Co-Sleeper / Pack 'n Play?

olivejuicebeeb

First time mom here, so this might be a silly question..  My SIL said the Co-Sleeper was very useful to her, & that its a MUST..
However, I'm worried that the baby will out grow it kind of fast.. & its the same price as the pack 'n play (which is something I want)& 
Couldn't I use the pack 'n play as a sort of co-sleeper? I just don't want to buy both, if I could kill two birds with one stone with the pack n' play..TIA! 

ncbelle

Many pack and plays have a bassinet but that's a smaller sleep area (more quickly outgrown) than a co-sleeper.  The original size Arms Reach co-sleeper can be used as a co-sleeper until baby can pull up on it and converts to a pack and play after that.

orchid2007

The idea is perfectly reasonable. We plan to use the bassinet attachment of our pack n play to keep baby close by in our room the first few weeks.

murfygirl

I have a co-sleeper and love it! My DS slept in it till he was 9 months old too. It can be used like a pack n play and is the exact same size as a pnp if you buy the original one. HTH

pkate98

I'd just buy a PNP, but I never had  a co-sleeper.  I've heard good things about co-sleepers, but I would still get a PNP b/c you'll get longer use out of it.  My DS still sleeps in the PNP when we travel.

kacelle

Our bed is too high for a co-sleeper, so while LO is staying in our room, I'll be using a Pack 'n Play with a bassinet feature.

azzyberry

We got a He with DS and it was great.  He slept in his PnP in the bassinet feature for the 1st 9 months while I BF'd.  I also took it everywhere with us.  Anytime we were going to someone's house for a visit I would take it and it was great as a play pen for him to play in and also he had somewhere to take his nap.

I would definitely recommend a PnP over a bassinet or cosleeper.  Bassinets or cosleepers are smaller and babies tend to grow out of them much faster and then they are useless.  You get much more use out of a PnP.

seastar77

We used a Snuggle Nest co-sleeper (it's small and goes right in bed with you) at first, and then the PNP bassinet for many months after. The co-sleeper was great in that I could move it all over the house during the day and have her sleeping in a nice little space with an incline (DD had horrible reflux first two months), and it wasn't as expensive/bulky as something like an Arms Reach.

LifesPeachy

ncbelle:

Many pack and plays have a bassinet but that's a smaller sleep area (more quickly outgrown) than a co-sleeper.  The original size Arms Reach co-sleeper can be used as a co-sleeper until baby can pull up on it and converts to a pack and play after that.

I agree. The newborn napper feature in a PnP is tiny. I can't imagine a LO sleeping in there long. Guess if it had the raised bed area that LO could sleep there. I have both a PnP and a co-sleeper. I feel it's overkill but we don't have room for a PnP in our room and even if we did, Id still prefer a co-sleeper. I like the fact that LO will be in arms reach. I also need them for different reasons- co-sleeper for our bedroom until she outgrows it (we have the mini btw) and a PnP in the family room for napping/diapers/play when she's older. I struggled with that decision because it seemed like overkill but we don't really have the set up to be maneuvering things around night/day etc.

With DD, I had a ranch with wide doorways, I used one bassinet all the time- just wheeled it btw my room, her room, family room. Oh well! 

After all that typing my advice would be to wait and see- get the PnP now because that will be the most useful for the longest time- if its not working for bedtime, get a cosleeper or at least a cheaper bassinet. 

olivejuicebeeb

Wow, thanks everyone for the helpful advice!