Portable crib or pen? Help!

[BooeyJ2]

Hi gals,

My IL's watch our daughter quite often and i'm looking for something similar to a play yard, but without the whole bassinet/changing area that almost all of the new ones have to keep at their house. I'm also looking for something not quite as big/bulky as the standard Pack N Play since they will use it in their bedroom (which isn't big to begin with and they already have a queen sized bed and dresser, etc in there)...especially for nights if she spends the night with them (their bedroom is downstairs and the living room and other rooms are upstairs or on the 3rd floor, so I really don't want them having to climb up and down the stairs at their age. We have a Pack N Play, but keep it in our living room for diaper changes and naps, so lugging that one back and forth is not an option for us.

I know there is the "Arms Reach mini co-sleeper", but I don't want to spend over $100 on something that she won't be able to use for more than 6 months (the manufacturer says up to 12 months and DD is already almost 5 months) and I also don't need the bassinet part, so it would be a waste of $$.



I saw this on Ebay and it looks pretty cool, but i've never really heard of these
http://cgi.ebay.com/Portable-Baby-Crib-Sleepn-Go-II_W0QQitemZ7704131141QQcategoryZ2985QQrdZ1QQcmdZV iewItem



We used to use this for her at their house,
http://i4.ebayimg.com/02/i/04/9f/8e/90_1_b.JPG
but she's already longer than the white mattress now and she's rolling over like crazy, so she doesn't "stay" inside of it anymore.



Does anyone have any suggestions? For those of you who have other people watch your babies who don't have a lot of space to set up a Pack N Play at their house, where do your babies sleep?

[lauren f s]

My MIL has something similar to the portable baby crib you found on Ebay and it was wonderful for whenever DD went over to visit. It doesn't take up much space and DD was able to sleep very well in it. However, around her 1st birthday she became too long for it and wasn't able to sleep comfortably so we have to send over the PnP now. But for the first year it was great.

[lelee17]

darn! I wish I had a good suggestion. We use the PnP at my parents house, too. We were lucky to get 2 for our baby shower so we keep 1 here at the house and the other at my parents. I honestly thinks its your best bet since she won't outgrow it anytime soon. I'll search for other ideas.

It's me, Lez, by the way. ;)

[BooeyJ2]

I was looking on www.BabyCenter.com and this would be PERFECT....except it's only 30" long and DD is already about 27"....so she wouldn't fit for long.
http://store.babycenter.com/MEDIA/ProductCatalog/43810_206017_md.jpg


They have a "toddler" sized one, but it's for 24 months and up :(

[Koala_Gurl]

Is there any reason she can't use the "toddler" sized version of that thing you just posted?

[Brady]

I've actually been looking for something like this myself, so I'm reading along. We currently have a PNP at one of my parent's houses.. we want to get another one for their other place so we're not constantly lugging stuff back and forth.

This is just a smaller version of the PNP... $79.99 not sure if that's still to much, but another thought!
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00065XY6G.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Koala_Gurl]

We have that travel crib shown above...

The bassinet feature is only good to 15 lbs, like the PNP...but it is much smaller. I don't know the dimensions off hand, but I think your DD wouldn't fit much longer in it.

[Brady]

After I posted that, I actually went back as I was thinking the same thing.. it didn't list dimensions for it, but just that it was good till 30lbs. So, might not be a help for you (but I think I may actually get one..) ;)

[Chylynn]

I found this at Target (http://target.com) :

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002VG68W.16._AA260_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

$59.99

• Nylon frame, foam matress travel bed
• Assembly required; 4-1/2Hx24Wx48D"
• Spot clean
• Imported

See Features and Additional Info for more details.
• Catalog # : 578928 ASIN: B0002VG68W DPCI: 030-02-0607
• Imported

• Shipping & Delivery Information
• Standard delivery only. Flat shipping charge per item: $9.99
• This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.

HTH..

[usafwife]

My SIL let us have their portable crib (like a PNP but doesn't have the bassinet, changing table, or other features) that they for their little boy (he turned 3 in July). My mom has it at her house for when we take DD there. It's made by Graco. Maybe you could find a similar one someplace.

[BooeyJ2]

I was thinking about it when I was gone to lunch and DUH....I can't use that little thing (or the toddler sized one) because soon enough she'll be sitting up and crawling.....not too safe considering she could eventually get out of it and crawl upstairs and possibly fall down the stairs. So yeah, I need a pack n play of some sore MINUS the bassinet feature and hopefully something smaller than the norm.

[Chylynn]

I own the pnp that was posted previously and I LOVE it!!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00065XY6G.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

If you want me to measure the bottom of the pnp to let you know the length, I would be happy too! I can't get over how long your DD is- she is going to be tall!! :)

[BooeyJ2]

I own the pnp that was posted previously and I LOVE it!!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00065XY6G.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

If you want me to measure the bottom of the pnp to let you know the length, I would be happy too! I can't get over how long your DD is- she is going to be tall!! :)


That would be awesome! Thanks! So far that one just might be the one! DD is actually only 26 3/4"....but that was a few weeks ago. So yeah, she's pretty darn close to 27". I'm not sure she'll be "tall" though. I'm 5'6" and DH is 5'10" so neither of us is super tall :)

[BooeyJ2]

Oh I just saw the measurements on Target.com:

29-1/4Hx23Wx32L


Looks like it's only 32" long. Guess i'll be going with the standard size! LOL.

Hmmmm......which means maybe i'll use our current one (which I don't really like because the changing area/bassinet is so low and it hurts our backs to change her diaper) for my IL's house. ;)

[tgal]

Bumping, I swear there is another thread, but we need something for our travels during xmas! I've seen a few, but dd needs a very soft surface. She HATES her PNP! :(

[EJH]

How old is your DD?

We used our PnP in August on vacation, DD doesn't love it but we put blankets under the mattress part to try and make it a bit more cushion-y. She was 11 months at the time and she slept well. She's never been one to spend a lot of time in the PnP for sleep so we were worried she'd refuse. But that combined with the PnP sheet apparently made it okay for her.

We're trying to figure out what to do with her when we travel to my folks in a couple of weeks. At 16 months I worry she will refuse the PnP, but we're not sure we trust her on one of the inflatable travel beds. We still like her confined, LOL.

[tgal]

DD will be 10 months when we travel. One of the biggest issues with the pnp is that dd doesn't put herself to sleep (well, an issue with her not the pnp) and when you go to put her down in that thing she wakes up every time. Our arms aren't long enough to keep her close and lay her down gently so she doesn't wake up.

I just did a search and dang there are limited options out there. The kidco peapod is one, but there are several negatives on trying to pack it back into the travel bag.

A friend sent me this link. Not sure if dd is old enough for something like this though.
http://www.mynappak.com/

[sunflower10/04]

I have a 10 month old who also hates his PNP. I don't blame him...the mattress is so thin and hard, he just doesn't sleep well (if at all) in it anymore. We traveled to my inlaws over Thanksgiving (by car) and bought this...
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267158&cp=&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255957&origkw=portable+cribs&kw=portable+cribs&parentPage=search

It worked great and he slept great. The mattress is actually pretty comfy. The only thing is, is that it doesn't pack up well. It folds up, but there is no carry bag or anything. That is fine for us, since we can just stick it in the car, but I don't know if you are traveling by plane.

And for what it is worth, we also looked at this one (thought it would be nicer)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2299919&cp=&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255957&origkw=portable+cribs&kw=portable+cribs&parentPage=search

And the mattress wasn't as comfy...at all.

[EJH]

TGal,

That's exactly the kind of thing we are considering for my DD. She'll have her own room at my parents' house but we need to make sure it's seriously baby proofed if she's going to be left to her own devices in there. It's a small room (their office), and the computer is in a desk and we can easily lock the doors so she can't get into it. This is such a challenge!!

[tgal]

Sunflower: Thanks for posting the portable crib. I so wish we had a huge suv and didn't have to worry about packing. Unfortunately, with the monster carseat taking up the majority of the space in the back seat and our suitcases in the trunk, not to mention how we are going to fit in all the xmas gifts going and coming, I doubt we will have room for everything.

www.sparebed.com has a couple of air mattresses. DD is doing well crawling and standing up at this point. This doesn't seem to be too far off the ground. Is anyone familiar with their safety with younger children with respect to sleeping on airmattresses? I wasn't thinking I'd use blankets or anything.

[Linnybubbles]

My friend uses a Portacrib Mattress pad by simmons for her pack and play and swears it makes it much more comfortable. They sell it at BRU

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2415249&cp

[meaneygal]

anyone own a full size portable crib? looking for rec's. tia!!