Is a Pack and Play necessary?

[Anonymous]

yes! And I'm not a mother who likes a lot of "stuff". The pack and play came in handy early when I'd put our DC in it for naps during the day. We traveled everywhere with it....nice to have it at parent's houses when we visited. I even keep it at the ready now after they have long outgrown it for guests visiting with babies.

[Anonymous]

It's great and use it every day!! My daughter plays and sleeps in it. I have it in the living room. Great for travelling and visiting friends/relatives!!!!

[Anonymous]

We use ours daily. It's very helpful as a changing table on our main floor. It's also helpful to have a place to put a few extra supplies (diapers, wipes, extra pacifier, etc). When we bathe her in the kitchen, it helps to have it nearby when she's all wet to dry her, diaper her and get her warmed up. But we have a drafty old house...

[Anonymous]

Pack and Play is VERY heavy for travel. If you do a lot of traveling, it is helpful, but you may want to consider something a bit lighter weight if you are flying and will not have one on the other end. My sisters in law borrowed Pack and Plays from friends and my mom bought one to have there. I also bought a Phil and Ted's T2 travel cot - only weighs 5 pounds and you can put it into a duffel bag for flying - much better for travel.

I do have a large Graco playyard - more like a traditional playpen that is good for when baby is moving around. Pack and Play is too small for crawlers.

[Anonymous]

Didn't use it so much during the newborn/infant stage since DD just lays there, but as soon as she started rolling, then learning to crawl, and now 9 months later learning to pull her self up on things the Pack N Play is a great way to keep her contained and safe (especially if I need to shower, make dinner, etc.)

Great for vacation travel too.

Oh, and our dog doesn't go knocking her over 900 times a day since DD is safely playing in the P N P.

[Anonymous]

Yes! We had the pack 'n' play on the first floor -- a larger version with a baby-changing station. We used a smaller, lighter one for travel. We found them to be indispensable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few baby items are "necessary." We live in a 2 floor townhouse. We have used ours everyday on the downstairs level.

Excellent point! Before completing the registry, OP may want to try borrowing whatever item you're considering and give it a test run. Pack it, unpack it, move it around, get grandma to set it up, etc.

We are very pro PnP. I had twins, a c-section, a multi-level house, and travel at least 2x a year. So it got lots of use for changing/sleeping/containment/playpen/outdoor enjoyment (UV protected!) until the twins were a bit past the weight limit.

But I confess to being downright silly in hindsight. I was SO caught up in the baby gear whirlwind that I got both a Pack-n-Play AND a "Co-Sleeper" not realizing they were basically the same thing with different brands. And this was AFTER reading Baby Bargains book.

OK - all experienced parents can laugh your heads off. I'm used to it. Hey, at least I decided against registering for a shopping cart cover. (Not so handy for twins...)

Congratulations OP!

[Anonymous]

If you are in doubt, you may want to pick one up from Craig's List or from a consignment sale. PNPs are sold all the time - around 30 bucks or less. Depends on if you want a fancy one.

[Anonymous]

It's definitely a personal thing. We rarely used ours.

We had it in the living room but whenever DD took a nap we'd just walk upstairs and put her in her crib. We used it a bit as a play yard, but it didn't seem super practical for that either - we usually just left her on the floor unless we were cooking or something.

We used it a handful of times as a portable crib when we traveled - that was how we mostly used ours - although whenever we stayed in a hotel we used a crib if they had one since she found it more comfortable.