Pack 'n' Play - Need or Just Nice to Have?

kayemgi · April 2014

It seems like a pack 'n' play is a regular baby item these days. We live in an old home with small rooms will be hard-pressed to fit one in any room of the house. And I've only ever seen my friends use the bassinet feature (though of course I'm not at my friends' houses 24/7). What do you guys think? Is a pack 'n' play something I can do without or something I should make room for somewhere?

meganmccr · April 2014

I used my for downstairs napping since I live in a 2 story house in the beginning. They are also good for travel. It's totally up to you though..a bassinet would work too.

MBano · April 2014

I live in an apartment. I personally wouldn't need one. If I had a bigger house, then I would.

chardonnay24 · April 2014

We only used a pack n play for traveling or camping. We could have definitely lived without it. Actually, we never owned one and just borrowed one every time we needed it. We bought one for this baby because I feel like we will use it a lot this time. I wanted a place that is safe from the careless feet of my 3 year old. When he was a baby, I'd put him on the floor activity mat or the bouncy seat and walk away, but I don't trust that the baby will be safe with my 3 year old running around, so I'm calling it a "must have" item this time around.

mrsdanielleM2010 · April 2014

I'm thinking of it as a must have for when I need to put the baby down and don't want the dog messing with him.

kmbk27 · April 2014

So, to piggyback on the original question, am I correct in thinking a P&P and a Rock 'n Play would be overkill? I'm pretty sold on the R&P, but I have been going back and forth on whether or not we will really want to have a P&P around. I can't imagine us having too many (if any) situations in which we will need it for overnights, and the less stuff we can have around, the better. I figured a R&P could possibly replace a bouncer and a Pack 'n Play.

purplestarz · April 2014

I think it depends on your needs. I definitely think I will need one to keep downstairs (nursery will be upstairs). I also have dogs so I agree with pp it will be a nice place to put baby down without getting a big wet nose/tongue in their face

cmumama · April 2014

We only use ours for overnight travel or long daytrips to someone's house.

aliciak316 · April 2014

It's definitely nice to have but not a must have. We go to the lake a lot on weekends and I watch a little girl Monday-Friday so it's nice to have so everyone can have their own space to nap. But if you have a smaller house or don't travel to often you can get by without it no problem.

chardonnay24 · April 2014

I love, love, love my rock n play, and if you had to pick just one for space issues, I'd definitely stick with only the rock n play. We used it for overnight sleep, traveling when he was tiny, and I'd take it outside so he could nap on the deck while I read or gardened. We had a bouncy seat, but it was a gift and we definitely could have lived without it.

However, you can really only use it for the first few months while a PnP has a much longer useful life. After my son outgrew the RnP and could get out of the swing and bouncy seat, I made him a little baby jail with toys on the floor so he could stay safe if I was in another room, and that worked just fine.

CplusJ=S · April 2014

My daughter has used the pnp every night for the past 2 years. We set it up next to our bed and used the bassinet when she was a newborn. Now we put her in there for her first stretch of sleep every night until she wakes and comes in the bed with us. It might not be a must for everyone, but for us it is. We are even buying a second for this baby so we can keep them both in our room.

Kateysomething · April 2014

For us, my mom lives on the first floor and is confined to a wheelchair. If she was watching one of the girls as a baby, they napped in the bassinet and she could reach them no problem. It was definitely a must for us. When they were bigger, it was nice to have a confined play area while I was vaccuuming or going to the bathroom in peace.

kayemgi · April 2014

mrsdanielleM2010 said:

I'm thinking of it as a must have for when I need to put the baby down and don't want the dog messing with him.

Ooh I didn't think about the dog. We have a big greyhound that loves to put his nose on everything, which I'm sure will include baby!

KateSays said:

I wouldn't consider it a must have. It's nice to have for travel and now that we have 2 floors we will use it downstairs as a napping/changing area for the baby. We could definitely get by without it though.

FYI if you do find yourself really wanting/needing one, look into the graco travel lite. It's smaller and fits through doorways. It might work better for you in your small space than a full size pack n play.

I just looked up the Graco Travel Lite and I think that will be perfect for us! Thank you so much for mentioning that.

SingleMom31 · April 2014

We've only ever used it for travel, since DD has always slept in her crib. We tried the RnP and PnP in our room and neither worked for us... She'd wake us up or vice versa and nobody slept well.

Depending on what your planned use is, I'd skip the fancy diaper changing station, etc and just get the basic one. Even though we've used ours a bunch, that stuff never left the box.

Bonnesetter27 · April 2014

Ditto what pp's said about using it when traveling. I also used it for him to nap in when he was nb because I wanted him to be in a well light room around noise. I also used it when he was mobile and I need to shower or a few minutes to do something. It was great to contain him with a bunch of toys.

kleigh926 · April 2014

We use our PNP's changing table attachment daily. Other than that, overnight travel is really the only time that we have used it. I tried putting her in it a few times while I was making dinner to keep her contained, but she hated it. Now, once the second one comes, I expect to be using it more. Either as a safe place for the baby, or to keep DD contained and safe while I am doing something with the baby and can't keep an eye on her.

We have a small house too so I understand that it can be hard to find room for it. Like I said, we use it in place of a changing table in her room right now. I'd really like to move it into the living room when the next one comes, but we would have to get rid of a piece of furniture to do that.

SouthernMomma+3 · April 2014

It's a must have for us because that is what baby sleeps in when the grandparents keep them overnight until baby is 2-3 years old. It is also what baby naps in when we visit friends.

Linz-E · April 2014

I used the bassinet feature for the first 2 months, then for travel, and often while I was in the shower up to a year just to keep her contained.

SmarieMcB84 · April 2014

What pp's said. And it really depends on your needs. If you travel a lot or have a 2 story house it may be helpful. I used mine downstairs and changed diapers, had them nap in it and play in it when they were little and I needed them confined for a minute while I peed or something. Good to have if you can use it, but not a necessity.

kayemgi · April 2014

Thanks everyone! It sounds like it would be very useful to have, and I think the smaller travel crib option is going to be the best of both worlds for us -- something for baby to be able to be contained/away from the dog in while downstairs, something we can use for travel, and small enough to fit in our living room without having to buy a new couch. Perfect!

teenybean · April 2014

we bought a tiny one the evenflow minisuite. We used it for the first 4 months for both of our kids as our bassinette. We only had a 750 sq ft one bedroom apt with our first. We traveled a lot to visit and took it everywhere with us, even went on camping trips. It is about 1/3 the size of most pack and plays which seem to get bigger all the time. I definitely also used mine to keep big brother off the little guy when he was a baby now that we have a 2 story home it was also nice to have downstairs for containment etc. Ours certainly wouldn't be the greatest for extended playtime cause its so petite, but we've used it for sure!

T&HLove · April 2014

I'm glad to have ours. We coslept with it next to our bed for 7 months. First using the bassinet feature, then lowering the mattress as needed. We also bed shared some, but definitely used the pnp.
Now, we use it for traveling or when she sleeps over at grandmas.. If anything, it's nice for that.

peanutbuttervibes · April 2014

For me it was a must have, we still use it and DS is two. If you have pets or plan to travel it really helps!

Ceridwen21 · April 2014

We got a lot of use out of ours, but we live in a 3-story townhouse (kept it on the main floor) and also brought it on a lot of trips with us.

Irisheyes1247 · April 2014

We've literally never had ours set up in our house, but we keep one at my parents' house because its where the kiddos sleep and we're there pretty often. So for me, it was only useful for travel.

ashaw512 · April 2014

I'm gonna call it a must have. DD will be two when LO gets here, and the dogs won't mess with the baby. Its more for DD, so she won't mess with the baby. We use it to go everywhere. Even tho my mom has a bassinet for naps or over night at her house I always take it, and to other family members houses as well. My house isn't very big but I always left it in the living room or took it to the kitchen when DD started getting big enough to move around and didn't want to be in the bouncy seat or swing. I'd say its good to have even if you get a travel pack and play which are a tiny bit smaller.

rockychryslerb2010 · April 2014

It depends on your lifestyle. For us, I say it was a must have, we still use it frequently. In the beginning, we set ours up downstairs and it had a diaper changing station on it, and E would nap in it. We also had a swing he liked to sleep in, so he napped in both places.

We travel a lot and still probably use it 1-2 times a month. It has been in my car for the last few weeks, just because we take it to friends who don't have kids for naps or sleeping if we're doing dinner out. We also take 3-4 trips a year, and E is still sleeping in the pack n play.

mytinc · April 2014

kmbk27 said:

So, to piggyback on the original question, am I correct in thinking a P&P and a Rock 'n Play would be overkill? I'm pretty sold on the R&P, but I have been going back and forth on whether or not we will really want to have a P&P around. I can't imagine us having too many (if any) situations in which we will need it for overnights, and the less stuff we can have around, the better. I figured a R&P could possibly replace a bouncer and a Pack 'n Play.

@kmbk27 - Here's my cents. I have a small one story house, a dog, and 3 cats. DS was in a bassinet for 2 months, then the Pack N Play in our bedroom until he was almost 5 months. We also had a Rock N Play in the living room where he took all his naps. I loved having both and having options of where to put him down without animals bothering him no matter what room we were in. We didn't have a bouncer or swing. When he outgrew the RNP we moved the PNP to the living room and transitioned him to the crib for overnight. We still put him in the PNP when we want him safe but not under our feet (cooking, cleaning, vaccuming)

JSS1002 · April 2014

We have used ours when traveling or going to other people's houses where we will be during his naptime or bedtime. He slept in the bassinet attachment in our room for the first two months. All depends on your lifestyle. You certainly don't NEED one if you don't need an additional sleeping space in your home or if you don't think you'll ever need to transport a sleeping space.

MrsLaLaBug · April 2014

we use ours anytime we travel or if DH and I are away and she is at a relative's house that doesn't have a crib.

suitern · April 2014

I would say a PNP wasn't a need, but it was certainly nice to have as he got older to contain him for a few minutes and to travel with. He never slept it in well as a baby because we needed him in the RNP because he needed to sit up because of reflux. We are going to set up both the RNP and PNP for this next LO and see which one works best for us.

BabyMayinMarch · April 2014

Must have for us. We go visit in laws tons and use it, and even if we go to visit friends on the weekends we will take it so we can put DS down at his regular bedtime and hang out with our friends as late as we want to.

Trish&Pete07 · April 2014

For me it is a "must have". I actually have 2. One I don't usually have set up but it is used when ever we go to a friends or family house for a place for baby to sleep. My MIL has 2 of her own (one for "safe" play and one for sleep). My 2nd pnp has been set up in my living room since just before the birth of my 3rd daughter in April 2013. At first I had it set up with the bassinet and change table, then as she out grew that I put it down and she is in it whenever she drinks a bottle (otherwise she tends to spill it everywhere) and for safe play away from her 3 and 4 yr old sisters. Also now that she can walk and climb stairs she gets put in there if I have to go up/down staris for something that will take more then a minute.