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2nd Trimester
XP: 2nd + time moms a ? for you.
Pack-n-Plays.DH and I are trying to decide wether we need one or not. We don't go to other people's houses often (we have no friends as we have only lived here a few years). DH feels it is lazy parenting just to leave the little guy in there while I'm making dinner or something, I see it as giving him a safe place to play while I attend to other things.Did you have one? What were your feelings about it? Did you ever feel like you could have lived without it? Did you not have one and wish you did? Did you consider it a "life saver" in any situation? Any other advice/alternatives?TIA!
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Re: XP: 2nd + time moms a ? for you.
We have a two story house - baby's room is upstairs. We set our PnP up in our first floor family room/by the kitchen. I LOVE this because it does give them somewhere safe to be/play.
Your DH is apparently superman if he thinks you can just let your child roam all of the time safely. IMO there are definitely times when a pack and play, an exersaucer, or something is needed to occupy them for a little while.
Does your family live in town? If they're out of town, this is a safe sleep environment as well.
EXACTLY! It has been a tremendous help ever since DD became mobile.
For the first few months of his life, he slept in the corner of our room in the bassinet part of his PNP. Then once he was transitioned over to his own crib, the bassinet was taken out and now we use it to keep him in one place for a few minutes while we get stuff done (cook, clean, potty breaks) or if he's just being unreasonable and needs a few mins to himself.
(c) Holly Aprecio Photography - Oct 2011
I live in Mass and my side of the family all live in FL. I'm assuming my parents will borrow or adopt my cousins' old pack n play for times when we are down. The only time we would need it for "sleep overs" are in the winter when we go skiing in Vt.
I could not have survived without my pack n play and anyone who says it is just "lazy parenting" obviously has never been a parent. If you ever want to be able to get anything done, whether it be to do a little clean up, do the dishes, make some dinner, or even go to the bathroom, you will need something to contain your LO to keep them out of trouble. We also took it everytime we went to someone else's house, especially those with out children and don't have a childproof home. It's also nice to have if you travel so you have somewhere for LO to take naps and sleep at night.
It's not like we kept DS in it all the time. Most of the time he was free to rome around and play but the pack n play is definitely useful if you ever need to get something done and you can't watch LO every second.
All of this. P'n'Ps are also great for when you visit friends/family who don't necessarily have a baby-proof house, even if it's just for a few hours. I don't think anyone thinks it's lazy parenting to have a safe place to put LO down while you get something else done (like pee!). If you toss them in there for 8 hours a day, sure... but that's not the plan, right?
We mostly use the changing table part of ours. It has definitely been necessary to have a good place to change him downstairs, so I'm not carrying him upstairs for every diaper change.
DS is only recently at an age where he needs the occasional time-out, and now he could climb out of it, but it's still good to have in a pinch. He knows it's serious if his behavior is dangerous enough to warrant a time-out in the PNP.
When he was younger and just starting to be mobile, I would sit him in there when I needed to run to the bathroom too. Once everything downstairs was childproofed, it became less necessary. You might be able to accomplish the same thing with baby gates that section off a safe area.
the only time we really used it was out of wanting to use it. It ended up being his bed while at Grandma's. Once he hit about 10 months he started trying to climb out.
If you want to give him a safe place during dinner get a jumperoo or exersaucer, at least there's fun toys.
We did bring it to Disney with us and he used that to sleep in. Otherwise, it's really heavy and bulky to travel with.
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Your husband needs a reality check! Are you going to hold the baby while you make dinner and clean?
Or put them in a swing? bouncer? <---Same as using a play pen.
When the baby is old enough to be mobile if you have space for them to spread out and roll and be able to still keep watch then you wouldn't need a pack n play, once they start crawling, it's a pack n play, exersaucer or other type of "lazy parent" containment.
We didn't use ours to a point where I would say it was a necessity, but it was definitely handy especially since we had dogs. I could lay her down while I went to the bathroom, cooked, cleaned, or just take a break for a second. We kept ours in our living room so it was nice to have a place to lay her down for a minute to do something. I tried to have her be in a swing or tummy time mat if I was doing something where I could still watch her and when she got older it was the exersaucer.
Hahahaha. Lazy parenting. LOL. After you have your baby, please let me know how much your H loves the PNP.
I have a PNP and I love it. It is one of the best thing ever. I could not have lived without it. I use it for naps, to get things done, showering, relaxing, and in every way possible. It is most definitely a life saver.
WTF does your H expect you to do with your baby while you cook? Or shower?
Beats me, maybe he thinks I'm superwoman?
We have one. It is NOT lazy parenting to leave him in there so you can make dinner or vacuum or something! My DS hated his bassinet and would only sleep in the pack and play for the first 7 weeks. We had a one story house then, but now we have a 2 story house and it will be an absolute necessity. I can have DS #2 napping nearby and be able to stay downstairs (nursery is upstairs), plus DS #1 slept in it when we traveled until he was about 2 and 1/2. Babies don't need to be held constantly. In fact, you're setting yourself up for issues if you do. Brendan loved to lay in the bassinet part of the pack and play and watch the bears that hung overhead. That's entertainment for them!
Leave DH alone with the baby for just 1 day and I bet he'll change his mind!
It is good for a nap area if you have a multi level home. And no, it's not lazy to have a place for LO to play while you cook or shower, pee etc. It's smart. I'm not saying leave baby in it for hours (unless they're really happy in there) but they like having 'their space'... kind of like how dogs like to have their kennel.
We don't travel alot, but it has been nice and useful a few times.
It will also benefit you if you're going to have LO sleep in your room at first, especially if you get a PNP with a newborn napper and or bassinet with it. I loved having DD right next to me... and she hated the other bassinet and the moses basket that we'd intended on using for when she slept in our room.
we bought one. At first we planned on using the bassinet part when DS was just born so he could sleep in our room since I was BF him, but hewas loud in the hospital so he went straight into his room and the PnP was used as a changing station in the family room when I was on maternity leave. I tried to get him to nap in there are well but hedidn;t like being on his back so he ended up naping in the bouncy seat or the swing. Once we took it down when I returned to work we used it for traveling. We took it to NH to see my uncle, we took it camping and if we were going to a family memebers house and were going to be ther a long time we took it with us so DS could nap.
We have a Graco mini suite. GOt it from BRU, but they don;t carry it anymore. Its kind of like this one, but the changing part is lower.
We have one and love it.
Even though our condo is pretty small it is great when you need to put groceries away, walk into another room, or take a shower once they are sitting up and/or mobile at all. I never left her in it long but it does give you that 5 minutes to do something if you need too. When they get mobile they want to be under your feet 100% and when you are cooking something with hot oil this is just a bad idea. That is when you put them in the PnP.
I keep special toys in there and even now DD will walk over to it and "ask" to go in it by pointing and yelling and trying to pull her self up.
Also when she was little we bought a basinet but she outgrew it very early (2 months or so). The PnP had a basinet attachment with vibrations. This saved our life until we were ready to put her in the crib The changing table was a life saver too in the middle of the night.
We sometimes (rarely) use it to bring to someones house or have her sleep/nap in it. We have brought it on vacation because I didn't trust some used who knows how old crib at a hotel.
Lastly one of my baby books does mention that not all babies like PnP (playpens). Some resist no matter what toy or how often/little they play in it. Some babies don't like the confinement maybe?
We used ours as the bassinet for 6 months (with the bassinet attachment) after he was born in our room. That alone was worth it for me. Had the changing table and everything. We have taken it with us on vacation where people have not had cribs for him so he can sleep. I also teach private lessons, and one lesson a week used to interfere with child care, but he happily played in his PNP for the half hour.
Lazy parenting? Hardly. If you kept the kid in there all day, maybe. But for the little here and there's of life? Totally worth it if you ask me.