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I voted to kick DH out of the office. I totally get wanting to confine his hobbies, but I don't think the pack 'n play or small crib look very comfortable long term. They would probably be fine for the first few months, but I would think you'd want to be able to give the baby a real crib with a real mattress after the first few months.

Though that's just my preference. I know a lot of people keep their babies out of cribs for a lot longer than I did, so I'm sure your LO will be fine either way!

I would rather have the mini crib. But I guess I have a couple questions: do you travel a lot? Will you have an area for a changing area? If you need some where to change LO or travel a lot I like that you can take the PNP with you.

I like the mini crib because it looks more purposeful and not so much like the baby is visiting. However, I would probably kick DH out of the office.

ETA: once LO hit 3 months no one slept well with him in our room. Having him in his own room helped everyone sleep better.

We had a nursery and we also have a pack n play. We thought LO would only be in our room for the first month and then be moved to his own room... 3 months max! Lo and behold he was hanging out in room till about a year in the pack n play or sleeping in our bed with us. He preferred our bed of course but he was okay with the pack n play.

I'm not sure if I would recommend this because it took us a while to transition into the full size crib in the other room. Maybe if we did it sooner he would not be so troublesome during bed time.

ETA - We got the pack n play because it was on sale. But we also got it because we thought it was going to be short term solution so we never thought about a mini-crib.

if you have the room I'd just use a simple full sized crib in your bedroom. we also live in a 2 bdrm and squeezed baby in our room in a full sized crib from ikea. saves money in the long run (the mattress is the expensive part!). pack n play is not a great idea for baby to sleep in long term, in my experience

Mini crib. I know many people who have their kids in mini cribs for 2 years. It's sometimes necessary in an urban area. And it uses a regular thickness mattress, so WAY more comfortable than a PnP

I say pnp bc even when any does move to his own room, you can use the pnp for travel. But I only know one person who used a mini crib and their Lo outgrew it before a year and ended up in a pnp anyway (their Lo is really big though).

I think your plan could work for the short term but eventually you will want baby in his own room, then you can get a full size crib. The pnp can still be used for travel at that point. You can get a real mattress for it if you are concerned. Prob still cheaper than a mini crib.

Pack n Play is great if you are going to need it for traveling. Mini crib will be much more comfortable (unless you get the extra mattress for the PNP).

As for that particular PNP, DD slept in that napper on top for a good 3.5 months until she outgrew it! I had planned on having her sleep in a rock n play but I didnt like the way her head flopped forward when we brought her home, so that napper was a godsend! It was the perfect size where she could feel snuggled and it is slightly inclined but not enough that her head fell forward or she got used to sleeping on an incline. It was a reversible changing table, but we never used the changing table side. We just changed diapers on the bed. I don't think the extra bouncer or whatever is on top there is really necessary.

@simplyfelicity: I think a small, but full size, crib like you posted would be a great option.

LO was in the Pack n Play in our room for about 4 months. It was comfortable enough for her, but as soon as she started rolling in her sleep, it was noisy and seemed a little flimsy.

@Weagle: I didn't realize this.

I voted PnP because I assumed a mini crib only fit an infant. I think either one would be fine. At least the PnP can go with you to grandma's, travel, outside...

But at the end of the day, eventually the kid will need his or her own room, so ultimately "kick DH out of office" will most likely be the case.

I'm glad kicking him out was a poll option, because that's the first thing I thought about when I read your post

He won't have much time to play the guitar (for example) during the first few months. You both will very likely be sleep deprived. Personally, I think it's important for the baby to have his/her own space (IF there's room), even if you intend to co-sleep. It's one of those things you'll thank yourself for doing beforehand. When the time comes to finally transition your LO to the crib, it's much easier to have everything in place.

I would feel envious of the guitar having it's own room!

Also, in this situation I would probably kick DH out of the office, but I totally get wanting the hobbies confined. DH has one of his guitars in our bedroom. Because it's right there he'll just start playing when I need him to do everything except play the guitar - like keeping LO out of the bathroom so I can pee in peace! It wouldn't happen as much if it were in a totally separate room that we didn't spend quite a bit of time in together. And he had plenty of time to play guitar when LO was a newborn, more so than now! Toddlers are demanding of attention :). Hopefully your LO will love his playing as much as mine loves DH's.

Could you make space for a crib in the second bedroom without totally displacing DH? Even if baby sleeps in the room they won't do much else in there for a while. That's what we did when it turned out LO would not sleep with me.

Eventually I think baby will need to kick your hubs out but for the first months or so is say mini crib or arms reach cosleeper. If your husband doesn't mind and you don't cosleeping is awesome for many families.

I voted mini crib! I have both a mini crib and a pack n play and I HATE the pack n play! It's purposeful but so bulky and such an eyesore. I also hate traveling with it because it's so gosh darn heavy. Our LO slept in his mini crib until he was 22 months--we only transitioned him out because we were expected LO2. He loved his crib and we loved how easily we can store it away. Literally, it takes two minutes! Finding sheets for the mini crib can be a bitch though.