How To Install Graco Pack N Play Bassinet

Outset thing I learned when shopping for an affordable, travel capable crib was that Graco makes a ton of Pack Due north Play models. You lot tin can hands waste hours comparing them all, but I wasted those hours for yous and am here to report back. graco_pack_n_play_bassinet_vs_graco_pack_n_play_travel_lite

I own both the Pack N Play bassinet (pictured at left) and the Pack Northward Play Travel Calorie-free with Stages. The total-size Pack N Play is in the living room, the Travel Light is in the bedchamber.

The total-size Pack Due north Play is practiced at being useful for a long time; as your baby grows, you lot can use it as a play pen. Before that, it'southward a huge comfy bassinet.

The Graco Travel Light crib is good at being smaller – the full-size Pack North Play won't fit in my sleeping accommodation, so the Travel Lite is our sleeping room bassinet. However, fifty-fifty though information technology can also go a playpen, infant will outgrow it sooner.

How they're alike

Both Pack Due north Play models are designed for babies ages birth to toddler. Both have a suspended sleep surface several inches from the top edge for babies that are also immature to pull themselves upwardly on the border. This suspended sleep surface is corking because it ways you don't take to curve very far to pick up or put down your baby, which you will practice like 100 times a day in the early weeks.

There are cheaper Pack Due north Play models, just they lack the (removable) suspended "bassinet" feature. I wouldn't desire to bend most all the way to the flooring to pick upwards and put down my baby. If y'all become the bassinet model, then you lot've got a piece of furniture that can agree your newborn from birth to toddler years.

pack_n_play_bassinet

When your babe grows, the bassinet part tin exist removed and the pad placed at the lesser of the Pack n Play. Now the bassinet is a playpen, and become over 2 years of usefulness out of a single affair. Cool!

In summary, both the Pack n Play bassinet and the Travel Light:

Are safe for newborns and infants
Are piece of cake to assemble/accept downwards
Have a foldable "sleeping pad"
Become a playpen if you accept out the suspended bedding part

Pack n Play bassinet review, pros and cons

Baby B definitely prefers the large Pack N Play to the Travel Light. That could exist considering we use a Dream on Me mattress inside the Pack Due north Play. This Dream on Me iii″ mattress is noticeably softer and more supportive than the pad that comes with the Pack N Play. However, it's not then soft and mushy so as to be unsafe – it'southward just got a nicer feel to it, especially with a lightly padded mattress embrace.

PROS

Fits the Dream on Me mattress, which Baby B seems to prefer sleeping on
Baby can lay at any orientation inside it
Larger play surface area – 39.50 x 28.25 ten 29.00 inches
Volition terminal longer into baby'southward babyhood
Cheaper than the Travel Lite (despite being larger and generally more useful)
Folds up easily, travels fairly well (that is, in a car – I wouldn't comport this matter recreationally)
Wheels on one end for easy moving
Looks nice, lots of color palettes available
Big enough to apply it as a makeshift changing table that infant can't curlicue out of

Baby B is x lbs / 4 weeks old in this photo. Equally you tin can see, there's plenty of room for her to grow and still sleep in this Pack N Play. When she starts pulling herself up, we'll lower the mattress to the bottom of the crib by removing the bassinet insert.

pack_n_play_as_a_changing_table

CONS

Doesn't fit in our bedroom
Included sleeping pad is hard and rather Spartan; we had to purchase a amend mattress forth with sheets and a mattress pad for it before Baby B would actually sleep on it peacefully
Non a total-size crib, so forget about ramps and bedding intended for actual cribs

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Pack due north Play Travel Calorie-free review, pros and cons

Honestly, unless your room just can't hold the standard sized Pack N Play, in that location'south not much reason to get the Travel Lite. However, if yous can't fit the normal size i, this is the side by side all-time thing and mode more awesome than similarly sized competitor products, such as a standalone bassinet that baby will outgrow inside a few months. At to the lowest degree the Travel Lite tin become a play pen (or fairly deep storage, I suppose!) as baby outgrows it; other co-sleepers and bassinets I came close to buying are really just good at beingness a baby bed.

PROS

Fits in smaller spaces –20% smaller than normal Graco playards (23.2 10 33.5 x 32.2 inches)
Included sleeping pad is softer than normal Pack n Play's sleeping pad, but not every bit soft equally a Dream on Me mattress
Includes "canopy" cover
Wheels on one stop of it for piece of cake moving

CONS

No obvious equivalent to the Dream on Me mattress that fits in the larger Pack Northward Play
Sheets for its pad are non readily available; I used a set up of stretchy 20″x30″ jersey pillow cases from Target
Baby volition outgrow sooner
Pricier than a normal Pack N Play
Only available in ane color palette right now

Baby B is most nine lbs 3 oz in this photo. As you lot can see, she will outgrow the Travel Calorie-free long earlier she outgrows the bigger Pack N Play.

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Which one should I get?

Unless it simply won't fit in the infinite you accept, go the full size Pack N Play.

It'll concluding longer into your child'southward life, it'due south cheaper, and at that place are more mattress options if your baby hates the included sleeping pad like mine does. Information technology travels just equally well every bit the Travel Lite crib and is just as portable around your home.

My recommended "Pack N Play starter kit"

graco_recommended_pack_n_play_set

Here's my exact Pack N Play setup, mattress and all.

This particular combination of play yard, mattress, sheets, and pad is the result of a couple hours exploring Amazon'due south "Customers also bought", checking dimensions, materials, and user reviews. The Dream on Me mattress fits perfectly and snugly – no gaps for baby to fall into.

It's actually easy to accidentally end up on a product meant for a full-size crib, so always bank check dimensions before buying.

To relieve you trial and fault, here are links to the exact Pack N Play play chiliad and bedding I use:

Pack N Play bassinet – mine'south "Pasadena", but as long as yours has the bassinet selection it should be similar (if not identical) to mine
3″ Dream on Me mattress – fits perfectly (no gaps) and my babe actually sleeps on it (flat on her back, no less)
American Babe Company 100% cotton sheets – buy at least ii so you can always accept a clean one ready to get (I have 4)
Waterproof mattress pad for a bit of softness (brand sure yours is 27 inches ten 39 inches x 5 inches). You tin probably go by without a mattress pad, but the Dream on Me mattress has a plastic surface and I think the extra bit of cotton from the mattress pad adds warmth and comfort without adding any hazardous bulk.

Note on mattress safe: Whether you decide to use a supplemental mattress is a personal conclusion – do your inquiry and don't apply (or stop using) annihilation that makes you feel insecure about your baby'due south rubber. Practise non use a mattress that does non fit snugly on all sides, and don't add padding or blankets beyond the mattress and sheets.