Travel light vs pack n play

[Jupiter]

Is the baby bjorn travel light worth the extra money? I love that it's light and compact and we will be traveling but it's more expensive and doesn't have the bassinet feature.

Thanks for your input.

[edurnemk]

I LOATHE traveling with the PnP (especially air travel), it's very heavy and bulky. We did it once, and swore we'd never take it with us again. So if you travel a couple times a year or more I do think it's worth the extra money. HOWEVER the Baby Bjorn does not fit in most suitcases so you'd have to check it separately. You can also consider the Phil & Teds Traveler or the Guava Family Go crib. If you travel by air consider the cost of checking the PnP as luggage into the equation of cost.

Albee Baby frequently has 20% off coupons that can be applied towards the Baby Bjorn as well as the other 2 I mentioned. I'm sure they'll have one for Labor Day.

Re: the bassinet feature, it has like a 15 lb limit so you use it maybe 4-5 months, tops. We used it when DS slept in our room, for travel I wouldn't mind the lack of bassinet (unless it's for a newborn baby I think you can do without it for a few days).

[AngB]

Graco makes a travel lite crib that does have a bassinet feature and is almost the same as the pack n play but it takes up less space and is a lot lighter.http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=342457&catid=183094&aid=338666&aparam=342457 When they are bigger, you can use it still as a mini pack n play. That's what we used, we have a regular pack n play as well but actually used that less. It takes about 5 min to set up once you've figured out how to do it after the first time or two.

For us, that bjorn crib would have not been worth the money for sure, though we never tried it, so I guess I can't say for sure.

[kaharris83]

We have the GoCrib and love it!! Never travelled with a PnP but they are very heavy and bulky. The GoCrib fits into its own backpack and goes right into the overhead. We ordered the Bjorn crib & the P&Ts crib but were disappointed the Bjorn crib was so big and didn't fit a suitcase(comes in its own case that can be checked separately) and the P&Ts seemed flimsy. We used the GoCrib with DS1 from 3 months. I plan to use it with DS2 around the house probably from the start to keep DS1 from being able to bother him. DS1 still sleeps in it when we travel at 2yo.

ETA we also had the Travel Lite to try but realized it was so small it wasn't going to last long at all.

[AngB]

ETA we also had the Travel Lite to try but realized it was so small it wasn't going to last long at all.

It lasts longer than you think. We used it with DS from about 4 till 9 months when I moved him to his room, daily. And he's around 90%ile height/weight.

[specialp]

We have the Graco travel lite AngB linked to.

[Jupiter]

Wow who knew there were so many other options? I like that the Phill & ted is so lightweight and compact even though it seems to take a little to set it up and take it down. Wow I don't know which is better.

[BabyBearsMom]

We used the PnP for the first year, but then got a Peapod for flying. Love the Peapod but only for older kids (at least 1 year and up, I think more like 18 months)

[edurnemk]

Love the Peapod but only for older kids (at least 1 year and up, I think more like 18 months)

:yeahthat: DS loves his but I would NEVER put a baby or very young toddler in there. We started using it at 2 yo.

[Chitowngirl]

Does anyone have any experience with the valco zephyr travel crib and how it may compare to some of the options listed above?

[kaharris83]

It lasts longer than you think. We used it with DS from about 4 till 9 months when I moved him to his room, daily. And he's around 90%ile height/weight.

That is longer than we thought it would last, even longer than our big co-sleeper lasted. It would have been a good alternative for us to the co-sleeper since DS1 is a shrimp. In our case for travel paying to check it every time we flew would have made it cost more than the GoCrib, which we are still using at 2+. DS1's been on 18 flights so that would have been at least $25 for each of those flights to take it along with us.

[rin]

That is longer than we thought it would last, even longer than our big co-sleeper lasted. It would have been a good alternative for us to the co-sleeper since DS1 is a shrimp. In our case for travel paying to check it every time we flew would have made it cost more than the GoCrib, which we are still using at 2+. DS1's been on 18 flights so that would have been at least $25 for each of those flights to take it along with us.

We fly frequently (between a half dozen and a dozen times a year) and have always been able to check baby beds for free, just like a stroller or a carseat. We've only ever done this w/in the US, but have flown multiple different airlines and have never encountered a problem checking a crib/pack n play for free.

We've used a Graco Travel Lite crib, a Peapod, and a Baby Bjorn Travel Light Crib. I hated traveling with the Travel Lite crib; it's still 20 lbs, and is just awkward to carry through the airport with the little side handles. I love the Peapod; soooo small and lightweight, fits even in a backpack, but with the safety issues I wouldn't use it for a baby under 1. We used it until DD1 was just over 2, but because she's so tall she no longer fits in it. In retrospect, I wouldn't have wasted our money on the regular Peapod, and would just go for the Deluxe one which is bigger.

The Baby Bjorn crib is pretty awesome, and is what I would recommend for a young baby under 1; it's lightweight and a breeze to set up. I wish it had a shoulder strap to make it easier to carry through the airport, but so it goes.