Do I really need a pack & play?

[smcdonald2]

Sorry if this is a weird question. Almost everyone regisTers for a PNP and almost everyone I know says it's just an oversized toy box in their living room. Just not sure if we'd really use one, so I thought I'd get your opinions. My mom is babysitting for us full time during the day. In the evenings, DH and I make dinner, talk, watch TV...seems like we'll be holding or wearing Dc (since we haven't seen her all day) or playing on a blanket in the floor. We've got a crib for sleeping, a superyard for when she starts moving...what's the PNP for? I should mention that we are really into voluntary simplicity and we don't like to have unnecessary possessions.I'm thinking about skipping it unless I just find a really nice cheap one on craigslist. Am I crazy?

[cvanbrunt]

No, you're not crazy. Here's how we used ours for both girls. For the first few weeks DH and I took turns "sleeping" and feeding in the guest room with the baby while the other slept. We have a big house so it was used as the changing table downstairs for a few weeks as well. After that, it has been used a handful of times as crib when we go to my sister for Thanksgiving and it has been used exactly once as a playpen. You can always get one later if you find you need it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

No, you're not crazy. Here's how we used ours for both girls. For the first few weeks DH and I took turns "sleeping" and feeding in the guest room with the baby while the other slept. We have a big house so it was used as the changing table downstairs for a few weeks as well. After that, it has been used a handful of times as crib when we go to my sister for Thanksgiving and it has been used exactly once as a playpen. You can always get one later if you find you need it.

That's pretty much how we used our's.

I really was happy to have one. If you have a 2 story house, I think they are valuable.

Ds2 was in it more than ds1. We used it as a playpen for him when we needed somewhere safe to put him briefly. But, you have the SuperYard so you likely won't need it for that.

Beth

[frugal mom]

We used ours quite a bit. I have one with the basinette feature, and DD slept in that next to our bed for the first 3 months or so, rather than using something like a co-sleeper. Then we took out the basinette and moved it to her room for another month and used it as a crib until we got her real crib. She's now 18 month and still naps in it at least once a week when my MIL watches her at their house. We also take it with us as a travel crib on road trips. So for us, using it for sleeping had been great. I've never used it as a playpen, though.

[arivecchi]

We have used ours a ton with both kids. We used it as a bassinet the first couple of months and used the changing pad a ton as well. Once they get bigger, we leave it in the living room for tummy time and so they learn to sit in a safe place. Great for travel as well.

[newg]

We used ours for the first three months as DD's crib in our room...it has a bassinet feature and that's what she slept in at night and for naps...........the bassinet feature sits up higher than the crib, so much easier for me to get her in and out with my c-section recovery................
After that I used it/still use it.......as a playpen.........we have two dogs and it's where I would plop her if I need a few minutes to go to the bathroom or run around the corner and she needed to be safe....
Now it stays upstairs in our room (folded up) and I use it if I need to take a shower and have her stay safe while I'm in there..............

If you have the play yard you might not need it...........unless you would use it in your room for the bassinet feature............do you have a friend's that you could borrow....................

they make very simple ones for less than $100 bucks now too..........my MIL and mom both have one at their house for DD........graco and I think they were each $60...........so with coupons you could get it even less...........

[zany]

this might be a dumb question but when i look up pack and plays online the only ones that have a bassinet feature seem to be for twins and have TWO bassinets. i can't find any with just one bassinet. ??? any suggestions as to what i'm doing wrong? thanks!

[zany]

alrighty - sorry i'm new at all this! i just figured out the answer to my own question - the bassinet feature is called a "newborn napper" so when i searched on bassinet it wasn't finding it.

[newg]

Graco makes a ton of pack and plays with the "bassinet" feature.......there are a few others too.....
www.allbeebaby.com and BRU should have a ton of good ones!

[Andi98989]

We got a basic one from BRU. We have it set up in our office in the basement right now, but we mainly have it to use when we travel. DS needs somewhere to nap/sleep when we go to visit friends and family. We'll definitely be taking it with us when we go to see family for the day for Christmas, etc...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2786140

[bigpassport]

DS slept in his PNP for the first 3 months because we didn't have a crib yet and slept in his PNP for the couple of road trips we've been on. We've never used it for anything else so far. DS isn't crawling yet so we haven't used it for containment, but if you have a superyard you might be set. Sounds like for your needs you might not need a PNP. And they do indeed take up space even when folded up.


alrighty - sorry i'm new at all this! i just figured out the answer to my own question - the bassinet feature is called a "newborn napper" so when i searched on bassinet it wasn't finding it.

The bassinet feature is not the same as the newborn napper feature. The bassinet is a thin net/mattress that raises the whole bottom of the PNP. The newborn napper is a little snugly cradle-thing that sits on top of the PNP.

This picture shows just the bassinet:

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Pack-Playard-Bassinet-Kensly/dp/B001GQ2PLE/ref=pd_cp_ba_2

This picture shows the newborn napper:

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Playard-Newborn-Napper-Broadstreet/dp/B001PIJEJE

[Melaine]

We used our p&p's a lot at home (although not for a terribly long length of time) but that was probably mostly because we had twins. I am very happy we had them for travel, though.

[MomToOne]

We bought two and never used either. DD was / is not that kind of baby. But that is something we couldn't know until she was here

[hellokitty]

For us, it was totally worth it. I used the changing table and basinett feature a LOT during the first six months. After that, I used the play yard feature to put my kids in there for when I wanted to keep them contained while I went to the bathroom, got the mail, etc.. We have a dog too, so I would NEVER leave the dog and baby alone, even though after 6 yrs, our dog has never tried to do anything to my babies before, you just never know. Also, we use it when friends come to visit and their baby needs to nap or they stay overnight, it's a crib.

[smcdonald2]

Would it be fair to say this is something we might not need right away? So I could not register for one, and then if I discovered a burning need for a PNP I could go get one? Or would I be kicking myself when I needed it and didn't have it?

[vludmilla]

Nope. I hated the one we were given and rarely used it.

[zag95]

We've used ours quite a bit on trips to the beach or traveling places. Our house is a single story, so it isn't as useful as those that have 2 levels. Also has been used when company comes!

[sunshine873]

Would it be fair to say this is something we might not need right away? So I could not register for one, and then if I discovered a burning need for a PNP I could go get one? Or would I be kicking myself when I needed it and didn't have it?

It totally depends on you and your DC. I think this could be said for a lot of baby equipment (swing, bouncy seat, etc.) For us, the PNP was/is great. We used it in the beginning when we brought DD home as a bassinet in our bedroom. We had a basic Graco model (Safari, I think.) Once we moved her to her room, we packed it up. But it still comes out when friends come over with their little ones and when we travel. It's worth the $$ we spent just for travel alone. But that's us...

[mikeys_mom]

Would it be fair to say this is something we might not need right away? So I could not register for one, and then if I discovered a burning need for a PNP I could go get one? Or would I be kicking myself when I needed it and didn't have it?

In short, yes you can wait to buy one.

With DS, we did not purchase one until the first time we needed it for travel. We had a bassinet in our bedroom and lived in a small house. I never found it to be a big deal to bring him upstairs for naps and never missed having one.

Of course with our twins we used two all the time right from the beginning in addition to a bassinet. But, I think that was because there were two of them and we are in a bigger house now.

[Smillow]

I started out using the Travel Lite PnP w/bassinet downstairs when he was real small & slept all the time & when we traveled. I've got a big guy & he out grew that, so I got the full sized one to keep downstairs, now that he is mobile. So, except for traveling, we went a few months w/o needing one at home, till he started crawling.
Craigslist is a good source for getting a good price - esp if you don't know how much you will use it. Plus you can probably sell it for close to what you paid for it.

[kozachka]

We did not have a PNP. We also did not have a bouncy chair or a swing so maybe not a typical set-up. There were a couple times when I wished we had one, mainly when we traveled, but we used the ones provided by hotel (after carefully inspecting them) and were glad to not lug around a huge box. DS slept in our room for the first 4.5 months in his crib. And also occasionally slept in his stroller on the first floor of our house. We got a lot of use of the baby carrier since DS loved being carried around.

[newg]

well if you register for one and get it as a gift you don't have to pay for it!! As long as they include a receipt you can return it if you end up not needing it....

[WatchingThemGrow]

I would say a pack n play is A LOT more useful and simplistic than a SuperYard.

[gatorsmom]

We've used ours a lot. When mine were newborns, I used it as a safe place to set baby down or a place to change them on the main floor of our house (our bedrooms are upstairs). We use them now for beds when we travel or go camping. They are familiar with their pnps and are comfortable sleeping them.

If you don't think you'll use one, you might just want to skip buying one until the day you actually need it. Who knows, maybe you won't ever want/need one.

[boltfam]

I didn't read through all the posts, but we do use our PNP a lot. We used it when DS was a newborn mainly as a changing table. We're expecting our DC 2 this spring, and I think it work well as a safe place to put baby while I use the bathroom or other things and can't watch the 2 yo. big brother!

How we've used it most is while visiting friends and family. We go away a lot in the summer to friends' and families' cottages, etc. and most of the time, they don't have an extra crib. We also take it with us instead of using hotel cribs, because many of them are old and unsafe. We even use it when going to friends' houses and we don't want to be home by DS's bedtime or pay a babysitter. We just take him with us and put him to bed there.

If you don't go away a lot, maybe it's not worth it. I do agree with a pp, though, that I'd say it's more useful than a superyard.

[Melanie]

I thought we totally needed one, and the top of the line one with all the extras (sunshade, changing addition, bassinet addition), too. LOL. When we didn't receive it as a gift I went and bought it.

We hardly used it at all. I had visions of it being a downstairs resting place for Ds, putting him in it when we were outside (um, we are not outside people and didn't have a yard, I don't know why I suddenly thought we'd become them. LOL). I can see if you travel a lot or get lucky enough to have one of those babies that you put down to go to sleep, using it. However it was a big waste for us, I kept it through our second but we still didn't get much use out of it. With her we had the Amby so that got all the use.

[jenandahalf]

We had one with our first but back then they were just the simple ones without all the changing tables and bassinets. We used it as a place for her to hang out when we were in the living room so we didn't have to worry about her rolling off the sofa or crawling into something. We also took it with us to travel which was very handy at times. We did have a bouncy chair but I didn't like to leave her unattended in it, no swing though.

I'm planning on getting one with at least a changing table on it this time, as we now have two floors and I know from experience that I won't go to another room just to change diapers if I can help it! Plus now that I will have a 6 year old to watch too, I will definitely be needing that safe place to put him when I need my hands free.

I'd say only register if you think someone will buy it for you, and that it won't be at the cost of something you wanted more. I know I don't want to be hit with a $100+ expense right after the baby is born because I wanted to hold off and see, when I could have had someone else buy it for me earlier.

[diegosmom]

What I have found after two kids is that only a handful of items are "MUST" haves. Most make life more convenient but aren't required. That said, we use our PNP a bunch, especially when traveling, which is quite a bit so I am definetly glad we have one. A simple PNP will suffice and it doesn't need alot of bells and whistles.

I found ours at a the community yard sale, it was pretty much brand new and I only paid 40 dollars. So hands down it was well worth the money.

[ahrimie]

We used ours a lot in the first 3 months or so because we have a bi-level home. I'm mostly downstairs so we used it as her bed. After that, we've used it as a travel bed since DD doesn't like to sleep with us. I purchased a mini-crib's mattress and use it with the PNP for use now.

But I would suggest buying a simple PNP. We bought one of the flashier ones and I don't see much need for the extras. The features I do like are: bassinet and canopy though.

[mousemom]

We have a small apartment and did not need one. We used our bouncer or a blanket on the floor when we needed to set him down during waking hours and he napped in his crib, which shares our bedroom, or, more often when he was little, in our arms. If you have a larger house or travel more often than we do, I could see it being useful.

[ZeeBaby]

We used the bassinet feature with both of our girls the first few months as a crib. We still don't have a crib for DD2. We also used it as travel crib for DD1 when we visited friends and relatives. We got ours as a gift off of our registry and I feel like it has been extremely useful. We also using the changing tray with DD2. It is definitely one of the most used items from our registry. If we didn't have it, we would manage, but it would be much tougher. I just find with two that you need so much more stuff to not be overwhelmed. We borrowed a 2nd pack n play for DD1 to keep her contained when I am busy with DD2. It has been very helpful.