Bassinet? Pack n Play? What's your setup?

lauren3717 · October 2012

Hi all,

I'm a first-time mom, and I'm trying to decide what baby gear should go where (and what I need to register for). The bedrooms are upstairs, and my kitchen and living space is downstairs. I was planning on having the baby sleep in my room in the beginning in a bassinet, and later moving him to a crib in his own room. For the downstairs living room/kitchen area, I was going to have a pack n play with a bassinet feature, but a couple of people told me I should really have a bassinet downstairs too. Is that true? Can the baby not stay in the pack n play bassinet for an hour or two on a regular basis? What are you guys doing, or for people who are already moms, what's worked for you? Thanks for the advice!

Lauren

JumpAroundBucky · October 2012

I am also a FTM, so I don't have any experience, but it sounds like our set up and plans are very similar.

For the first few months, Baby will be in a pack n play in our room. Then he will move to his crib.

We will have a bouncer and possibly a swing downstairs so he has a place to lay/sit/whatever when we are down there.

osirismama · October 2012

I am expecting my second child. My first who is now nearly 2 and 1/2, had a cradle that my father had made for me in my bedroom as his first bed for a few months.I did not have a swing for the first, but he had a bouncy seat that he was in. Unlike you, my home was one level. But i do not see any reason that using a pack n play for a couple hours is bad. This time i have the pack n play and a swing. I have a nephew that was put in the sing everyday for the entire time he was not being fed or changed, and he would not sleep in anything other than that swing. So if you plan to use the swing, try to alternate between that and the pack n play. Better chance the lil one may sleep in their own bed.

phdwyfe2013 · October 2012

Also a FTM, but I have a different living arrangement than you - we live in an apartment so we'll have a bassinet in our room for the first few months, a swing or bouncer in the living room and a crib in our 2nd bedroom for when it's time to transfer the baby.

A few people I know who live in a house have a bassinet or pnp in their room and one downstairs. Others make do with just a bouncer or swing in the living room. I gather another option would be to have a monitor with you and have the baby nap in the bassinet or pnp in your room while you're downstairs with a monitor to listen in close at hand.

Mom of two 2012 · October 2012

My first slept in a pack and play non bassinet attachment for 6 months for naps and at night. I think your plan is good.

southrnbellmeg7 · October 2012

With my first 2 PG's I had the pack n' play downstairs with the changing pad and bassinet set up on it. I found it super convenient having that downstairs not having to haul it upstairs with the multiple diaper changes or say you need to get something done.

We slept with an Arms Reach Mini Cosleeper upstairs which was also helpful to be able to just peak at baby real quick.

marshmallows · October 2012

I think that's fine. Although I do remember using the bassinet a lot more since he slept better in it even for naps. Do just what you're planning and if you have to move it around its not that bad. And you'll still get plenty of use out of the pack n play.

lauren3717 · October 2012

You are all so helpful! Thanks SO much for your help! I had my plan all mapped out, and yesterday (the day before I was going to Buy Buy Baby to register for all the "big" things), a few people told me to rethink my plan. I'm very anal about things like this, so of course this sent me into a minor panic attack. Thanks so much for your feedback!

Lauren

TMWarren85 · October 2012

With DD we had a co-sleeper in our room, a pack and play in the living room, and a crib in her room. She ended up sleeping in her swing for the first 10-12 weeks...

kibylou · October 2012

My plan and house set up sound identical to yours! FTM here too! Good luck to us!

kat1221 · October 2012

For DS, we had a bassinet in our room for the first 6 weeks and then moved him to his own room, still in the bassinet, at 6 weeks. Can't remember when we moved him into his crib in his room.

This time we will have the same set up except we will also have a pack and play downstairs for naps/changing since we have 2 floors now and can't move the bassinet around.

JuliaBug · October 2012

We never had a bassinet. My DS slept in the pack n play for the first 2 weeks of his life. It's nice to buy fewer baby items and he still sleeps in the PNP when we travel.

The PNP that I bought has a bassinet type feature so he was up higher. It also has a diaper station. It's kind of like this one:

red daisy · October 2012

Way against the norm here, but baby girl will sleep in her crib from day 1. She is literally 10 feet from me when in her crib and with a video monitor I can monitor her just as well as if she were in our room. We did this with our son and he was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old and we never the issues with transferring him to his crib that so many people have.

We will use the PNP for naps (probably) but with a 2.5 year old big brother, she might have a hard time napping unless in her quiet room, so we will see how that goes.

mendota67 · October 2012

Maybe also consider the Rock n' Play sleeper as an alternative to a second bassinet? People rave about it and it is on my registry, though as a FTM I dont have any personal experience!

pitterpatter129 · October 2012

We are doing something similar to what we did with DS. We have a snuggle nest for our bed for nighttime and he just hung out in his bouncy/vibrating seat in the living room during the day. It wasn't as upright as some of them, more like a vibrating basket. With DS, we also had a pack 'n play in our room that he napped in, but he bedshared at night. It worked better for breastfeeding, so we got the snuggle nest this time from the get-go.

This is the one we have (pic stolen via google images though...) The back of the seat is raised up here, but it also has an option to lower it into more of a bassinet type thing when they are asleep/smaller.

ilovecade · October 2012

Your plan is excacty what we did with our son, the pack and play that has the infant sleeper part worked perfect for naps downstairs. Especially recovering from a c/s made going upstairs for naps not necessary!

Spartan0627 · October 2012

We also have all of our bedrooms upstairs. We plan to use a PnP with the bassinet feature in our room, then transfer baby to her crib when able. As far as when she is downstairs, as someone else mentioned, we are planning on using the Rock n Play Sleeper (Fisher Price). I am a FTM, but my sister and 2 close friends rave about the Rock n Play.

kristen218 · October 2012

JumpAroundBucky:
I am also a FTM, so I don't have any experience, but it sounds like our set up and plans are very similar.
For the first few months, Baby will be in a pack n play in our room. Then he will move to his crib.
We will have a bouncer and possibly a swing downstairs so he has a place to lay/sit/whatever when we are down there.

This is what we will be doing. We also have a bassinet with our Uppa Vista so we will have that downstairs if we need it.

kristen218 · October 2012

JumpAroundBucky:
I am also a FTM, so I don't have any experience, but it sounds like our set up and plans are very similar.
For the first few months, Baby will be in a pack n play in our room. Then he will move to his crib.
We will have a bouncer and possibly a swing downstairs so he has a place to lay/sit/whatever when we are down there.

This is what we will be doing. We also have a bassinet with our Uppa Vista so we will have that downstairs if we need it.

chulita425 · October 2012

We have the same set up, with DS the bassinet was upstairs and downstairs we had a swing and bouncer downstairs. Honestly his pack and play is still sitting unopened in the box in his closet. He would nap where ever he fell asleep. This time around I will be using the swing, bouncer and pack and play downstairs. I won't let LO just nap anywhere because now I have DS running around.

medahm · October 2012

mendota67:
Maybe also consider the Rock n' Play sleeper as an alternative to a second bassinet? People rave about it and it is on my registry, though as a FTM I dont have any personal experience!

I agree. I will be using the Rock n' Play as well. I am a FTM but my sister used the Rock n' Play with her son for the first 6 mos I think. It's really easy to take out of your room, into the living room and she even would bring it over when my DH and I would watch him. I have also heard...not sure if it's true... but that with the Rock n' Play since the baby sleeps more in a natural position (like the womb) that they walk earlier than babies in a crib. My nephew started walking at 9 mos. But again, I have no idea if it's true.

kelly321 · October 2012

In our living room we had a playpen with a floor that could be raised to bassinet-level. When she wasn't in my arms, that's where DD hung out until she finally started pulling up at around 8 months old. Then we dropped the floor and she would still play in there peacefully for a bit. I loved the playpen and will be using it again for this one.

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Bassinet? Pack n Play? What's your setup?

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