Cribs, Pack & Plays, and Bassinets....what to get??
We're expecting our first this summer and spent the last wkd trolling Houston's furniture and baby stores for ideas on baby's sleeping furniture.
There are so many choices and options...so I'm hoping you all can give me your opinions on what you liked and didn't like about cribs, pack & plays, and bassinets.
I've heard that pack & plays are wonderful, but I'm not sure if one would be right for us. We live in a relatively small, one story house - and are not within driving distance to any family. It seems like the folks who like P&P are in two stories and travel by car often.
Bassinets are cute, but I've heard that they are essentially useless after a short time and its best to save money by not purchasing.
So, what are your thoughts?
PS: If there was already a post about this, I'm sorry to repost - I couldn't find it this morning. Will you direct me if you know of one?
THANKS!
-b-
Re: Cribs, Pack & Plays, and Bassinets....what to get??
Bassinet is handy if you want the baby to sleep in your room at all. We did not. She went straight to her crib in her room.
Only reason we had a pack n play was for her to nap at my parents' house (3 minutes away, we spent a lot of time there when we lived in Houston). Otherwise we would have skipped it. Had no need for it at home.
I did not have a bassinet, and we live in a small one bedroom house. He went straight into his crib to sleep at first. Because of reflux issues he ended up in the Fisher Price Rock 'n Play from about 2-4 months old.
I have a PacknPlay from my oldest and have only used it for him to sleep in when other people stay at our house (his room is also the guest room). I do, however, use it quite often now that he is scooting around as a safe place for him to sit and play while I work since I work from home. It's more of a playpen for us and for that reason is great.
Collin Thayne 10.11.2010
We used a PNP for our bassinet the first two months while she was in our room. We chose the PNP so we could use it as she got older but really we didn't. We wanted her to sleep and nap in her crib where there was a monitor so we didn't ever really use the PNP. Once she was mobile at about 7 months, no way could she be contained in a baby prison.
In hindsight, we should have just gotten a bassinet but every baby is different. Maybe the next we'll use the PNP more but for now, it is in storage.
We're in a small house and I don't really see the need of having to set up different sleep spots, so we just got a crib. I don't really plan on having her sleep in our room, but in case she does, our stroller has a basinnet attachment that I plan on using, rather than buying another item.
We travel, but both grandparents have pack & plays and we have several friends we can borrow from if we need to...although until 6 months I'll still plan on using the stroller basinnet when we travel.
We bought a crib and a PNP. My mom wanted to buy me a bassinet, but I really didn't think we'd need it. We have a small house and my intention was for DS to sleep in our room for a few weeks and then his room. For just a few weeks, I figured a PNP made more sense...especially since the bassinet isn't really for travel.
In the end, we moved the PNP to his room the second day because he talked in his sleep so much. At two weeks old we put him in his crib and that was it. If I would have kept him in our room longer, I would have kept the PNP up longer.
We don't use the PNP often, but it folds up and is useful when we do need it. Our parents each have their own, but he stays with my sister some nights and we do travel and stay in a hotel at times.
I had a bassinet that was given to me by my SIL. It worked for all of 2 days! The air didn't circulate enough around the baby and my little man is a hot potato.
We then went to a PNP that I had from another friend (bought from her many years ago, has many miles on it) that had the newborn napper at the top that we used for another week.
After that, he went to his crib. For us, the bassinet was not useful at all. His room is downstairs and I could put him in his crib to nap/sleep. The PNP we have had for many years and get a ton of use out of it because my sister has little ones as well. It works for us. If you can find it used or borrow one from a friend that is the way I would go.
We lived in a 2-bedroom apartment when she was born, and our second bedroom was our office. Since we had a HUGE master bedroom (seriously 20 x 10!) we just cleared out our sitting area from one end of the bedroom and set it us as the nursery, so she slept in her crib in our bedroom until we move dwhen she was 5 months.
During the day, we frankly used our bouncer or swing for naps if she didn't want to go into the crib.
When we moved to a 2 bedroom house, she got her own room and now sleeps there.
If we'd had a bigger home or a different setup, my plan had been to buy a cosleeper that attaches to the bed for the early days, then move her to the crib later. She got huge quickly though!
We have a pretty bare-bones play-yard that a friend gave us and we've only used it a couple of times (noteably this weekend) during the day while visiting my parents for easter. It was useful, but not our favorite thing. We wouldn't miss not having it.
We had a Graco Pack n' Play that had an attachable bassinet part. We used that for the first month right next to our bed. We have a small condo but it was easy to have him right next to me for those midnight or later feedings. We now use it everytime we go out of town, its soo easy to travel with.
He has a convertable crib in his room. We liked the idea of one bed for everything. We are converting it to his toddler bed in a few months. I LOVE his crib!!
Have you seen my monkey?
we have her crib in the nursery and a PnP next to our bed for when she is first born. I figure when she's done sleeping in the PnP it will be nice for when we are in the back yard or when she wants to be in the living room with a little more freedom than the swing. This is why we didn't do a bassinet. Since the PnP can last longer..
For the earlier stages we also got the swing and bouncer. Swing in living room and bouncer to be used in the restroom & living room... also brought to Grandparents houses when we visit.
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We got a PNP but haven't really used it all that much. I planned to put him in his crib from day one but was not allowed to go upstairs at first due to blood pressure issues. I'm glad we had the PNP then, but I only used it for 2 weeks and I probably could have just borrowed one. We ended up leaving it up while I was on maternity leave to use as a napping spot, changing spot since his room was upstairs.
We've used ours a few times since when we travelled to a wedding and when we've gone to friends houses. We've also used it for when friends stay at our house. My IL's bought an actual crib for their house and my parents have a PNP at their house so we never have to take it with us.
If you plan on the baby sleeping in your room, I'd probably go for the PNP over the bassinet since its collapsible/portable. But if you aren't planning on them sleeping in your room, you could probably just borrow one if you ever need it.