Travel crib for everyday use at home?

[SarahAndMark]

We are trying to figure out crib options for our soon-to-be first, and curious about using a travel crib as the only crib. We aren't on the road all the time, but we like to visit family and friends. A travel crib will be a necessity, so why bother with a conventional wooden crib at home?

So…
Would we be missing out on anything by doing this?
Is it a bad idea for any reason? (Is it safe?)
Why doesn't everyone just use travel cribs?
Have you tried this and found it to be perfect (or imperfect)?

We are looking at something like the "Graco Pack 'n Play On The Go Playard" (http://www.gracobaby.com/products/pa...-go-green.aspx) or the BABYBJÖRN Travel Crib (http://www.babybjorn.com/us/products...el-crib-light/).

Thanks so much!

[rin]

Technically Pack n Plays have warnings that children are not supposed to be left sleeping in them unattended due to suffocation risks. (We definitely let both our kids sleep in Pack n Plays, but technically the products aren't manufactured as cribs.) I personally am not concerned about safety in pack n plays, but it might be worth reading up on to determine your own comfort level.

Actual travel cribs like the BabyBjorn (which we have) are very low to the ground, which can KILL your back picking the baby up and putting the baby down dozens of times throughout the day. Also, because the sides are low, kids can learn to climb out of them much sooner than a regular crib. Our DD was climbing out of the Baby Bjorn travel crib at 14 months.

The mattresses on most travel cribs are not very plush, and our experience was that once our girls got older (and heavier) they did not sleep as well in travel cribs as in a regular crib.

If/when your baby spits up or throws up, it's a huge pain to get all the spit up/vomit out of the mesh sides of a travel crib; most (all?) travel cribs have a lot of non-removable fabric parts that can become pretty rank if barf gets on them. It's much easier to wipe down wooden slats and change the linens on a regular crib.

I would do it in a heartbeat if I felt I needed to for space/cost reasons; if I had the space to set up a permanent crib and could afford one (we love our $99 IKEA Gulliver crib) then I would go that route and get a separate travel crib for vacations/etc. I found the actual pack n plays (Graco is what we had) to be massively inconvenient for actual travel, since they're extremely bulky and heavy. We loved our Baby Bjorn travel crib. I've also heard wonderful things about the Guava crib, although have never used it myself.

[Piglet]

Welcome to BBB!

A few reasons to buy a real crib over a travel crib:

1) comfort for baby - the mattress in a PnP is basically a piece of cardboard covered in a small amount of padding. Our kids never slept as well in a PnP as in their cribs (when we traveled) and I know it is because as they get older/heavier they really felt uncomfortable on the hard cardboard (we actually had to put a quilt on the bottom once when one of the kids was past 1, and they slept better, but of course that is a BIG no-no with infants).

2) comfort for you - it is hard enough to put down a barely asleep baby into a crib and the lower to the ground the mattress is, the harder it is for you. In the beginning it is easy enough to put down a baby in the bassinet portion of the PnP, but when the weight limit is exceeded, you are basically trying to bend over and almost put baby at floor level. In a real crib, you don'd need to lower the mattress until much later!

3) longevity - the crib will last for years, and for multiple kids and some even can be converted to a toddler bed and then a double bed. The PnP is a temporary bed that won't last daily use and abuse (remember that babies become toddlers and toddlers are very active when they don't want to sleep!).

I think it is like comparing buying a motorhome in place of a house. Sure they serve the same purpose, but a house is a huge improvement in comfort, functionality, etc. over an RV! We got a PnP the day DS1 was born and have used the heck out of it. It was a gift from my parents and 12.5 years later it is still used rarely (when we have guests staying with us with kids). I personally think they are a worthwhile purchase if you will be traveling a lot, but the crib is a piece of furniture that is not replaceable with a PnP. Our crib (that we bought for DS2 9 years ago) was just a cheap one from IKEA and has been great for us. You don't have to spend a ton to get a good product, but I think there is a reason PnPs haven't caught on as full-time crib replacements.