I initially thought we'd get a pack and play and have baby sleep in the bassinet insert for the first few months in our room next to my side of the bed for easy night time feeding. Ideally that same pnp would travel with us when we visit friends and family and be a travel crib. After reading the gear regrets of some of the bees, it sounds like a lot of people thought the pnp was too bulky and cumbersome and I read about the Baby Bjorn travel crib for the first time. That sounds like a nice option, and since we are trying to save money and space (apartment living), I wonder if something like that would work well for us. Does anyone know if the Bjorn travl crib has a bassinet insert? It seems like middle of the night feeding would be annoying reaching down into the crib to pick him up. Or, is there a completely different early sleeper you found to be convenient to you and comfortable for baby? Thanks for any input!
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We have been using the Rock N Play sleeper (my baby girl is 17 weeks this week). It is super light and easy to carry from room to room, and it folds easily and is great for travel. As an added bonus, LO has reflux, and the RNP keeps the baby at an incline which helps.
ETA: I went this route because we co-sleep (LO is in the same room with me so I can breastfeed).
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I have to say I was surprised by those gear regrets. We have two pack and plays and have used both a lot with both of our kids - first for sleeping and then for short periods of containment like in the kitchen while I'm cooking! We have traveled with them and they are heavy but we survived!
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We had an arm's reach mini cosleeper and loved it. It was great having her right next to us at the same level, and it can be used as a travel crib as well in the early days (we used ours at 4 months and that was about the limit). But we did get ours for $20 at a consignment sale, not sure I would have loved it the same amount if we had had to pay full price based on the limited time frame!
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@MsLipGloss: I've added one to our list--how long do you think you can use it for sleeping?
@sloaneandpuffy: that's good to hear--that is what I imagined. Since we are in a one level 2BR apartment, it seems like an easy solution for lots of things--sleeping, play pen, travel crib, place to put baby while cooking or showering, esp since we won't need to lug it up and down stairs for all those purposes. How long did you use it as a sleeper?
@mamabolt: I have looked into this as an option as well. Some people said the mattress was loud and crinkly--did you have any issues with that? I do like the slim profile of that, again, as space is an issue for us. -
We're getting a Breeze, which has the bassinet option
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We've only used a PnP for DD and she's 6.5 months old now. We used it with the bassinet insert next to our bed for the first 5 months and now we've been traveling since then and she's been sleepjng in a PnP without the bassinet insert the whole time.
To be honest, we don't plan on buying a big crib for DD any time soon. She's happy in the PnP so we don't feel the need to go out and buy something new at this stage.
The only thing I'll say about our Fisher Price PnP is that the mattress in the bassinet setting kind of buckled and was super uncomfortable. DH bought a super thin piece of plywood that he cut to the exact size of the mattress and put that under the mattress to get it to lay flat. Once he did that, DD was able to sleep quite soundly. I'm not sure if that happens with all PnP mattresses in the bassinet setting, as they're just supported by bars going across under the mattress or if that is an issue specific to Fisher Price, either way, once we could get the mattress to lay flat, it worked brilliantly.
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My LO sleeps in the rock n play and he does great in it. We used the arm's reach co-sleeper, but I think it had too much "room to move" and he easily broke out of his swaddle and would then flail his arms and work himself up. The rock n play is more confined and I think he feels more secure in it. I haven't mastered BFing in bed yet, so even though he sleeps next to my side of the bed I still have to get out of bed to get him and then bring him to his room to nurse.
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our LO slept in the Pack and Play bassinet for the first 2 months.
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We have the 4moms Breeze and LOVE it! We have a small house too - only about 975 sq ft - so space was an issue for us with a pack and play. We were interested in the Bjorn, but wanted something a little more sturdy. LO slept in a bassinet we were able to borrow from someone, so we didn't pick up the Breeze until a couple of months ago. Whey I love it so much is that it seriously sets up and breaks down in seconds. It is so easy to do that when we had company over the holidays I would close it up during the day and open it at night. We keep it stored in the corner of LO's room and know that we will keep using this for years to come as we go places and need somewhere for her to sleep. There are no uncomfortable bars and she slept very well in it. It does have the bassinet and changing pad option, and I am a big, big, fan.
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Definitely interested to hear the answers to this as we have the exact same situation. We have a crib but I'm looking at bassinet options and was assuming once we got there, we'd do the PnP w/bassinet insert. I'd prefer an arm's reach co-sleeper but trying to be money and space efficient and trying not to buy anything that we'll use for less than 4 months.
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I got a summers infant travel bassinet because we'd be moving and it worked great. It can go In the bed or on the floor and then we had it in the crib for a while. We just transitioned to the crib without any issues since they're both flat. It is small so wouldn't work forever especially if your baby grows fast but it was also cheap!
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DS is 5 months old and still sleeps in the PnP in our room half the night (the other half is spent in bed with us). We travel with it too. We have an Arm's Reach co-sleeper but DS refused to sleep in it. If I could do it over again I would have gotten a Breeze, though, just for ease of use,
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@MaybeBaby: The product specs indicate the RNP is good up to 25 pounds . . . my LO is just under 14 pounds at 17 weeks (she is in the 27th percentile for weight). So I would think at least the first 6 months or so, or until your LO is able to try to climb out? Unless, of course, you wanted to transition to a crib before then.
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Thanks, everyone! This is super helpful and I hadn't even heard of half of these options before--looks like we need to do some more research and may have to play around to get the right balance.
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@chrispygal: so glad to hear a good review, especially of the bassinet! Glad it's worked for you
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My LO slept in the PNP play bassinet for the first 4.5 months of her life and it was a lifesaver. We also had a Baby Bjorn crib that we used for travel but we preferred using the PNP for every day use....no need to bend over, etc.
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I have the Arms Reach Cosleeper as well. I tried a PNP at first but he wouldn't sleep in it so I ordered this at around 2 weeks old out of desperation. The ARC was nice because I could almost slide him into without jostling him so much and he would stay asleep more easily and I could be laying down next to him and have my hand on him and sort of trick him into thinking we were in bed together. I haven't had any problems with noise, but it certainly isn't the most well-made thing for the price! Saying that, he still sleeps in it at 5 mo old with no problems. Also, was nice to be able to sort of slide him over to BF in the middle of the night.
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If he's fast asleep then the crib. Otherwise the rock and play next to my side of the bed.
Best baby purchase ever! -
@maybebaby: my son slept in it for 6 months, first in the bassinet and then on the bottom when he was too heavy. I think the weight limit for the bassinet is 15 lbs? Then he slept it it for travel until he was like 18 months. At 2 he'd probably still fit! But now it's occupied
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I love our pnp even if she doesn't use it right now at 7 months. We used it downstairs in our family room, though as a playpen, changing table, etc. We had our lo in a $30 bassinet I found used until she turned 3 months, then into the crib she went.
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@MsLipGloss: My sister used the Rock n Play until her son could pull himself up to sitting. Once he could do that, he'd flop forward in the harness and while he was safe (couldn't fall out) he looked really uncomfortable. She had transitioned him to the crib at night by then anyway. This was somewhere between 4 and 6 months, and he was a pretty big/strong baby.
I'm planning to do the RNP too, since it worked so well for her.
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