Crib for grandmas house?

moonbunnie · January 2014

My mom will be watching the baby during the day when I go back to work, probably at 6 weeks. Do I need a crib for her house? Or a pack and play? Anybody have any suggestions? I'm just starting to look at what I need to buy, and it is overwhelming for a first time mom!

momof5sept18 · January 2014

I would say a PNP would be a better option than a crib since it folds up and can be stored away when your LO isn't at your moms.

MNOpea · January 2014

I'm sure a pack n play would be fine? Maybe ask her what she prefers. Obviously a crib is more permanent than a pack n play

moonbunnie · January 2014

Do you think the pack and play will work for a long term place to nap? What about if she keeps the baby overnight? I feel so clueless about this stuff.

moonbunnie · January 2014

My mom hasn't had any babies at her house in 30 years, so I'm not sure she will know what she would prefer. I will probably go with the pack and play since it's portable and less expensive. I'm sure I will figure baby gear out eventually, right? I need a bigger house already haha!

cMichelle0423 · January 2014

Leave it up to your mom.

kittenslove · January 2014

FTM - I would ask her what she wants.

My moms friends are throwing a grandmom shower (its a tradition, they even do it when one of them gets a new dog, doggie showers. Its more just a reason to get together and party a bit). There's about 5 of them, and they are going in on a PnP. I thought this would be enough, but apparently my mom also wants a crib. We are shopping craigslist for her though, I don't have a budget to buy two brand new cribs.

ksyknelvr73 · January 2014

My mom bought a crib for her house - her theory was she will have more grandbabies in years to come so she'll get plenty of use out of it. She isn't the primary childcare for my son, but she keeps him sporadically and overnight as well, so she just wanted to have one. Now we are expecting #2 so she will be able to use it all over again. She also has a PNP but she got that on her own accord, I'm not really sure why.

ETA: My MIL also has a crib at her house as well. This baby will be her 3rd granchild in the last 3 years so she needed one I guess

b48kate · January 2014

The PNP makes sense to me...she can use the newborn napper initially and then a PNP mattress like this as the baby gets older ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006Z2BZBU ). I believe this is what my mom is doing...

babygabe614 · January 2014

My mom will also be watching the LO for us when I go back to work. I plan on getting her a pack n play to keep at her house.

tbmadeamistake · January 2014

My mom bought a PnP when she felt bad having my sister drag hers over twice a week when Mom was watching my nephew. My sister used it as a play pen at home, so it had to go back and forth. Then I got pregnant shortly there after so she just bit the bullet and bought a crib. When she stopped watching Gus, and we only go down once a month or two, she gave the crib to a friend who needed it and went back to using her PnP. Both were fine and worked well. C is 20 months and a monster of a toddler, and she sleeps in it without a problem. She just uses the base that it came with, not the mattress you can buy with it.

My MIL got out her old crib (at least 20 years old) for C to sleep in when she's over there because she got tired of putting her down to nap on the living room floor (we very rarely PLAN to stay that long, so we rarely bring the PnP). It's old, but they made the drop side stationary and C is old enough to complain should she get stuck in it somehow, so I tend not to worry (though I tend to be relaxed about that sort of thing anyway).

lscal20 · January 2014

We've decided to do a PnP. She has a crib saved from her last kid that they were gonna use, but we decided the PnP will be better and take up less room and can be moved easily. As for overnight, I feel like it could work once in a while. I know my grandparents never had a crib for any of us and it worked out fine

Mia081081 · January 2014

DD was at my mom's 2-3 days a week and has slept over once every couple of months since she was born. My parents had a pack n play, and DD just recently transitioned to sleeping on the queen sized bed (with rails) now that she is 2.5. DD LOVED the pack n play and always slept like a champ at their house.

ETA: She also had a pack n play mattress, so it wasn't that hard for baby to sleep on.

snowpants · January 2014

moonbunnie said:

Do you think the pack and play will work for a long term place to nap? What about if she keeps the baby overnight? I feel so clueless about this stuff.

My MIL watched DD full time from when she was about 6 months until just over 2 years old. She used a PnP for naps the entire time and it worked great. DD has done a couple overnights there too and the PnP was perfect. FWIW, DD has consistently been in the 97% for height so she's not a little peanut or anything.

rainstar752 · January 2014

My mom has a PnP and my daughter still uses it at 2.5 years old. Works great!

lefriday · January 2014

I'd get a crib. However, grandmas are a special bunch. Say the word and one will appear. My mom had better baby gear then me and it's all been given to her.

MollySm · January 2014

We use a pack n play. Lucia naps at my work (I nanny) 4 days a week, and has since she was 1.5 weeks old. And then she sometimes naps at her Gramma's house and sometimes spends the night there, also in a pack n play. She has no problem with it, and it's great for us that she's used to sleeping in one (we can go to anyone's house with it packed up in the trunk, and she'll happily to go sleep in it at bedtime).

Rosebud2587 · January 2014

My mom has a crib, but she bought it herself.

hjl050308 · January 2014

My mom has watched both of my boys, and will watch this baby, from 12 weeks on. We got a pack and play for her house, along with some other things like a swing, playmate, and bouncy chair (just so i didn't have to lug things back and forth). In the beginning they slept in the bassinet top and eventually moved to the bottom part. My 2 year old still naps in it and also plays in it sometimes when he needs a break (or more like I need a break)

dragonfly711 · January 2014

i am giving my mom a pack n play someone gave me. My mom has a small 2 bedroom apartment so she does not have room for a crib. At least the pack and play can be folded up and be moved out of the way too.

gregsgurl81304 · January 2014

We used the bassinet portion of the PNP for the first 5 months with DS. We were about to move from Italy to Oklahoma, and wanted to wait until we bought a house to buy a crib and set up a nice room for DS, then when DS was 10mos old DH got sent back overseas so DS and I went back to our home state to be with family for 8months. We had to share a small room at my MIL's so I just continued to use the bottom portion of his PNP until we came back to Oklahoma and he could be in his own crib again. The whole time we used the PNP it held up great. I plan on reusing the bassinet portion for LO for the first 4-5 months, and we will keep it for travel purposes again.