Any of you guys ever used a mini crib?

[nesser1981]

I'm trying to come up with a solution that doesn't involve putting the new baby in one of the kids rooms until he or she is sleeping through the night or maybe even later.

Our bedroom is a decent size, I might be able to fit a full size crib, but I saw the mini cribs at Target online and they look perfect.

Any one here ever use one? How did you like it?

[Kara]

We're in the same boat. I plan to put our baby in a PNP in our room for the first few months, at least. We need to reconfigure all of our bedrooms to accommodate this little guy -- our boys already share, but their room is too small to fit three. So DH and I will probably move downstairs and put the bigger boys in our room and give the two small bedrooms to DD and baby boy. I'm not comfortable doing that for awhile yet, so a PNP it'll be -- for now.

With DS#1, we were in transition for most of the first year of his life -- he was born when we were living overseas and we moved back to the States when he was still really young, so we didn't bother trying to locate a crib - we just used a PNP for him for the first nine months.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Are you planning on buying or using a larger crib later? If so I'd probably just stick with a pack n play...DS stayed in his til he was about 10 mos in our room and it wasn't so big that it got in the way too much. I moved Ella out earlier around 6 mos but only b/c I wasn't a new terrified Mama anymore at that point and just wanted sleep lol.

[nesser1981]

I don't know honestly, that is about the only thing we still have from when Cooper was a baby, the Pack & Play.

I'm thinking a mini crib might be an awesome space saver. Even when the baby moves in with either Keira or Cooper. I moved both the kids into toddler beds around 2. I just wonder if a mini crib would be big enough for a baby until then.

[Kara]

Well, my daughter is 2.5 and I recently moved her BACK into a PNP from her toddler bed because she kept wandering around at night -- and she loves the PNP! She's a few pounds from the weight limit, so I don't plan on keeping her in it much longer, but it's working now for us.

[Lyd]

We have an Arms Reach Co-sleeper and I absolutely love it. It's about the same size as a PNP, but it attaches to the bed and keeps the baby right at your level - so easy to roll over and take care of the baby during the night. It also converts into a PNP so we use ours when we go on vacation and stuff too. We've used it for all four of our kids and it was definitely a good investment.

[YepBrook]

Vanessa, if the mattress size of the mini crib is the same as a PNP then I'd say it would be good for up to 2 years old. As long as the mattress can be lowered far enough down so the toddler can't climb out. My DD slept in the PNP (when visiting grandma) until she was a little over 2. At that point, it got too crowded.

[nesser1981]

Thanks girlies!

I need to go to Babies R Us and see if they have some I can actually look at.

[Kara]

FWIW, you can buy a better, more comfortable mattress for a PNP at BRU. We did that when we used it full-time for our oldest DS, and we've continued to use it with DD. Baby boy won't get to use it until DD is out of her PNP, but that's fine by me since it's better for babies to be on a harder surface anyway.

[my2monkeys]

With our youngest... we were in the same boat. Didn't really have the space in our tiny 2 bedroom house and with DH's schedule, moving then wasn't really an option. I picked out this mini-crib and we used it until she was 2 years old when we moved.



This was taken before she was born, so it is set on the highest setting... but later we dropped the mattress down.

[jessica31876]

I did with my daughter. Put her in a toddler bed around 18 months when she started climbing out of the crib. It worked great for her. Used it for my older son but he was a little wild one and would shake the crib so hard I was afraid he would break it so he graduated to a toddler bed a little earlier. For my youngest I used a full sized crib until he was about 2 1/2 and then put him in a toddler bed.

[ColleenSwerb]

Another option that's super popular right now is the Fisher PRice Rock N Play. Not sure if it's what you're looking for/thinking of, but everyone I know who has one SWEARS by it, and I kind of wish we had gotten one instead of a swing.
Callen currently sleeps either in bed with us, or in the newborn napper that came with our PNP. Once he outgrows the napper, if I haven't gotten him to sleep well in the crib in the nursery, then he'll just sleep in the bassinet of the PNP. We have the PNP in our room and I love it. So handy.

[nesser1981]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

Another option that's super popular right now is the Fisher PRice Rock N Play. Not sure if it's what you're looking for/thinking of, but everyone I know who has one SWEARS by it, and I kind of wish we had gotten one instead of a swing.
Callen currently sleeps either in bed with us, or in the newborn napper that came with our PNP. Once he outgrows the napper, if I haven't gotten him to sleep well in the crib in the nursery, then he'll just sleep in the bassinet of the PNP. We have the PNP in our room and I love it. So handy.

My SIL has one of those things, I don't know if they actually use it or not.

Keira & Cooper would never sleep in a Pack & Play. They did when they were very small, but we traveled a lot with Keira when she was small, and she always ended up in our bed.

[Amber1279]

I have a mini crib that we love. Braxton has been in our room for 9 months now. I will take a picture later and add it to the thread. It has worked perfect for us. To help compare a full size crib can become the headboard/footboard of a full size bed, but a mini crib will convert to the headboard/footboard of a twin size.

[nesser1981]

Originally Posted by Amber1279

I have a mini crib that we love. Braxton has been in our room for 9 months now. I will take a picture later and add it to the thread. It has worked perfect for us. To help compare a full size crib can become the headboard/footboard of a full size bed, but a mini crib will convert to the headboard/footboard of a twin size.

Awesome, thanks Amber!

[lovely1m]

We had a bassinet with my son right next to the bed until he was 3 months old, then he moved into a full sized crib in our room. I was gifted the bassinet, but if I would have had to buy something, I would have bought a cosleeper.

[dmogs]

I used a co-sleeper with both of my girls until they were about 5 mos old. I couldn't live without it! It is seriously wonderful to have the baby at arms reach yet safe in their own bed. The side that attaches to the bed pulls up so you can use it like a regular port-a-crib. Its so nice to be able to take the actual bed they are used to with us it's like having a little piece of home

[MamaBee]

we did the bassinet, too... if had to do again - I would have done the pack and play route... we didn't get one until he was older - 6 mon or so - and he would nap in that in the living room... ended up using that a lot.

[MommaTrish]

We always have put baby in bed with us. We use a Pack N Play for naps, but mainly it's our bed.