Do you need a mattress for a Pack n' Play if you are using it for sleeping?

[Anonymous]

Title says it all. We are going on a trip, and we are planning to get a pack 'n play for our 1 y.o. to sleep in. He's our second, but we've never needed on before so I don't really know the deal. We've borrowed a couple before that had thin mattresses, and I can't tell from the prodcut descriptions whether they come with the PnP's or not.

We are probably going with the Graco one, since that seems to be the cheapest (and we're buying new, since CL offerings all seem to be the same cost as Amazon).

[Anonymous]

Nope, you should use the hard mattress that comes with it. The PnP probably has a warning not to add any soft mattresses or anything else to the structure.

[Anonymous]

I used a quilted playard sheet that protected the surface and gave just a little bit of cushioning. It worked well for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used a quilted playard sheet that protected the surface and gave just a little bit of cushioning. It worked well for us.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope, you should use the hard mattress that comes with it. The PnP probably has a warning not to add any soft mattresses or anything else to the structure.

This.

[Anonymous]

Get the quilted sheet, it will help a lot. You can't really travel with the mattresses anyway. We got one for ours because our 2.5 yo sleeps in it occasionally at home when we have guests. The mattress isn't very squishy, and she is well past SIDS, and thankfully still tiny enough to sleep comfortably in there.

[Anonymous]

We got a firm mattress that fits tightly in the pack and play and it was worth it for us. Kid slept much better with it! If you go this route, make sure the mattress is an exact fit. A gap between the mattress and sides can be very dangerous!

[Anonymous]

Yes, we got a mattress for it the PNP for when we used it as a crib while traveling. The folding cardboard thing that comes with a PNP sucks.

We got this one: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Me-Playard-Mattress-White/dp/B004JU0H6O/ref=sr_1_2_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1502588829&sr=1-2&keywords=pack+n+play+mattress

If you get the mattress, just make sure you get a sheet or two for it. The ones that are for the cardboard bottom that comes with the PNP when you buy it new are two shallow and won't cover the mattress.

[Anonymous]

You don't need one but we use the dream nme mattress and it is a very tight fit. Which is good!!

[Anonymous]

We used a quilted sheet.

[Anonymous]

I would use something (mattress, thick quilt) as the PNP provided very little support for actual sleeping. Since you are using it for actual sleeping and not just a nap, I would get something.

[Anonymous]

It comes with one.

[Anonymous]

No, just use what it comes with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all. We are going on a trip, and we are planning to get a pack 'n play for our 1 y.o. to sleep in. He's our second, but we've never needed on before so I don't really know the deal. We've borrowed a couple before that had thin mattresses, and I can't tell from the prodcut descriptions whether they come with the PnP's or not.

We are probably going with the Graco one, since that seems to be the cheapest (and we're buying new, since CL offerings all seem to be the same cost as Amazon).

I've tried different sheets made (it said) for Graco and they were all too large, even after washing! I'm thinking even if they were tighter, they would probably make the mat too small to fit properly, because of the cardboard sections overlapping.
So in the end my DD was perfectly happy to sleep with just a pillow in there on a default mattress.

[Anonymous]

We ended up getting a three inch mattress that goes in a mini crib. If it's safe for a mini crib it's safe for the PNP since they are the same size. We used that because the bottom of the PNP was always a little bit lumpy and didn't fit together very well. We put the lumpy bottom in and the mattress on top.