Bassinet Vs. Pack N Play

[1chigirl]

I have a question in regards to bassinets vs. the pack 'n plays with the bassinet option. I was reading in the book that the authors recommend skipping a bassinet and using a pack 'n play with the bassinet feature instead. I was looking at the pack 'n plays and it seems to me that their bassinet "mattress" is not nearly as sturdy and firm as what a regular bassinet would have. I am planning on picking up a travel pack 'n play, at least for trips, but I am wondering if there are concerns to using it every night. Is a regular bassinet better support for the infant's body and safety or is a travel pack 'n play bassinet just as good? What is your experience. Do I need both a pack 'n play as well as a bassinet or just the pack 'n play? Thanks!

[clc053103]

I think safety wise, both are safe. But I do agree with you that most Pack and Play mattresses I have seen are so thin and flimsy, much thinner than the bassinet mattress was.

My DS would not sleep in the pnp, ever. Not once. If I were to skip something it would be the pnp, which we referred to as a glorified changing table and toy box. LOL!

Our DS was large- so while we had a bassinet, he lasted in it for about 2 weeks before he went right into the regular crib.

[wheezypig]

I have to say the mattresses in most bassinets are just as thin and flimsy as the ones in a PNP. I would say just get the PNP. A bassinet is functional for such a short period of time. I think we used ours for a week at most. Fortunately, we had borrowed it so I didn't waste any money on it. A PNP will be used for years, first as a bassinet and changer and later as a travel crib and play yard. As a first time mom, the best advice I can give is to simplify what you get for the baby. They use so many things for such a short time and then you have to pack it up somewhere. Try to get products that do double duty and will be usable for as long as possible.

[MamaMolly]

We used the PNP bassinet feature for the first week until we put DD into her crib in her own room. Newborns make a lot of random noise, and I couldn't get a wink of sleep until she was in her crib. We then moved the PNP to the den (downstairs) so she could sleep there, but for the most part I just carted her up to the crib.

DD didn't seem to sleep as well in the PNP. I don't think it had anything to do with the mattress though, b/c the whole thing had a funny smell and I think that's why she didn't like it. We have used other PNPs at Grandma's with no trouble. When we moved I packed up ours for about 2 weeks with a dryer sheet which has fixed the funky smell.

I have loved the PNP for travel. We have really gotten a lot of travel use out of it. DD used it for 10 days at my moms, and slepy like an angel. Now that the smell is gone and DD is bigger we use it as a play area while we unpack boxes. She seems happy enough!

I don't think I'd spend the money for a seperate bassinet, considering the short lifespan. HTH

[MATTYSMOMMY]

My son would never sleep in the Pack and Play, I used the Arms Reach co sleeper and bought a thicker mattress for it.

[mariza]

I put my kids in their cribs right from the beginning, so a bassinett would have been a waste for us. I was really tempted by the Eddie Bauer wooden bassinett for DS (he was my #2) but I talked myself out of it by saying I never needed one for DD. Good thing becasue he was a big baby and was over the 15lb weight limit by 2 weeks!
Our PNP however is now over 2 years old and still gets daily use. 2 yo DD still climbs in to play with her baby brother who naps, and plays in there.

Mariza
Mommy to my "Thing 1" DD 1/05
and "Thing 2" DS 9/06

[westwoodmom04]

"Regular" bassinet mattresses are the flimsiest there is!! I had a mini arm's reach co-sleeper for number 1 and am planning to use the Graco travel crib (just a bit smaller than a pack and play)for number two and I can tell you that the co-sleeper and Graco mattress are identical, the co-sleeper just costs twice as much. I got rid of my first co-sleeper because the support system for the mattress got pretty saggy after my daughter used it for about 2 months, the graco bassinet is much better supported IMO.

[ajmom]

I agree with the PPs. We had a bassinet for DS1 and DS2 and the "mattress" really was pretty thin. They slept fine in it, though. For DD, since we had already gotten rid of the bassinett and I didn't want to buy another one, we just used the PNP with bassinett feature.

The only think that makes a bassinett mattress firm is the bottom of the bassinett. A PNP mattress is pretty firm on its own, considering it's pretty much a board with some padding on it.

DD slept in the PNP with bassinett until about 6 months and then slept in the PNP until 8 months when I FINALLY moved her to her own crib. It worked fine for us and I would not recommend a bassinett to anyone, unless maybe you borrow one.

[Gena]

zeveryone told us not to get a bessinet but we wanted one anyway. We wanted to have Baby in the room with us to start out and there was NO WAY a PNP would have fit in our little shoebox of a bedroom. We had the Safety 1st rocking bassinet and we loved it. Baby slept in the bassinet for 3 months.

The "mattress" that came with the bassinet was really thin, so we bought a bassinet mattress at BRU that fit perfectly and was more comfortable.

So I guess it depends on where you want to put it and how much room you have. In our case, the bassinet was one thing I would not have skipped.

[mominmarch]

We had both a packnplay and a bassinet and they performed separate functions for us. The bassinet (actually one that I used when I was a baby) was in our room on the second floor, and DD slept better in this than the crib (we tried both) b/c she liked the small surrounding feeling. She was 6 lb 6.5 ounces at birth and we used the bassinet for the first 2.5 months, in our room for the first month and then in the hallway outside of our room until we moved her to the crib. I liked having her close - and tried moving her to the crib, but one middle of the night throw up that I didn't hear on the monitor and only went in to find her covered in vomit scared me enough to want her closer to me.

The PNP we used downstairs for more of a play station (the toybar across the top was great). We also put stuffed animals in the corners for her to look at (and "talk to") and she would go in there when we needed a break from holding her. She never slept in it really (I think the excitement of the toybar and the stuffed animals would wake her up even if she was drousy). But we also took this to travel and she would sleep in it (we didn't bring the toybar or the animals when we traveled) if the room was dark.

My bassinet had a thicker mattress than the PNP, and the bassinet mattress was foam. Now the bassinet is put away and she is in the crib, but we still use the PNP downstairs to put her in random times (and when she is a bit bigger, we will take out the bassinet feature and use it as more of a playyard).