Our DD is 7 weeks old and she sleeps next to us in packn play next to us. Elevated and got 3” mattresses from buy buy baby. I believe it was around $40. She is right next to me at nigh so i ve no problem getting up and nursing her. Our bed is slightly higher so i can see her comfortably. Packn play is multi use thats why i live it. Now its bassinett, also we ll be using for travel soon when we visit family. In a few months i can put her in bottom and let her play there while i can cook etc.
We live in a suburb, fairly large house and still dont need all those stuff. They grow out every thing so quick so multi use is smart thi g to do since she will be my only baby.

Another mom in a tiny apartment. We got an Arms Reach mini co-sleeper and that lasted us until 6 or 7 months. My neighbor gave us their pack n play. Baby is 19 months and still sleeps in that. We bought a mini crib mattress to make it more comfortable. The arms reach converts into a mini pnp, which was useful in our living room when we needed a safe place to stick baby.

Not knowing the setup of your small apartment, do you even need more than one sleeping device? Part of the reason we got a pack n play is that our bedroom is on a different floor from the nursery, so we had baby in our room in pack n play (first in the bassinet attachment, then just the elevated mattress) for the first 3-4 months at night. They’d sleep downstairs in the crib during the day. If the nursery had been across the hall I probably would have just put them in the crib earlier and kept the doors open (I know, I know, you’re supposed to sleep in the same room but really would we actually wake up if the baby stopped breathing?).

That said, we used the pack n play for travel and just to have a place to put DS when he was getting mobile and I needed to get ready for work, etc. But I can’t imagine needing both a bassinet and pack n play- get whatever makes sense for you.

I was in a small place with my son and we had a pack n play. No crib, no swing, no bassinet. We all survived.

We're also in a small apt and my DD hated the bassinet (got the Uppa Baby Vista which comes with a bassinet that's been approved for sleep and then you buy the extra stand- so there's a space/extra stuff saver option too) and only slept in the Rock n Play which is small and easily movable and folds up- so highly recommend one of those. We also ended up borrowing a swing from neighbors which took up a ton of space but she loved it and would also sleep it in or just hang out in it, so that was well worth it. Fisher Price Snug a Puppy- no need for anything fancy and you can often find them used. I held off on ordering the crib until after she was born, knowing it would take a few months to come in. That way my husband could use DD's room to sleep when he went back to work and the baby was sleeping in our room. It actually came quicker than we even needed it.

You absolutely do not need a Pack N Play and a crib all at the same time in a small space and like I said, most of the time they sleep in your room at first, so why have all these extra things anyway? My DD transitioned to her crib relatively easily at 4.5 months.

We used our stroller's bassinet for when we wanted a place for baby to sleep in the living room, a pack and play in our room using the higher platform when she was little for sleeping (that was actually awesome for later when we would put DD in there with toys when we were showering and getting ready for work as well as used a lot for travel). I don't think I would worry about a separate bassinet b/c those don't get much use compared to a pack n play and a crib.

Your friends tell you you need that junk because they have the McMansions to hoard it in. Get a bassinet or co sleep at beginning and then get rid of bassinet. Get a crib because baby will need it. Get a lotus or baby bjorn travel when baby can crawl or when you travel - they fold easily. /minimalist parent of an 8 month old in a 700 sq ft apt

Uppababy vista comes w/a bassinet approved for overnight sleeping. win-win.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friends in the burbs tell me that I must have a pack and play, a bassinet, and a crib. Thoughts from small space urban moms? Are all 3 necessities? I have a 2 bdrm, but where am I supposed to put all 3 of these? I already have a bassinet for the first few months and have my eyes on the crib I want. I travel a bit, so I can see the pack and play being useful eventually just for trips. Can’t I just amazon prime one right before my first trip?

Yes. Or if you have a place to store it then you could get it now and just store it until you need it.

...or just reach out to friends/extended family to see if they have one you can borrow.

If you anticipate traveling frequently, look into the BabyBjorn and Lotus travel cribs. Both have smaller carrying cases (compared to the Graco PnP) and fit into a large suitcase.

Anonymous wrote:My friends in the burbs tell me that I must have a pack and play, a bassinet, and a crib. Thoughts from small space urban moms? Are all 3 necessities? I have a 2 bdrm, but where am I supposed to put all 3 of these? I already have a bassinet for the first few months and have my eyes on the crib I want. I travel a bit, so I can see the pack and play being useful eventually just for trips. Can’t I just amazon prime one right before my first trip?

Yes. Or if you have a place to store it then you could get it now and just store it until you need it.

We had an Arm’s Reach co-sleeper for our bedroom, which we used for about 5 months, and then transferred baby to her own room/crib. It packs away small, which was very handy. We also had a pack and play, which came with a bouncy seat attachment. I didn’t think we’d need/use it much except in our downstairs area, and we ended up using it SO MUCH. We have a dog who is very curious and licky, and we used it to keep her and the baby apart in a safe, elevated spot until crawling, for both the chair and then hanging out in the crib. FWIW, the main level of our house is 1025sf and we spent nearly all our time up there.

You do not need all of these, and certainly not all at the same time! I would start with a PNP with the elevated mattress, and then when baby's too heavy for that either go with the PNP by itself or switch to a crib depending on how you feel about bending way over to get him/her (but keep the PNP for travel and playpen use)

Anonymous wrote:In an 850 square foot apartment we had the arms reach cosleeper right next to our bed (not used as a cosleeper, but it was the smallest bassinet we could find) and a crib in the baby's room. We didn't buy a pack n play until our third big trip (borrowed or used hotel cribs at first). Got rid of the cosleeper at 4 1/2 months when we moved DD to the the crib. That all seemed to work.

I should add, we did that so we didn't have the pack n play and cosleeper at once -- bought the pack n play long after getting rid of the cosleeper.

In an 850 square foot apartment we had the arms reach cosleeper right next to our bed (not used as a cosleeper, but it was the smallest bassinet we could find) and a crib in the baby's room. We didn't buy a pack n play until our third big trip (borrowed or used hotel cribs at first). Got rid of the cosleeper at 4 1/2 months when we moved DD to the the crib. That all seemed to work.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in 2 bedroom 1000 square feet in DC for first 2 years of DD life. I had a crib, bassinet and pack and play at first. It’s nice to have one thing like that in each room so you don’t have to move them around but completely unnecessary. I was done with bassinets by 2 months and wanted it out of the house. That’s the trick in small spaces. Get it cheap/borrow and then be able to get it out of your space. You def don’t want to be keeping and storing that stuff. I bought pac and plays for each grandma which was convenient for visiting them.

Agree with this. We also live in a very small apartment and we have to be absolutely ruthless about getting rid of stuff as soon as it isn't needed anymore. Thankfully DD was born in the 2 years between my sister's two kids so we were able to borrow a bunch of items (swing, bassinet, etc) then send them back to my sister as soon as we were done with them. Worked out beautifully as so much of this stuff is wicked expensive and only used for a short period of time.

We just used our pack n play for the first time this month and DD is 18 months old. Prior to that, we never needed it because so many people have them from other grandkids or family members. I wish we'd just skipped it entirely but live and learn. When DD was a baby, we borrowed the bassinet from my sister then sent it back after around 2-3 months. Crib was used basically as a clothes chest until DD was 2-3 months so we could have just held off and gotten the crib when DD outgrew the bassinet.