Help me sort out newborn sleeping situation?

[formerlyak]

I used the PnP with the sleeper thing in it for ds and got a new one to use with this baby. You can get a basic one with the sleeper for like $60, so it isn't that bad on cost. Put the PnP with no sleeper thing at grandma's house or some other place you may frequent for sleep there.

[narockshard]

Can you just buy that attachment for the PNP separately? If not, I might consider a whole new (or used) PNP that has the newborn sleeper, and give back the other one just to avoid too much clutter.

We plan on using the PNP with the newborn sleeper in our room for the first few months.

[D2M]

Sounds almost exactly like what we're doing. We plan to keep baby in our room and there is no space for a crib. When baby is bigger, he/she will go in a separate room (we plan to move when baby is 4 months, God help us). We are getting a Pack n Play from my BFF and we will also get a RNP. I, too, was a little nervous about using the RNP for sleeping when it is specifically a napping tool, but several sources say that newborn nighttime "sleeping" is really more akin to napping (a few hours at a stretch if you're lucky) AND mom and dad will be in the same room, so it's not like the baby is stuck in a RNP in a separate wing of a mansion. Also, one of my friends who is super cautious and researches the crap out of everything had her baby sleeping in a rock n play in her bedroom for almost 4 months with no problems, so this put my mind at ease.

[Cricket0619]

I had the rnp thinking that's what we were going to use, but our first night home I was nervous about it. We got a rnp bassinet and I agree that the mattress is really flat and hard. We now have him sleeping in the rnp and it's been a lot better and he seems way more comfortable in it.

[osulori]

You may be able to get a separate sleeper attachment for the PnP, or could try having the bottom part of the PnP up higher. AJ did great in the RnP for the 2 months he slept in it before I transitioned him to the crib, but if we had more room in our bedroom I probably would have had the PnP up there and not bothered with the RnP at all (PnP went downstairs in our family room instead).

[natablue]

We have both the pack n play and RNP in our bedroom. DS slept in the infant napper part of the PNP for the first week, and has slept in the RNP since. He sleeps great in it, and I like how I can have it right next to the bed. Like pp said, they are only in it a couple hour stretches at a time, so it's not like they are spending 8+ hours in it. My DS also has a cold, so the incline has been better for him than sleeping flat on his back.

[statlerwaldorf]

We used a pack n play with dd, but I didn't care for it. Her movements were really loud in it and would wake me up.

I was planning on using the rnp especially since we don't have a lot of space in our bedroom in this house.

[thatgirl2478]

we have an arms reach that baby 2 will use. I've got a PnP that has the optional bassinet in it - which we'll use if we can find all the pieces. If not, we'll just put baby in the bottom of the PnP and it will be fine. DD never seemed bothered by the PnP mattress thickness. We'll only be using the PnP in the family room though.

[speyedr]

We plan on using the crib from the beginning. We have a jack and jill set up with our room and LO's room so with both bathroom doors open we can hear whats going on. If we were planning to have her in our room with us we would have probably gone with a PnP with the bassinet attachment.

[gretchenindisguise]

We had an arms reach co-sleeper with our first, and we will break it out again for this babe. It was great for us. Plus I put it on H's side, so he had to wake up too - bwahahahaa.

[Deleted]

What, specifically, did your h find when googling the rnp that made him uncomfortable. I think a lot of moms from MMM use it without any problems. Our baby lies in the swing or on a flat surface during the day when we can watch her. She can roll over with the extra weight from her leg casts and I am afraid she will end up on her tummy. She sleeps in the rnp at night because there is no way she can roll in there.

[IndiaInk]

I spent a lot of time thinking about this, too, because we want the baby next to the bed for the first few months to make breastfeeding easier.  Then we plan to transition to the crib in the nursery next door to our room.  

As it turned out, a friend was able to loan us her Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper.  I'm really excited about it, because they're so dang expensive to purchase.  

A family member also gave us a used Kolcraft Bassinet and it seems like fairly decent quality, IMO.  I'm not sure if we will need it, but I'm definitely keeping it set up just in case.  It looks sort of like this one:

[curbsideprophet]

Honestly, I don't think i would be comfortable using the RNP for sleep every night.

For DD we used the full size Arm's Reach and it worked out great. We plan to use it for this LO as well. It basically turns into a PNP if you want it to.

In your case I think I would try to find a sleeper attachment for the PNP you have.

[chickadee77]

Why can't you use the pack n play without the sleeper? I was looking at the pnp bassinet thingie, and it seemed like it was just raised up off of the bottom, but not much different from the actual pnp. I know several people whose babies slept exclusively in the pnp (no fancy attachments) and am not aware of any risks associated with doing that.

Just an option if you didn't want to buy another piece of gear.

[chickadee77]

@abbycobb, the bassinet is different than the newborn napper - I wasn't sure which you were talking about. I've actually heard some people express concern over the napper because of its plushness, but those were opinions, not research. Anywho, just throwing out there that you don't necessarily need either one, just the plain old pnp might do the trick on its own.

[lilles]

I used the Arms Reach Mini Co Sleeper for my first two and will use it again when this one is born. We loved it and it worked out great for us.

[JayhawkGirl]

Mar 4, 2014 17:34:29 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

We had an arms reach co-sleeper with our first, and we will break it out again for this babe. It was great for us. Plus I put it on H's side, so he had to wake up too - bwahahahaa.

This is us, exactly. When DH is oot I put her on my side but otherwise she's in his side. He checks diaper while I get situated to nurse.

[Deleted]

Mar 4, 2014 17:23:37 GMT -5 speyedr said:

We plan on using the crib from the beginning. We have a jack and jill set up with our room and LO's room so with both bathroom doors open we can hear whats going on. If we were planning to have her in our room with us we would have probably gone with a PnP with the bassinet attachment.

What we did was for about the first week, one of us slept in the family room with the baby in the PNP and after that, we transitioned him to his crib and room.

[curbsideprophet]

Mar 5, 2014 8:04:49 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

Mar 4, 2014 19:27:36 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Honestly, I don't think i would be comfortable using the RNP for sleep every night.

For DD we used the full size Arm's Reach and it worked out great. We plan to use it for this LO as well. It basically turns into a PNP if you want it to.

In your case I think I would try to find a sleeper attachment for the PNP you have.

So we have the Arm's Reach as well. I originally registered for it thinking it would be awesome for sleeping and then a PNP. I'm not so sure mine turns into a PNP, how does yours?

What size do you have. I think only the larger original size converts to a play yard. 

[SJ]

We are planning to have a RNP and PNP available as options.

We aren't moving bedrooms around until the fall (3ish months) and don't want to set up her crib twice. To start our room and her room will both be on the upper level and then her new room and our new room will be on the bottom level.

[amaristella]

If the floor of the pack n play moves up to bassinet level I would plan to use that. Otherwise yeah you might want to have something else if you're definitely against the rock n play every night. Don't be in too much of a rush if you have the ability to buy stuff locally. It might be easier to just use what you have the first couple nights and then buy what you need once you've had a chance to get to know baby.

[amaristella]

Mar 4, 2014 21:03:29 GMT -5 @abbycobb said:

we read some warnings about the RNP causing a flat head. They weren't necessarily from super reliable sources, but there was enough of them to make us feel a little uncomfortable. I have seen a ton of positive reviews of them on MMM, and from my friends, so I haven't totally ruled it out - but I guess I'd like to at least try something else first. I guess that's why in kind of torn, because it sounds like we may end up using the RNP anyways.

It's not just the RNP. Any flat firm surface can cause flat head if baby is on their back for enough hours per day for a prolonged period of time. That is why tummy time gets pushed so much.

Edit: Another preventive measure for flat head is to wear baby in a carrier or sling during the day which keeps them from being on their back as much and allows you to get stuff done as well!

[curbsideprophet]

Mar 6, 2014 14:19:24 GMT -5 amaristella said:

Mar 4, 2014 21:03:29 GMT -5 @abbycobb said:

we read some warnings about the RNP causing a flat head. They weren't necessarily from super reliable sources, but there was enough of them to make us feel a little uncomfortable. I have seen a ton of positive reviews of them on MMM, and from my friends, so I haven't totally ruled it out - but I guess I'd like to at least try something else first. I guess that's why in kind of torn, because it sounds like we may end up using the RNP anyways.

It's not just the RNP. Any flat firm surface can cause flat head if baby is on their back for enough hours per day for a prolonged period of time. That is why tummy time gets pushed so much.

Edit: Another preventive measure for flat head is to wear baby in a carrier or sling during the day which keeps them from being on their back as much and allows you to get stuff done as well!

Is part of the problem that they are so confined in the RNP so they can not move as much compared to a crib or PNP?

[amaristella]

Mar 6, 2014 17:54:00 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Mar 6, 2014 14:19:24 GMT -5 amaristella said:

It's not just the RNP. Any flat firm surface can cause flat head if baby is on their back for enough hours per day for a prolonged period of time. That is why tummy time gets pushed so much.

Edit: Another preventive measure for flat head is to wear baby in a carrier or sling during the day which keeps them from being on their back as much and allows you to get stuff done as well!

Is part of the problem that they are so confined in the RNP so they can not move as much compared to a crib or PNP?

Possibly? Maybe? But then wouldn't you be hearing all the same things about all those different swings and bouncers that many babies tend to sleep in? Plus, a certain subsection of babies need to sleep on a slight incline due to reflux. Can you believe back in the day my DH's pediatrician told MIL to prop him up in the corner of the couch to sleep because of his reflux. I'd much rather use a RNP.

[curbsideprophet]

Mar 6, 2014 19:27:35 GMT -5 amaristella said:

Mar 6, 2014 17:54:00 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Is part of the problem that they are so confined in the RNP so they can not move as much compared to a crib or PNP?

Possibly? Maybe? But then wouldn't you be hearing all the same things about all those different swings and bouncers that many babies tend to sleep in? Plus, a certain subsection of babies need to sleep on a slight incline due to reflux. Can you believe back in the day my DH's pediatrician told MIL to prop him up in the corner of the couch to sleep because of his reflux. I'd much rather use a RNP.

I did not think any of those things were supposed to be used for overnight sleep either? We did not own a swing, so I am not sure what the instructions on most say.

[smm5623]

I used the pack n play without the attachments. The sleeper was very padded and we were concerned about it. We were actually more comfortable with the baby flat in the pack n play (it was raised up so she wasn't all the way on the bottom of it). We also had a RNP - initially she seemed slumped down in it because of the recline so we didn't use it until she was a couple months old. We mostly used it to travel and then when she got cold at 12ish weeks (and again with croup a couple months later) because the recline helped her sleep. We stopped using the RNP when she could sit up