 

I think I will just buy a basic model PNP to keep there.  Even if he can't sleep in the top part for all that long, he can just sleep in the bottom.

mrspresley

i don't see why you couldn't jut have him sleep in the bottom part if he is too big for the bassinet? that is where miss A slept when we were at my parents' in June/July. at first i felt bad having her sleep on just that thin mattress that comes w/it and we had her on a foam mattress on the floor (walled off w/boxes) but when we finally put her in there, she slept soooo much better! babies are used to sleeping on a firm mattress b/c that's what their crib mattress is like.

the very 1st trip we took w/her (at 6 wks) was to visit her great great grandmother in TN...she was tiny and we lined our carry on suitcase with a few blankets and she slept in there  (got the idea from Lori who posted it on the board)  she barely fit, but it worked! while we were there, we had someone comment about how "back in the day" they'd just pull out a draw from the hotel when they were traveling and line it w/blankets and use it as a portable crib!!

if you think you may be traveling a fair amount in the future, you might want to invest in a bjorn travel crib.  it folds up much nicer than a pack n play and is much lighter too, so easy to travel with. and it has a higher overall weight limit compared to the PnP.  it's on sale for $248 at kohl's right now...then 30% off with code LOVE2SAVE30 (good from 9/29 - 10/6 if you use your kohl's charge card) plus 3.2% cashback through bigcrumbs ... makes it under $180 total....there was kohl's cash avail recently but that just ended...not sure when they are going to do the next one but if you wait until then and it is still on sale then you'd get $30 kohl's cash on top of all that, too..... it is more money than a PnP but if you want to read 2 pretty good reviews about it you can do so here

parrotgirl

we've been using our mini co-sleeper. once LO outgrows it we will probably start bringing our PnP.

MrsNJSwimmer

Married2MrWright:

We bedshare at home and on the road...so easy!

ditto.

MrsNJSwimmer

Also, maybe your mom can pick up a cheap PnP at a yard sale?  That's what my mom did for my niece.  I think she maybe paid $5 or $10 for it.

myday1708

We are in Duck, NC, right now and Alexa is asleep in the PnP. We never did use the bassinet part, she has always slept in the bottom part when we're out of town. At DH's dad's, they have a PnP. At DH's mom's, they have a crib and PnP. We are using a 3rd PnP that my friend gave us. We have another PnP at home. We are overflowing with PnPs!

You can get them cheap on CL. Just make sure that you use the side of the bottom with the cushion. One side is hard and the other has a thin cushion.

(The house we have in Duck has a crib, but it's a cheap IKEA crib that is in the master bedroom and we couldn't move it to another room... We prefer for her to sleep in her own room and not in the same room as us.)